WASHINGTON – Ever wonder about the identities of those “senior administration officials” who always seem to get quoted talking about President Bush’s policies?

It wasn’t hard to figure out who was doing the talking when the White House released a transcript of a question-and-answer session this week aboard Air Force 2, Vice President Dick Cheney’s plane. One big clue: The unnamed official used the pronoun “I” when discussing Cheney’s visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“I would describe my sessions both in Pakistan and Afghanistan as very productive,” the official said.

Even after Cheney blew his own cover, White House spokesman Tony Snow declined to lift the prohibition against identifying the unnamed speaker.

“I have spoken with the vice president’s office, and the ground rules that were laid out are going to remain in effect,” Snow told reporters Wednesday.

The exchange during Cheney’s flight to Oman on Wednesday highlighted the absurdity of a practice that’s damaged the credibility of journalists and government officials alike. It’s much easier to believe what people say when their names are attached to their words. Statements from unidentified people invite readers to doubt that the speakers exist outside of the reporter’s imagination.

If anonymity is designed to promote candor, it’s difficult to find in the anonymous official’s quote.

The Bush administration’s use of anonymous sources has become a sore spot for reporters in the wake of a series of journalistic scandals involving fabricated quotes. Yet sometimes the need for anonymity is obvious: Some sources could lose their jobs or even their lives if their identities were disclosed.

So there may be a good reason to protect sources in Iraq, but in Washington, anonymity is too often a cloak for cheap shots and self-serving comments. Some officials insist on anonymity to minimize damage if they misspeak or say something that might be embarrassing. Reporters play along to maintain good relations or out of fear that they might miss something if they refuse to participate.

The Air Force 2 transcript was unusual only because it was so easy to identify the unnamed official.

“This has definitely achieved absurdity,” said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an organization that helps journalists protect their sources. “I don’t look at this as anonymous sourcing. I look at this as big-time game playing. The only way to describe it is stupid.”

The White House has cut back on anonymous briefings in recent years in response to reporters’ objections, but some officials still insist on anonymity, especially when discussing foreign policy. Snow defended the practice, saying that anonymity allows administration officials to be more open with reporters.

Cheney is particularly press-shy when traveling overseas. Mark Silva of The Chicago Tribune reported that he and other journalists on the vice president’s nine-day, seven-country tour got a total of 18 minutes to speak with Cheney on the record. (Cheney did offer two exclusive interviews to ABC during the trip.)

In a blog about the trip, Silva adhered to the Air Force 2 ground rules even as he vented his frustration over “facing someone important with something meaningful to talk about, but insisting on anonymity as the condition for a conversation.”

Cheney seemed to have some frustrations of his own. He objected to press reports that suggested he’d demanded more action from Pakistani officials against terrorism. Some of the press accounts relied on unnamed officials.

“I’ve seen some reporting that says, “Cheney went in to beat up on them, threaten them.’ That’s not the way I work,” the “senior administration official” said. “I don’t know who writes that, or maybe somebody gets it from some source who doesn’t know what I’m doing or isn’t involved in it. But the idea that I’d go in and threaten someone is an invalid reading of the way I do business.”

But don’t quote him on that.