Insensitive

Thirteen C.I.A. agents have been indicted in Italy, and another six are under investigation. It's a safe bet that the usefulness of the 13 who have been indicted, and probably the usefulness of all 19, has come to an end. The 13 will become fugitives from justice, probably hiding out in the United States with the help of the C.I.A.

This is the same Administration that outed Valerie Plame as a C.I.A. agent. It's the same Administration that destroyed our ability to monitor the communications of Syria's embassy in Baghdad.

The New York Times says:

"We do feel quite betrayed that this operation was carried out in our city," a senior Italian investigator said. "We supplied them information about Abu Omar, and then they used that information against us, undermining an entire operation against his terrorist network."

Abu Omar may be in an Egyptian jail, but what about the rest of his network?

According to Cheney, "America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won by being sensitive." And it appears that when Cheney said he didn't see a need to be sensitive to our allies, he meant it. The Italians may continue to share intelligence with us, but the message to the world is clear: the Bush Administration is not a good partner.