Last week, the Bush administration’s unraveling began in earnest with the indictment of the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Some background is in order here. Three years ago, President Bush accused Iraq of seeking to buy low-grade nuclear material from Niger. The documents that supported the President’s accusation turned out to be forgeries.

The man who cried foul and exposed the Bush administration’s chicanery, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, penned a New York Times op-ed detailing the fraudulent claim. In retaliation, someone from the White House – a “senior administration official” – leaked the name of Wilson’s wife to journalists Robert Novak and Judith Miller.

This was a crime because Wilson’s wife was an undercover CIA agent named Valerie Plame. By blowing her cover, the White House not only effectively ruined her career but also endangered her life and the lives of her contacts in the intelligence community. Whoever leaked the name committed treason under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

Because this was such a serious crime, the Department of Justice appointed independent prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in 2003 to investigate the case. Last week Fitzgerald indicted Libby on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

What is now being alleged is merely that Libby lied to investigators when he told them he didn’t know anything about Valerie Plame being an undercover CIA agent. It hasn’t been decided yet if he’ll be charged with leaking the name to the press. Salon.com reported Fitzgerald mentioned a high-ranking White House official codenamed “Official A” had leaked the name to Robert Novak.

Fitzgerald also said his investigation is far from over.

One of the most interesting aspects of the case is how Libby knew Valerie Plame’s name. Do all of the senior White House staff know such sensitive national security secrets?

If so, at what level of seniority do they learn them? It seems odd that Libby, an aide, would be behind all of this. Is he the mastermind or merely the administration’s fall guy?

We should expect answers to those questions. One of the basic tenets of democracy is transparency in government.

The citizenry has a right to know how the machinery of government operates, with common-sense exceptions granted for secrets pertaining to national security.

The Plame case confronts us with a situation where someone in the White House jeopardized national security just to get back at a man who exposed the White House’s lies.

The Bush administration, perhaps the most secretive administration since the Nixon White House, illustrates the need for us to know what’s going on at the highest levels of government. It keeps everyone honest.

Valerie Plame’s job, ironically, was to work on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. With her cover blown, she’s unable to do that job anymore.

Thanks to “Official A,” America’s national security was compromised for an act of petty revenge.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.