Dilemma

Judith Miller was sentenced to Jail time because of her denial to reveal her sources in the CIA agent leak case. I am sure many, like me, would feel queasy about this forever. Irrespective of what camp one is in, it's not a victory. Except maybe that handful few, that started the whole turmoil.

The identity of CIA agent Plame was revealed by someone (possibly someone very high up in the administration; some rumours suggest it may be Carl Rove himself) to the NY Times reporter Miller. The congressional Grand Jury commanded Miller to reveal her sources

This incident is being tried under the shadow of the revelation of Deep Throat by the big guy himself. It's still fresh in everyone's mind how useful unnamed sources can be for journalism and for the nation, and how important journalistic integrity is for the society. Inevitably, the mind creates an association between the preserved secrecy of the Watergate scandal information source, and the CIA-gate scandal loud-mouth. If one were to look at Judith Miller's decision in and of itself, it deserves an applause, and it seems as though she has been a martyr to the great ideals of Journalism at the hands of the ruthless establishment.

But look a bit further, and one starts to get the uneasy feeling. It would seem the nation deserves to find out who had acted so dastardly as to leak the identity and to endanger the life of a person serving the nation. Unlike Deep Throat, this person is shallow-mouth to say the least, and a traitor and schemer. Miller is not protecting a patriot, but a scoundrel (many scoundrels?) who would endanger the life of a patriot for the "crime" that her husband spoke against the president. And by the way, if these people have the slightest bit of integrity and humanity, they should step forward.

Yes, Miller has been a martyr. A martyr of pugnaciousness. A martyr for the lowly cause of aristocratic whim. One may lament her fate, but one should not call her a hero. She should serve as a warning lesson to journalists about the adage:

"Lesson One: If you make a promise, don't break it."
"Lesson Two: Use your moral judgement and discretion when making promises."