WASHINGTON -- The Bush White House is one of the most secretive in modern history. But that doesn't stop administration officials from leaking insider information when it serves their purpose.

There are many different kinds of leakers and of motives behind the leakers.

Some news leaks -- whistle blower leaks -- have saved the country from the abuse of power. This honor roll includes the publication of the top secret Pentagon Papers on the conduct of the Vietnam War and the "Deep Throat" revelations of the Watergate scandal, which forced out President Richard M. Nixon.

Other leaks are designed to boost a policy or settle an internal debate or flatter a friend or diss a foe. Readers and reporters can usually figure out the motive.

Those of us who work to find out the secrets of government are eager for leaks as another source of information. That doesn't mean we have to write our stories or columns to make the leaker happy. And we shouldn't violate any laws in the process.

The hottest story in Washington today is the Justice Department's investigation of the outing of a CIA covert officer, the wife of retired Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, the diplomat who went to Niger on a government mission to find out whether Iraq had tried to buy uranium there.

After his African journey, Wilson debunked the administration allegation that Saddam Hussein was trying to go nuclear. As a result, Wilson blew a hole in a key element of President Bush's argument for attacking Iraq.

Frustrated administration officials later told columnist Robert Novak that Wilson was married to a covert CIA officer. Novak included her name in a column.

After Novak published her name, Wilson accused the White House of leaking that information to Novak as a way of penalizing Wilson for his criticism of Bush's Iraq policy.

The CIA demanded that the Justice Department prosecute the person or persons who leaked the information because it is a federal crime to publish the name of secret CIA officers.

Justice Department lawyers are probing the Bush administration to find the leaker(s).

Wilson first insinuated that Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser, was behind the leak, but he has since backed off.

For his part, Bush indignantly criticized leakers in general, conveniently overlooking the fact that officials in his administration -- like all administrations -- leak when they think it will help them.

Leakers are rarely caught. "Deep Throat" has yet to be identified 30 years later. Daniel Ellsberg survived his leak of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and the Washington Post.

Marlin Fitzwater, who served as White House press secretary in the Reagan administration and the first Bush administration, discouraged then-President Bush from tracking leaks on the basis that it was a futile exercise.

A new book, "The Media and the War on Terrorism" edited by Stephen Hess and Marvin Kalb, quotes some former White House press secretaries discussing leaks.

There is the trial balloon-- a leak to see whether a certain policy will fly when publicized.

Dee Dee Myers, President Bill Clinton's former press secretary, said the most frequent leak she encountered involved "people trying to push the president in one direction" or another.

She said press secretaries often give a scoop to a reporter to win favor or to "make the president look good."

Ron Nessen, press secretary to President Gerald Ford, recalled that an enraged President John F. Kennedy called press secretary Pierre Salinger to complain about a story based on an anonymous source and ordered Salinger to investigate.

Salinger came back and reported: "I found out who the leaker was, Mr. President. It was you." Kennedy had a close relationship with several reporters.

I believe the more leaks, the better. If we are to be an informed people, then we have a right to know much more than we are officially told by those doing the nation's business.

The official version may have the facts. Often, those facts are carefully selected to present a certain point of view or set a tone or image. The leaker may help us better understand because the leaker will provide more than just facts -- the leaker may provide the truth.

(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).