Top Secret means the document was TS, but the paragraph was still S secret

[jsamuel]

From what I understand, and correct me if I am wrong, but the paragraph containing Plame's identity was Secret, not Top Secret.

The reason the entire document was TS was because it had some other paragraph that is considered TS. The document is rated with the highest level of any one paragraph in the document or "various Secret paragraphs became Top Secret when compiled."

Just wanted to clear the air.

[clydefrand]

1. What's the difference in top secret and just secret?

I heard several hours earlier on CNN that the page with Plame's identity had "S" at the top and not TS.

[jsamuel]

4. Top Secret is higher classified than Secret is

However Secret is more classified than Classified.

I am not sue the exact difference between TS and S, but the S at the top of the page is a summary of the highest level paragraph on that page. So that means that no TS information was on the page that had Plame's identity. However, no one should have been looking at the memo without TS autorization.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

6. The levels are:

Classified, Secret and Top Secret.

If you have classified clearance, you don't have clearance for S and TS. And so on. But technically it's all "classified," which may make for a little confusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information#U.S._Government.27s_Classification_system

[noamnety]

11. That's not quite right

Classified information includes:

Top Secret
Secret
Confidential

[noamnety]

8. The difference is the level of damage a leak would cause

Top secret = exceptionally grave damage to the national security
Secret = serious damage to the national security
Confidential = damage to the national security

And the OP is correct. Assuming the paragraph was Secret, but the overall document was Top Secret, there are two possible explanations:

1) other paragraphs were Top Secret, or
2) various Secret paragraphs became Top Secret when compiled. Sometimes classification guides are written that way.

[jsamuel]

9. Thanks for #2 there, that is important enough to edit the original post

Thanks :hi:

[whistle]

2. What does that mean.....

[bmcatt]

3. But wasn't her paragraph "SNF"?

meaning "Secret - Not Foreign", such that it was considered important enough that it couldn't be shared with friendly foreign intelligence agencies.

Even if the entire document was TS simply because of a single (other) TS paragraph, that doesn't detract from the significance of the paragraph about Ms. Plame, no?

[jsamuel]

5. No, it doesn't distract from the importance, I just wanted to make sure we

had our information CORRECT, unlike the people on the other side of the fence.

I am not sure if it was SNF or S. Either way, the document was TS and on a need to know basis.

[bahrbearian]

10. That is the Talking Points from the GOP, it is all spin..

Don't start parsing Phrases. That is how it begins to be Diminished.

[jsamuel]

12. huh?

I am interested in the truth, not parsing phrases...

Like I said, it doesn't diminish anything, just don't want to see someone go out on a limb saying Plame's identity is TS and them be proven false on a technicality like Rather.

[Starfury]

13. Correct.

The following link will give you more information than you probably ever wanted to know on properly marking sensitive documents. (It's a .mil link, for those who are paranoid...)

http://www.dss.mil/search-dir/training/csg/security/S1class/Marking.htm

In particular, look at the section under "portion marking".

[bahrbearian]

7. Well that makes it "Fair Game"