Every presidential administration gets frustrated with leaks -- most of which typically emanate from the White House itself. President Bush's concern with leaks has taken on special urgency now that the improper dissemination of classified information might endanger American forces mobilizing for battle in and around Afghanistan. The president was angered when a few members of Congress almost tripped over themselves while running to the cameras after receiving classified briefings. However, the White House quickly realized it went too far when it tried to close off classified military and intelligence briefings to all but eight ranking members of Congress.

Even in times of national emergency, presidential administrations should tread carefully in acting to shut off information to members of Congress, or to the millions of Americans the president and Congress serve. Virtually everyone would agree that the government has a responsibility to restrict access to information that could directly jeopardize national security. Some details about the timing and location of troop movements obviously would fall in that category. Often, though, federal authorities have attempted to suppress information simply because it might embarrass them.

One recent leak that angered the White House came from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who emerged from a classified briefing to announce he had seen evidence tying Osama bin Laden to the terrorist massacres of Sept. 11. Administration officials said Hatch's confirmation of intercepted communications among bin Laden associates could compromise our intelligence-gathering assets.

Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, went on the weekend talk shows to warn it is all but certain there will be "more attempts, more attacks" inside the United States. Again, Shelby didn't divulge any secrets. But he undercut the more optimistic comments of President Bush, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and other administration officials trying to persuade Americans to return to their normal routines.

There is other evidence that some White House officials have been more concerned with spin than security. On Sept. 12, presidential historian Robert Dallek wrote a column for USA Today that was mildly critical of the president's delay in returning to the White House after the Sept. 11 attacks. Dallek received a call that same day from Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser. Dallek says Rove didn't explicitly warn him not to repeat his criticism, but he felt that was Rove's intention. "I was . . . puzzled that he would take the trouble the day after this terrible event to call me," Dallek said.

At least the White House helped to kill, for now, a congressional effort to resurrect legislation that would create new criminal penalties for government leakers and whistle-blowers. The Senate sponsor of that legislation knows a thing or two about leaks. It's Shelby.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is still leaking, too. The New York Times' lead story on Oct. 10 was based on "two senior Pentagon officials" who disclosed plans for new attacks in Afghanistan using Army helicopter gunships. In Washington, the people who complain about leaks in a loud voice usually do their own leaking in a whisper.

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