Letters: Aug. 15, 2005

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LUCIA FOLEY - Cinnaminson, N.J.

The media are making the Plame case far too complicated. Bush can no more fire Rove than dummy Charlie McCarthy could fire ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.

EDMUND C. VALENTINE - Wabasso, Fla.

Americans deserve to know all the facts about who leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Bush's credibility is on the line. We will see if Bush really meant it when he said he would fire anyone in his Administration who leaked information that exposed the identity of a CIA officer. The media must hold Bush's feet to the fire until he takes the actions he said he would do.

PAUL L. WHITELEY SR. - Louisville, Ky.

The entire Plame affair reminds me way too much of typical middle school-clique in-fighting--except that immature 13-year-olds don't hold the power of life and death over millions of people. What can we do to ensure that positions of power are held by more responsible, cooperative, civil adults?

JO VIRGIL - Austin, Texas

Cooper's Testimony

TIME correspondent Matthew Cooper's account of what he told the grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of CIA officer Plame [July 25] increased my level of trust in journalists several notches above its usual place--that is, below used-car salesmen. Cooper admitted that he couldn't make perfect sense of some of his notes, didn't have infallible recall and didn't know all the legal ramifications of everything that happened. He actually seems to think that he can be a little like the rest of us and still be a reporter. He provided a glimmer of what honest journalism can be. I like it!

FRANK KIZER - Bartlett, Tenn.

What stands out most for me is the lengths to which Cooper was willing to go to protect Rove as his source [of information that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA]--just as any great reporter would for any other source. Too often those in this country who decry the "mainstream news media" as liberally biased forget that the Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment to protect our democracy, not destroy it. By keeping Rove's identity confidential, Cooper, in the finest tradition of journalism, proved that freedom of the press protects all American citizens, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.

JONATHAN GREENE - Los Angeles

War of Words

In his column "Stop Trying to Spin the Iraq War" [July 25], Joe Klein wrote that the Rove-Plame-Wilson affair illuminated "a signature disgrace of the Bush presidency: its tendency to treat the war in Iraq as an issue to be spun, rather than a life-and-death struggle to be won." Klein should be applauded for reminding Americans that Bush's top priority is to protect and enhance his and his party's image. Nearly every issue is molded along political party lines and spun. When will we stand up and demand that this Administration be held accountable for jeopardizing national security? President Bush's job is to protect us, not his own hide.

ALEV GÜNAY - New York City