This is interesting

Raw Story has a piece regarding the Valerie Plame Story. Apparently, according to this report, Plame was not some inactive desk jockey whose work was an open secret. Apparently, she was deeply involved in U.S. efforts at tracking A.Q. Khans Nuclear blackmarket ring, and Iran's nuclear program:

Three intelligence officers confirmed that other CIA non-official cover officers were compromised, but did not indicate the number of people operating under non-official cover that were affected or the way in which these individuals were impaired. None of the sources would say whether there were American or foreign casualties as a result of the leak.

Several intelligence officials described the damage in terms of how long it would take for the agency to recover. According to their own assessment, the CIA would be impaired for up to "ten years" in its capacity to adequately monitor nuclear proliferation on the level of efficiency and accuracy it had prior to the White House leak of Plame Wilson's identity.

Outing a covert agent to settle a political score is venal enough, but placing lives at risk and imparing our ability to counter one of the most significant emergening threats is worthy of criminal prosecution. This is shocking, even for these people. And listen scrubs, don't even roll in here and pimp the usual crap about how they could not have known or Scooter was too busy or any other crap you picked up from the mighty Wurlitzer. They should have shut the fsck up.

This story is still developing. We might never know the truth here. But this is disturbing to say the least.