[May 27, 2014]WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White
House inadvertently included the name of the top CIA official in
Afghanistan on a list of participants in a military briefing with
President Barack Obama that was distributed to reporters on Sunday, the
Washington Post reported.
The newspaper said the official, identified as "Chief of Station"
in Kabul, was named as being among those at a briefing with Obama
during the president's trip to Bagram Air Base near the Afghan
capital.
The list of names was sent by email to reporters traveling with
Obama on his surprise Afghanistan visit and included in a "pool
report" shared with correspondents and others not on the trip.
The Post said the White House issued a revised list deleting the CIA
official's name after it recognized the mistake.
The newspaper said its White House bureau chief, Scott Wilson, who
was on the trip, copied the original list from the email provided by
White House press officials and included it in a report sent to a
distribution list with over 6,000 recipients.
After he spotted the reference to the station chief, Wilson asked
White House press officials in Afghanistan if they had intended to
include that name, the Post said.
"Initially, the press office raised no objection, apparently because
military officials had provided the list to distribute to news
organizations," the Post added. "But senior White House officials
realized the mistake and scrambled to issue an updated list without
the CIA officer’s name."
The newspaper said it withheld the individual's name at the request
of the Obama administration, which warned he and his family could be
at risk if his name were circulated.
A review of the pool reports from the trip shows that the name was
taken out of an updated list sent to reporters. Reuters is also
withholding the name from this article.
The Post said it was not clear if the CIA would now be forced to
remove the officer from Afghanistan.
The White House declined to comment.
(Reporting by Peter Cooney and Jeff Mason; Editing by Jeremy
Laurence)
