By Joseph Weisberg 由约瑟夫魏斯博格

When a federal judge dismissed Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency earlier this month, she ruled that the agency was entitled to stop Plame from publishing the dates of her agency service, even though these dates had been supplied to Congress in an unclassified letter from the CIA and had been published in The Congressional Record.当一名联邦法官驳回帕拉米的控告中央情报部本月初，她裁定，该机构有权停止普拉姆从出版的日期，她代理服务，即使这些日期已被提供给国会一个非机密一封来自中央情报局，并已刊登在国会纪录。 Plame is just one in a long line of ex-CIA employees to lose similar suits, in which the agency successfully defended the position that information in the public domain was classified.普拉姆只是其中之一，在长期线前中央情报局雇员失去了类似的套装，在该项目中成功地捍卫了立场，即公共领域的信息分类。

How can information that’sa five-minute Google search away be classified?怎样才能资讯that'sa五分钟的Google搜索距离被归类？ It’s simple.答案很简单。 Classified information is not the same thing as secret information.机密资料，是不是同一回事，因为秘密信息。

When I worked in the CIA’s directorate of operations (now called the national clandestine service) in the early ’90s, we were told that information was classified when it involved sources or methods.当我曾经在中情局行动部门的副主管（现在称为国家秘密服务） ，在九十年代初，当时告诉我们的信息是分类的时候，它涉及的来源或方法。 It seemed logical that sources were classified.这似乎是顺理成章的来源分类。 These were actual agents who would be put in jeopardy if their identities were revealed.这些都是实际的代理商，可以在危险之中，如果他们的身份被暴露无遗。

But practically everything the CIA does could be considered a “method,” so the CIA can decide that almost anything relating to its work is classified.但实际上，一切中情局是否可以被看作是一个"法" ，因此中央情报局可以决定说，几乎所有的东西有关，其工作仍属机密。 You’d probably want this latitude if you were running an intelligence agency.你一定希望这一纬度，如果你运行的一个情报机构。 But one of its unfortunate byproducts is that no one, inside or outside the intelligence community, really knows what classified information is.但它的一个不幸的副产品，是任何人，境内或境外情报界，真正知道什么是机密资料。

Because so many things at the CIA are classified, only a small percentage of them are actually secrets.因为这么多事情，在美国中央情报局分类中，只有一小部分是真正的秘密。 Take agency cover arrangements.采取机构支付的安排。 I cannot write about them in this article in any detail.我不能写，他们在这篇文章中的任何细节。

If I point out that agency officers are often under cover as XXXXXXXXXX, the CIA will make me take it out before publishing this article.如果我想指出，机构人员往往掩护下作为xxxxxxxxxx ，美国中央情报局将我带它出来之前出版这篇文章。 (Before I submitted this article to the CIA’s publications review board, I blacked it out myself to save the reviewers the trouble.) （之前，我提交了这篇文章，以美国中央情报局的出版物审查委员会，我做涂抹出自己救审评麻烦） 。

But are cover arrangements secret?但涵盖安排秘密？ Most of the time, no.大部分的时间里，没有。 Anyone with even a passing interest in espionage knows about the CIA’s use of the specific cover that I redacted above.任何人，即使是合格的兴趣间谍知道中情局使用的具体范围，我节录以上。 If you think you know what’s under that black bar, you’re probably right.如果你认为你知道什么是下黑酒吧，你可能正确。 Certainly every foreign intelligence agency in the world knows about it.当然，每一个外国情报机构，在世界上知道。 It can’t possibly be considered secret.它不可能被视为秘密。 But it is definitely classified.但是，这绝对机密。

What about the CIA’s covert action in Afghanistan in the 1980s?对于中情局的秘密行动，在阿富汗，在上世纪80年代吗？ Everyone knew about this at the time - in no way, shape or form was it a secret - but it was a covert action, and it was classified.每个人都知道这在当时-在没有出路，形状或形式，它是一个秘密-但这是一个秘密行动，它被分类。

