A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

The late Senator Moynihan said many a moon ago that he favored abolishing the CIA and starting from scratch in the effort to create a new intelligence agency. I found his words ridiculous when I first heard them as a mere youngster. But now, with the recent intelligence reform legislation having only served to obscure the mission of the CIA and with stories like this one, I am not so sure that Senator Moynihan was wrong:

In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News learned Friday.

The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.

Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA's inspector general's office and had worked for the National Security Council under the Clinton and and George W. Bush administrations.

The leak pertained to stories on the CIA's rumored secret prisons in Eastern Europe, sources told NBC. The information was allegedly provided to Dana Priest of the Washington Post, who wrote about CIA prisons in November and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for her reporting.

Sources said the CIA believes McCarthy had more than a dozen unauthorized contacts with Priest. Information about subjects other than the prisons may have been leaked as well.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the firing.

CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise confirmed the dismissal. Millerwise said she was unsure whether there had ever been a firing before at the agency for leaking to the media.

Citing the Privacy Act, the CIA would not provide any details about the officer's identity or assignments.

This is only the latest development designed to lower morale at the CIA, of course. And the problem is that each bad event seems to spawn a hundred others. Look for even more skilled professionals to leave the CIA for the private sector and for the Agency to have even more trouble in its efforts to recruit new analysts and clandestine agents.

On the upside (if there is one), if ever you wanted a job as a spy, here is your chance. The hiring market could hardly be more favorable.