Q&A: Whats the deal with this Plamegate business?

Having wasted several perfectly good hours reading about the leak debacle concerning former Ambassador Joe Wilson and the outing of his wife Valerie Plame as a CIA agent I thought I might share the fruits of my efforts. One begins to wonder if there is objective truth at all. Here lies the nub.

Q: So what is the deal?
Okay, its like this: three of Bush's guys leaked the information to four journalists. Lets name names, shall we?

Leakers:

• Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State (fmr)
  
• Karl Rove, Senior Advisor to the President
  
• "Scooter" Libby, Vice President's Chief of Staff (fmr)
  

Journalists:

• Robert Novak, Syndicated columnist
  
• Matthew Cooper, Time journalist
  
• Judith Miller, New York Times journalist (fmr)
  
• Bob Woodward, Washington Post journalist

Q: Who did it first?
Here is a brief chronology:

26 Feb 2002	Joe Wilson travels to Niger to investigate uranium issue.
28 Jan 2003	President Bush gives state of the union with the infamous 16 words.
mid-June 2003	First leak. Armitage tells Woodward.
6 Jul 2003	Joe Wilson publishes NYT op/ed.
Jun/Jul 2003	Armitage tells Novak.
8 Jul 2003	Rove confirms.
8 Jul 2003	Libby tells Miller.
11 Jul 2003	Rove tells Cooper.
11 Jul 2003	Novak's column outing Plame hits the wires.

Q: Was it a crime?
"The fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified" according to Special Counsel Fitzgerald. Some debate whether or not at the time she was a NOC operative, which is dangerous undercover work. Nevertheless, it is illegal for a government official to divulge classified information or to obtain classified information by espionage. Armitage, the apparent "first leaker" will not be charged; nor has anyone else been charged for leaking.