I’m assuming it has since been declassified because I’ve read all about it in books by ex-agency officers that were vetted by the agency.我假设它已被解密的，因为我已经读过所有关于它在书本上，由前代理人员被审查，由该机构。 If I’m wrong, there will be some more redactions in this paragraph.如果我是错的，因此，将有更多的节录，在这一段。

There are actually legitimate reasons to classify so much information that isn’t secret.现时其实正当理由归类如此多的信息，这不是秘密。 Even if every foreign government in the world knows about our cover arrangements, countless diplomatic and legal problems would be created if we officially admitted that we use them.即使每一个外国政府，在世界上也知道我们的支付安排，以无数的外交和法律等问题，将可创造，如果我们正式承认我们使用它们。

Official acknowledgment of covert actions would be even riskier.官方承认的秘密行动会更冒险。 It was problematic enough to be arming rebels in Afghanistan who were killing Soviet soldiers.它是有问题，足以让武装叛乱分子在阿富汗被杀害的苏联士兵。

How would the Soviets have responded if we had openly admitted it?如何将苏联方面已作出回应，如果我们已公开承认它？ How would we respond today if Iran openly admitted training and arming insurgents in Iraq?如何将我们今天作出回应，如果伊朗公开承认，训练和武装叛乱分子在伊拉克？ We may know their denials are false, but they help Iran avoid international sanction, and they help us avoid being forced to respond militarily.我们知道他们的否认是假的，但它们帮助伊朗避免国际制裁的，他们帮助我们避免被迫作出军事反应。

If the government openly admitted various CIA activities, even those that are already well-known, it could also precipitate a great deal of negative news coverage in the foreign press.如果政府公开承认，美国中央情报局的各种活动，甚至是那些已十分清楚，它也可能沉淀了大量的负面新闻报道的外国记者。 (It would create yet another public perception problem to admit we classify information because of public perception, which is one of the reasons the fiction is maintained that information is classified because it is secret.) （它会创造又一个公众观感问题，要承认我们的分类信息，因为公众的看法，这是其中一个原因，小说，是认为资料均属机密，因为这是秘密） 。

In the end, then, the classification system serves a perfectly valid purpose.在年底前，然后，分类制度是一个完全有效的目的。 It draws a distinction between the information that the government does, and does not, want to discuss publicly.它提请区分资料表示，政府不，不，不想讨论公开。

What ends up classified may seem a bit perverse at times, such as when information in the public domain is ruled off limits for publication.什么结束了归类，可似乎有点倒行逆施的时候，例如当公共领域的信息是法治小康限制出版。 But that’s troubling only if you make the mistake of thinking that classified information is supposed to be secret.但是那只是困扰，如果你做出错误的以为机密资料应该是秘密。

For former CIA employees turned writers, like Plame, the vagaries of the system have tremendous advantages.对于前中央情报局雇员变成作家，就像普拉姆，变幻无常的系统具有很大的优势。

Plame just wrote a book that the CIA could reasonably maintain was entirely classified.普拉姆刚刚写了一本书说，中情局可以合理地保持，是完全分类。 After all, you’re not supposed to quit an intelligence agency and then tell everybody about what you did when you were there (certainly a lot of methods would be involved).毕竟，你不是要退出的一个情报机构，然后再告诉大家什么，你做的时候，你有（当然有很多方法，将参与） 。

But since nobody is really sure what is and isn’t classified, the agency permits publication of a lot of material that could go either way.但由于没有人真正知道是什么，是不是机密，该机构许可证出版了大量的材料，两者都有可能。 It seems petulant to sue over a few dates the CIA wanted to take out of a book that it was otherwise allowing to go forward.看来petulant控告超过数日期中央情报局希望能出一本书，这是其他方式允许向前迈进。 Plame was right that the dates weren’t secret.普拉姆是正确的日期，并非秘密。 But the agency didn’t want to officially admit them, so they were, in fact, classified.但该机构并没有要正式吸纳他们，使他们，事实上，分类。

Joseph Weisberg is the author of the forthcoming novel “An Ordinary Spy.” 约瑟夫魏斯博格是作者即将举行的小说"一个普通的间谍" 。

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