NPR just mentioned it's thought we don't really have anyone on the ground in Iran. Plame-Wilson expl

[lindisfarne]

explains that. How many informants did we lose as a result of her being exposed?

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Outed_CIA_officer_was_working_on_0213.html
Outed CIA officer was working on Iran, intelligence sources say
Feb/ 13,2006
The unmasking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson by White House officials in 2003 caused significant damage to U.S. national security and its ability to counter nuclear proliferation abroad, RAW STORY has learned.

According to current and former intelligence officials, Plame Wilson, who worked on the clandestine side of the CIA in the Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover (NOC) officer, was part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran.

Speaking under strict confidentiality, intelligence officials revealed heretofore unreported elements of Plame's work. Their accounts suggest that Plame's outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for U.S. national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program.

While many have speculated that Plame was involved in monitoring the nuclear proliferation black market, specifically the proliferation activities of Pakistan's nuclear "father," A.Q. Khan, intelligence sources say that her team provided only minimal support in that area, focusing almost entirely on Iran.
... more

[dmr]

1. This makes me so angry - k&r n/t

[BuyingThyme]

2. I suspect we have plenty of people in Iran.

[lindisfarne]

3. Some experts think otherwise. In any case, many were lost with Plame-Wilson's exposure & endangered.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. No we don't, our HUMINT is minimal at best

and one reason is the Plame exposure

[bertman]

4. It's likely that we lost a lot of folks when Valerie Wilson was outed, but certainly the CIA

isn't foolish enough to rely upon one network in a country like Iran. Or any country for that matter.

[Hydra]

5. The Bush Admin didn't want Plame's team to find the links

Because they led back to them. It was shown before that American companies(Including Cheney's, I do believe) were smuggling stuff to the Iranians before 9/11. Still, we have the NIE that basically said there was nothing going on, even to the point that Bush couldn't use it...why isn't that good enough for us, I have to wonder?