I am soooooooooooo confused, Why is this an issue? If Miss Val's neighbors knew she worked for the CIA whats the big deal? She has not traveled out of the country for 5 years so she is sitting at a desk? Im sorry I just don't get the story.
I don't know why it's an issue either, except the dems grasping at straws to bring down their nemesis, Karl Rove. Bet they have nightmares about him, and wish like hell they had someone like him on their side.
Maybe she WAS covert, just not covert for the US. Maybe she's undercover for Saddam or some other foreign power. We know she wasn't a US covert agent, but the dems keep insisting she WAS covert. Maybe we should find out just what country she was working for as a covert agent.
A CIA spokesman steps in front of a microphone and says "Valerie Plame was an undercover agent at the time of the Novak column" or "Valerie Plame was not an undercover agent at the time of the Novak column."
Saying one or the other would compromise nothing, because it's all academic now.
And it would answer a lot of questions.
Granted, someone who drives to work at CIA HQ every morning isn't covert to my way of thinking, but without this simple statment, the David Corns of this world keep chattering away.
A one-sentence statement like that would clear up so much of this.
Exactly. However, something else is going on here and not just about outing CIA agents.
The question we should all be asking is why is Judith Miller sitting in jail for a source if Plame was not covert? Who is Miller's source?
According to UNNAMED CIA sources a referral was given because "If she was not undercover, we would have no reason to file a criminal referral,"...
Now there is only one thing you can conclude from that statement. Whether it is true or not, I guess, remains to be seen.
Ask Senators Schumer and Kennedy ...
October 15, 2003
John Dion, Chief, Counter-Espionage Section
Criminal Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530Dear Mr. Dion,
We write to express our concerns regarding apparent delays in the White House's production of evidence to the Department of Justice in connection with the criminal prove into the disclosure of a covert CIA operative's identity.
There have been three different public reports as to the deadline you set for the responses by White House staff to your request for evidence. First, on Friday, October 3, "an official familiar with" Justice's letter to the White House stated the deadline for production of evidence was Friday, October 10. Then, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said at a briefing on Tuesday, October 7, that it would take two weeks for the White House to produce evidence to DOJ. Finally, an October 8 report in the Washington Post indicated that the deadline is October 17, with "intermediate deadlines" in the interim.
Given the President's commitment to total cooperation with this investigation, any delay in disclosing evidence to the Department of Justice is difficult to understand. A serious national security breach appears to have been committed, reports have indicated that someone (or some people) within the White House is responsible, yet this investigation is moving at a snail's pace. We hope you can understand why we are concerned.
Until the Attorney General recuses himself from this investigation and a special prosecutor is appointed, all reports of apparent delays and unusual beneficial treatment of the White House will be looked upon by the public with great skepticism. The conflicts of interest run too deep for there to be public confidence in the integrity of this investigation, especially when it appears a serious national security breach is being treated with kid gloves.
...
We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible regarding these important questions.
Sincerely
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
Edward M. Kennedy
United States Senatorhttp://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/PR02107.html
The story is that these people are so rabid that they make up lies to get Bush, then, after saying the lies repeatedly, come to believe their own fabrications.
If you look at it closely, it begins to get a little sick and pathetic.