An NYT editorial on the call by some Republican senators into the source(s) of a Washington Post story on the CIA's network of secret prisons.

Some excerpts:

In the last couple of days, the Republican leaders of Congress have been piously demanding a full investigation into the sources of a Washington Post article about the Central Intelligence Agency's chain of secret prison camps. These same leaders have spent 18 months crushing any serious look at the actual abuse of prisoners at those camps, and at camps run by the American military. And for more than two years, they have expressed no interest in whether the White House leaked the name of a covert C.I.A. operative to punish a critic of the Iraq war.

So why did they jump on last week's article in The Post before you could say "double standard"? The answer is painfully obvious: G.O.P. leaders, doing the White House's bidding, are trying to shut down discussion of the policies that led to the horrors of Abu Ghraib and the C.I.A.'s "black site" prisons. They are also delivering an oblique warning to the Democrats who want the Senate to say more than the White House wants to be said about another sensitive intelligence matter: whether President Bush and his team hyped Iraq's weapons programs.

This new political drama makes an excellent case study for why it is so vital for news organizations to be able to give the public information that the government wants to suppress for political reasons. That sort of journalism depends on maintaining the confidentiality of sources. For that reason, we generally oppose leak investigations. ...

Some Republicans are saying The Post's article damaged America's image, harmed national security and jeopardized American soldiers and agents. We've heard that absurd attempt to blame the messenger before. It sounds particularly preposterous at a time when the administration is attempting to stave off attempts to outlaw the use of torture against prisoners.

The truth is that the damage is caused by the administration's underlying acts and policies, not by the news media's disclosures, which serve only to hold officials accountable for their actions. It is the secret camps themselves and the abuse and torture of prisoners that smear America's image and jeopardize Americans serving their country, not newspaper articles.

If Republican leaders in Congress want to open investigations that serve the public, they can back an independent investigation into the origins of the Abu Ghraib scandal - and they can take the handcuffs off the unfinished Senate investigation into the prewar intelligence on Iraq.