Comment on The Belmont Club,"Do you want to know a secret?"

There are to parts to the information security problem. One part is guarding the information from unauthorized disclosure. The second part is having information worth protecting. The second problem does not depend on technical systems but on human systems. If the people are not reliable and the culture does not promote the right mix of risk taking, inquiry, discretion and loyalty then no technical edge will work. The relentless politicization of the intelligence process by agents of the Democratic Party, particularly Pinch Sulzberger's NY Times and some but not all of the employees at the CIA in conjunction with Valerie Plame and her execrable husband have cost us in ways that are hard to measure. How do you quantify negatives? The cost is in talent discouraged, studies not conducted, investments not made and former allies who no longer give the same level of support.