Knowing the "SECRET" classifications...

From NoQuarter.typepad.com :

April 18, 2006
The State INR Memo on Plame
byLarry C Johnson

If you have not seen the copy of the State Department memo detailing what State knew (or did not know) about Joe Wilson's efforts to determine if Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger, check it out. Those not familiar with the format should pay attention to some particulars:

1. A paragraph is classified based on the information it contains. For example, if it is "Official" information but not classified the author could label it "FOUO" (which means, For Official Use Only) or "LOU" (Limited Official Use).

2. When a paragraph is labeled S/NF (Secret/No Forn) that means the information is SECRET and not to be shared with foreigners. The mere mention of Valerie Wilson's name required that the paragraph be classified. If she was not undercover, the paragraph could have (and should have) been classified as LOU or FOUO. The New York Sun editors are morons. They don't even understand this basic point.

3. On the second page of the State Department memo we encounter a blacked out section in the third paragraph from the top. Looks like the words, "Exlusive Dissemination" were excised. I would also note that the term, "ORCON", means "Originator Controlled". In other words, the person who wrote the intel controls the classificaion of it as well as its dissemination.

4. The last paragraph on page four indicates that the forged documents were brought to the United States through Defense Department (not State Department) channels. This helps explain how the documents found their way into the Office of the Vice President.

5. The really explosive news are the six documents listed as "Attachments". This provides the first comprehensive list of the different documents that discounted attempts by Iraq to buy uranium from Niger. Remember, Joe Wilson said in his op-ed from July 2003 that there were at least four documents that dealt with this issue. Once again, Joe is wrong. THERE WERE SIX!

This memo is one more nail in the coffin containing the lies Bush told to take us to war. The memo vindicates Joe Wilson and should remind the public that his wife's identity was a SECRET. That is why the paragraphs with her name and/or identity are classified as SECRET.

Wrap...