US President George W Bush's failure to take action against a top aide involved in revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative sends "the wrong message" overseas, former US intelligence officials have claimed.
At a hearing sponsored by Democrats, the retired agents said US intelligence gathering had been damaged by the leak of Valerie Plame's name two years ago after her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, criticised the White House's justification for going to war in Iraq.
Time
New York Timesreporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to name the source that revealed Ms Plame's identity.
The controversy over the leak and the wrong information used to justify the attack on Iraq has caused deep concern in the US intelligence community, with many former or current operatives saying political influence is undermining their work.
"What has suffered irreversible damage is the credibility of our case officers when they try to convince an overseas contact that their safety is of primary importance to us," Jim Marcinkowski, a former CIA case officer, said. He also criticised Republican efforts to minimise the political damage caused by the leak.
"Each time the political machine - made up of prime-time patriots and partisan ninnies - display their ignorance by deriding Valerie Plame as a mere paper pusher or belittling the varying degrees of cover used to protect our officers, or continuing to play partisan politics with our national security, it's a disservice to this country," Mr Marcinkowski added.
President Bush vowed this week to fire anyone found to have acted illegally in the controversy, backing away from a broader pledge to dismiss anyone found to have leaked information in the case.
As controversy over the matter heated up in recent weeks, the White House has refused to answer questions about Mr Rove, who is credited with being the architect of the president's election victories and considered to be the most influential member of Mr Bush's administration.
magazine reporter Matthew Cooper avoided jail after he told a federal grand jury that presidential adviser Karl Rove told him that Mr Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, but did not disclose her name.