Plamegate and Yellow Journalism

Everyone seems to overstate or understate the damage done by the outing of Valerie Plame. Yeah, there has been some hype about damage to national security. But why leave out the real damage done, because it's not sexy enough?
JustOneMinute

Bob Woodward addressed that point on Larry King last night:

WOODWARD: ... They did a damage assessment within the CIA, looking at what this did that Joe Wilson's wife was outed. And turned out it was quite minimal damage. They did not have to pull anyone out undercover abroad. They didn't have to resettle anyone. There was no physical danger to anyone and there was just some embarrassment.

Maybe no one was killed, and no one had to move. The word embarrassment however appears to be a gross understatement of the facts. Woodward has been one of the insider journalists for Bush and, I think, acting as one of his apologists lately. Certainly, there is very little we know about the "embarrassment", but there is some information around. Here is what I know about it:
Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country

The outing of Valerie Plame in the column of Robert Novak has now led to the resignation of Jim Pavitt from the CIA. Mr. Pavitt was Valerie Plame’s superior. His work has been devastated by this catastrophic security leak, and he has apparently chosen to resign as a result.

[...]
The names on the NOC list are among the greatest secrets possessed by our country, and the leaking of this particular name ... has blinded us to the actions of Iran as they are in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.

Certainly sounds like more than embarrassment here. At least two career officers in the CIA have had a decade of work thrown in the trash. How many of Plame's international contacts lost credibility, are no longer trusted, and have had their career ended or at least severely restricted by this disclosure? I'd bet quite a few. As for Iran's nuclear plans, we didn't have much to start with, while we may be only a little more "blind" now, it would seem unwise to close off ANY channel to this country.
Then there is the problem of the safety of Plame herself:
Informed Comment

I was struck by the information that Plame Wilson has had death threats from al-Qaeda, and that the CIA has declined to offer her any special protection even though she still works there.


So the Bush administration is throwing our own counter-proliferation intelligence operatives to al-Qaeda by outing them, and Porter Goss refuses even to provide any security? Oh, yeah, we're going to recruit a lot of capable, competent people into counter-terrorism after this.

Much more than embarrassment I'd say. Wouldn't you say National Security was affected? Don't you think every CIA employee is thinking they better be sure the information they pass along is politically correct to the Bush Administration or they might be next? That means, the effectiveness of the CIA has been compromised for the next three years! Yes, there is MUCH more than embarrassment here.