LEAKERS OR WHISTLEBLOWERS?

Are these people who are leaking information to the news media
leakers, or are they whistleblowers? I guess the answer depends
on whom you ask. Supporters of the Bush administration generally
refer to them as leakers. Administration opponents call them
whistleblowers. I'd like to find a less ideologically-based
answer; an answer based on a reasoned analysis of what these
people are doing.

So, what are they doing? They are people whose jobs give them
access to classified information. The information is classified
for national security reasons. We are currently at war. They
are giving the information to people who are not authorized to
have such information (the news media). They do so for personal
reasons (political reasons, seeeking "justice" etc.). The
information always winds up coming to the attention of our
enemies (through normal news outlets). The information benefits
our enemies.

Based on the information in the preceding paragraph, it would
appear that these folks are engaged in what we used to call
espionage. Consequently, they are neither leakers or
whistleblowers. They are traitors. Arrest 'em. Try 'em.
Execute 'em. That's what you do to traitors in wartime.