Dinner Table Discussion

When is it moral and patriotic for intelligence technical personnel to expose governmental misrepresentations?

Thomas Nagy

When is an intelligence technical person ethically compelled to disclose information that benefits, rather than hurts, the U.S., if the issue has been mischaracterized by the higher-ups? I present the example of the DIA's 1991 "Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilites" study and follow-up documents, which remained classified for years. Had anyone familiar with the document spoken out, even in general terms, at the time the documents were produced, then the disasterous effects on children under five might have been prevented.