Sandy Berger: A case for accountability

Washington Post ^ | July 23, 2004 | Colbert King

[MamaLucci]

Set aside Republican speculation that former Clinton national security adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger was trying to hide classified information from the Sept. 11 commission or that he had provided the material to the Kerry campaign. Do likewise with Democratic suspicions that the FBI's investigation of Berger was leaked to distract attention from the commission's report. Those concerns, all unproven, are partisan and secondary. Keep the focus where it belongs. Did Sandy Berger violate the rules regarding the protection of classified information entrusted to him, and if he did, will he be held accountable for his actions?

[Ken H]

Do likewise with Democratic suspicions that the FBI's investigation of Berger was leaked to distract attention from the commission's report.

Aside from this obligatory bit of spin, not a bad article.

Here's a thread about Lanny Davis possibly being the leaker:

Lanny Davis: ID of Berger Probe Leaker 'None of Your Business'

[nathanbedford]

Good points.

[thoughtomator]

Solve your site-registration problems forever:

http://www.bugmenot.com

[Fenris6]

"This is why I think we should let it drop..."

I agree to a certain extent. We fell for this a few times during the Clinton mess. No doubt the Dem Dirty Trick Playbook includes a few red herrings for us to go chasing our tails over - in public view.

[leadhead]

I don't know what is more shocking, that Mr. King wrote it, or that the WaPo printed it

It's Saturday.

Nobody reads the news on Saturday.

WaPo does CYA pieces on Saturday so three months from now they can say they were all over it.

[MamaLucci]

I thought I detected just a glimmer of shame in Lanny a while back, for his part in the Clinton deceptions. Silly me.

[Ken H]

I think Berger is going to be indicted. (been a whle since I typed indicted. Is it still spelled that way?)

My only question is whether it's before or after the election.

[Irish Eyes]

...but building a collusion case against the presumptive democrat presidential nominee, or his campaign, would take more time.

Just wishful thinking on my part. They would never go after kerry, maybe some low level campaign staffer but even that would be a longshot.

[twntaipan]

My thoughts too.

[G.Mason]

"Given that Berger walked out of the National Archives with classified material and 40 to 50 pages of notes he had taken, and that he failed to show these papers to archives officials for review before leaving, as he should have, can he be still trusted with classified material?"

The mere fact that this question is asked tells me this is a non issue.

can he be still trusted with classified material?

Why sho-nuf!

I mean ... I mean ... It's only our survival as a nation that depends on it, and we all know that isn't on the Democrat Party's mind.

[rambo316]

Great links... It is amazing what happened with this whole matter. And burger still has the balls to go out there and say that he made an honest mistake. Believe me,if a past Republican NSA guy stuffed Iran Contra papers down his pants and socks, there would be hell to pay for George W. Bush. That Republican NSA guy would be tied around the President's neck and then he would be thrown to the sharks and the massacre would happen. My fellow Patriots, that is how elections are won or loss in America. It is a shame but just about everything hinges on what lies are told by the leftist news media to the mindnumb robots.

[pt17]

By burgling, Berger was just trying to insure that Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainy worked (i.e., the very act of observing something changes its nature - with apologies to WH for taking a little license with his principle :-)

[Maigrey]

Well, Burglar's attorney on TV admitted to getting this news out before the commission report.

Ans, someone on here mentioned from the report that since footnotes from a MAAR were missing (Mr. Berger, I presume?) they had to rely solely on his testimony.

Sounds like he accomplished his task.

[Diogenesis]

It is outrageous. If it were you or me, we would be in jail.

BERGER AND THE CLINTONS ARE ABOVE THE LAW
only because of PRESIDENT BUSH'S AND ASHCROFT'S LACK OF LEADERSHIP TO ARREST THEM.

[Puzzleman]

There is a word, "lede," now circulating around the internet. I think it means the real point of a story -- not the title that appear at the top of the article.

I think the lede of this article is, "can he be still trusted with classified material?" In other words, if Sandy Burger is guilty, the punishment should be only the removal of his security clearance. No big deal.

Don't worry about chapter and verse of our security vunerabilities being given to God knows whom. Don't worry about the 911 Commission being deprived of a key document. Just focus on whether Sandy Berger should keep his security clearance. That's the lede.

[livius]

I think you're right about Berger's (well, Clinton's) trying to instill uncertainty.

I also think that the Dem release of the info about the Berger investigation was intended to muddy the waters so much that any subsequent witness testimony, etc., might be alleged to have been corrupted by the publicity. The charges haven't even been filed yet, so they have abundant time to run roughshod over the facts, put out confusing stories, and misquote so that any eventual trial would be seriously hampered.

[independentmind]

And burger still has the balls to go out there and say that he made an honest mistake.

What the incident actually suggests is the Berger doesn't have any.

[G.Mason]

"There is a word, "lede," now circulating around the internet ..."

Good point!

And of course it's no big deal. Everybody does it.

Just another example of what has happened to our country.

Meanwhile the alphabet news services, the Democrat Party, Socialist and Communist devotees, terrorist organizations, foreign governments, and Rinos', are all working vigilantly towards our extinction.

And the beat goes on ...

[Condor51]

If you want, I can give you some info on how to access all the 'registration req'd' sites without registering.

It's a neat little add-on utility program.

[Condor51]

Here you go, to save some time use these;
mike@home.com
mypw890