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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 10/12/2003 6:17:02 PM PDT by liberallarry
FBI agents investigating the disclosure of a CIA officer's identity have begun by examining events in the month before the leak, when the CIA, the White House and Vice President Cheney's office first were asked about former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger, according to sources familiar with the probe.
The name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a clandestine case officer, was revealed in a July 14 column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two unidentified senior administration officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Plame's name was "revealed" in Wilson's official bio, too, but agenda-driven reporters hoping to squeeze every last drop out of this soggy "scandal" tend to leave that part out.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Newsmax has the story.
An administration source said, "One of the greatest mysteries in all this is what was really the rationale for doing it and doing it this way."
Just exactly what was the "administration source" referring to? The so-called "leaks" of Plame's identity? Or was it Wilson's own covert PR campaign, that Pincus himself was aiding and abetting?
I'd bet on the latter...
The CIA suspected that Aldrich Ames had blown Plame's cover in '94 so she could no longer be run as a NOC overseas. She was moved to Langley to work at other things and move up the hierarchy. Her life was not endangered by Novak's revelation. But there were damaging consequences to CIA operations. Unfortunately, politics has clouded the issues - the Democrats seek to maximize and the Republicans to minimize the damage. Nobody looks good.
This article has some new revelations (to me anyway). Rove and Chris Mathews are now definitely part of the story - and it's looking more and more like Novak was wrong or lied; the story was shopped around.
Pincus speculates on motivation. I think the Administration blew up. They were embarrassed, under pressure, and looking for ways to discredit Wilson. Someone spoke when he should have kept his mouth shut.
After Novak's column appeared, several high-profile reporters told Wilson that they had received calls from White House officials drawing attention to his wife's role. Andrea Mitchell of NBC News said she received one of those calls.
Wilson said another reporter called him on July 21 and said he had just hung up with Bush's senior adviser, Karl Rove. The reporter quoted Rove as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game," Wilson said. Newsweek has identified that reporter as MSNBC television host Chris Matthews. Spokespeople said Matthews was unavailable for comment.
Is this the first mention of the name "Palme" in print?
Some "government officials" could refer to anyone from the post office supervisor to W himself. No mention of Whitehouse.
Everyone knows that if the democrats were in the White House, the story would be the treasonous CIA agent and ex-diplomat conniving to embarrass the rat president.
On July 7, the White House admitted it had been a mistake to include the 16 words about uranium in Bush's State of the Union speech....
That same week, two top White House officials disclosed Plame's identity to least six Washington journalists, an administration official told The Post for an article published Sept. 28. The source elaborated on the conversations last week, saying that officials brought up Plame as part of their broader case against Wilson.
"It was unsolicited," the source said. "They were pushing back. They used everything they had."
The name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a clandestine case officer, was revealed in a July 14 column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two unidentified senior administration officials.
Of course not. Read the article.
Ex post facto. See below...
After Novak's column appeared, several high-profile reporters told Wilson that they had received calls from White House officials drawing attention to his wife's role. Andrea Mitchell of NBC News said she received one of those calls.Wilson said another reporter called him on July 21 and said he had just hung up with Bush's senior adviser, Karl Rove.
In other words, Matthews and Rove (plus Mitchell) enter the narrative only after Novak blew the whistle on Plame.
To me, the real questions aren't about who "leaked" Plame. All things considered, that's a collateral issue.
Instead, who was it that selected Wilson to go to Niger? On whose word and why? And why is it O.K. for Wilson to leak the findings of a CIA-commissioned assignment? And, finally and most importantly, why should Wilson's half-assed investigation, which even the CIA didn't appear to much stock in, be given more credence than British intelligence?
Those are questions that bear on serious national security issues, instead of political gotchas and PR points.
Speaking of two-career households: Andrea Mitchell is married to Alan Greenspan.
The reporters informed Wilson of the calls after Novak's column appeared. The article is unclear about when they received the calls. If they're the same six reporters they received the calls before Novak's article was published.
Wilson had excellent credentials. He wasn't asked to do much...but someone without his contacts couldn't have done anything.
Your last two questions are fundamental.
Was it moral or legal for Wilson to leak?
Was Wilson's info more valuable than that of British intel?
I don't know about legality. The morality depends upon how one views the issues. Since I believe it was necessary to mislead the public in this case I wouldn't have leaked. Wilson felt differently.
Wilson considered the possibility that the Administration had more and better intelligence. They should have defended that position instead of trying to discredit him...and they never should have brought in his wife.
Sorry. But his wife is part of the story because she is part of the apparent explanation as to why Wilson, of all people, was chosen for the mission. Novak justifiably came to that conclusion, otherwise there would have been no point in publishing her role.
That said, I am not condoning the release of an undercover CIA agent's name. If her identity needed protecting and her name was knowingly released, appropriate action should be taken.
But the deeper we get into this, the more it seems that her identity no longer required protection (indeed, was commonly known). And the odds seemingly favor the leaker being unaware of her status.
In any event, I trust the DOJ investigation to unearth what can be discovered. And I trust the administration to take such action as is appropriate.
And, still, the larger security questions revolve around the circumstances of Wilson's employment in the first place.
Wilson was chosen because he was well qualified - as few others were. It's become an issue because he refused to keep silent about what he thought (knew?) to be obviously false in a discussion critical to the life of the republic. People upset with this are saying that a loyalty test should always trump all other considerations.
the deeper we get into this, the more it seems that her identity no longer required protection
Wishful thinking.
the odds seemingly favor the leaker being unaware of her status
The best possible resolution...for the Administration, for the country, for everyone. But doubtful. After all, what was leaked was her identity as a CIA operative
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