Embarrassing Moments: Blowing His Cover

The cover of the February issue of the Foreign Service Journal shows Under Secretary of State Ronald Spiers sitting in his office, hands on desk, looking intently into the camera. But what's that peeking out from under his hands? A copy of the top-secret National Intelligence Daily, published by the CIA, that's what.

The Daily lies open to a report on Lebanon, with a map of that country plainly visible. Fortunately, nothing of great importance is to be gleaned from the text. Says a State Department official: "It's not a serious breach." Nonetheless, the incident has embarrassed the State Department, which is usually quite careful with top-secret material. Though Spiers is not expected to lose his job, an in-house investigation is under way.