7-24-05, 8:18 am

Faced with a question about whether or not he will keep his promise to fire those involved in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent while we are at war, President Bush backed away from his initial pledge and lowered the ethics bar. With several sources now citing President Bush's and Vice President Cheney's top aides, Karl Rove and Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, as two sources of the leaks, Bush should be prepared to keep his word, and to enforce a high standard of ethics in the White House as he promised from the beginning of his administration.

America's women are calling on President Bush to keep his word and place our national security interests above his personal politics. Now that it's clear that both Rove and Libby spoke to reporters as payback against a political opponent, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean reiterated his call for President Bush to keep his earlier promise to fire any aide who improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover CIA operative. According to the Washington Post, the classified State Department memo that contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame was 'in a paragraph marked '(S)' for secret, a clear indication that any Bush Administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.' [Washington Post, 7/21/05] It poses a significant threat to our national security for political operatives in the White House to reveal classified secrets for partisan gain.

The White House originally said that if anyone in this Administration was involved in disclosing an undercover CIA operative's identity, they would 'no longer be in this Administration.' Now, he seems to be changing his standard of accountability, saying this week that 'if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my Administration. 'This is not the type of leadership that Americans expect from their Commander-in-Chief.

Then:

'If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action.' [President Bush, Chicago, Ill, 9/30/2003]

Now:

'If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration.' [President Bush, 7/18/05]

If Bush wants to know what Karl Rove and Scooter Libby did or did not do, he should call them into his office and ask them. It's time for President Bush to show some leadership.