Investigate the CIA - It was the CIA's bizarre conduct that led inexorably to Ms. Plame's unveiling

Wall Street Journal ^ | November 3, 2005 | By VICTORIA TOENSING

[Jim Robinson]

In a surprise, closed-door debate, Senate Democrats demanded an investigation of pre-Iraq War intelligence. Here's an issue for them: Assess the validity of the claim that Valerie Plame's status was "covert," or even properly classified, given the wretched tradecraft by the Central Intelligence Agency throughout the entire episode. It was, after all, the CIA that requested the "leak" investigation, alleging that one of its agents had been outed in Bob Novak's July 14, 2003, column. Yet it was the CIA's bizarre conduct that led inexorably to Ms. Plame's unveiling.

When the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was being negotiated, Senate Select Committee Chairman Barry Goldwater was adamant: If the CIA desired a law making it illegal to expose one of its deep cover employees, then the agency must do a much better job of protecting their cover. That is why a criterion for any prosecution under the act is that the government was taking "affirmative measures" to conceal the protected person's relationship to the intelligence agency. Two decades later, the CIA, either purposely or with gross negligence, made a series of decisions that led to Ms. Plame becoming a household name.

• First: The CIA sent her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger on a sensitive mission regarding WMD. He was to determine whether Iraq had attempted to purchase yellowcake, an essential ingredient for nonconventional weapons. However, it was Ms. Plame, not Mr. Wilson, who was the WMD expert. Moreover, Mr. Wilson had no intelligence background, was never a senior person in Niger when he was in the State Department, and was opposed to the administration's Iraq policy. The assignment was given, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee, at Ms. Plame's suggestion.

• Second: Mr. Wilson was not required to sign a confidentiality agreement...

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

"There are entirely too many 5th Columnists within."

If more Americans payed attention it wouldn't be a problem.

. . . and it would also be far less of a problem if Republicans would "run at them instead of running away from them." The fifth columnists are trying to subvert the Republican Party as hard as they can - challenging them won't make them go at you any harder. If anything, shying from them makes them smell fear and encourages them.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

"The CIA conduct in this matter is either a brilliant covert action against the White House or inept intelligence tradecraft. It is up to Congress to decide which."

Rush made the same point that when the Democrats did their grandstanding the Republicans should have taken the occasion to start an investigation of Joe Wilson.

[Liberal Bob]

One last question: If Saddam Hussein did acquire uranium, where is it now?

newsmax

Surely 500 tons of anything qualifies as a "stockpile." And press reports going back more than a decade give no indication that weapons inspectors had any idea the Iraqi dictator had amassed such a staggering amount of nuke fuel until the U.S. invaded.

That's when the International Atomic Energy Agency was finally able to take a full inventory, and suddenly the 500-ton figure emerged.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/8/112447.shtml

[carumba]

Most American are more concerned with professional sports and reality TV...

Nobody likes reality TV anymore, its too gross. My feeling is that politics is the ultimate blood sport and reality TV all in one.

[freespirited]

"The CIA conduct in this matter is either a brilliant covert action against the White House or inept intelligence tradecraft. It is up to Congress to decide which."

The CIA can't be so stupid as to believe the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was violated; it has the facts to know that it wasn't. That leaves one conclusion. It was a covert action against the White House.

[A CA Guy]

Yeah, what exactly is the makeup of the culture of the CIA today?
Seems to me they knew there was no law broken, that Plame's husband was being sent to sabotage the war with lies and so forth.

Something is wrong seemingly within the CIA...BIG TIME!

What is going to be done about that?

[beyond the sea]

EXCELLENT SUMMATION, imo.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1512059/posts

Is this the "French Connection" we were looking for?

[MPJackal]

"There needs to be a wholesale cleanout of the Federal bureaucracy."

Hey!!! I just got here. It's not fair to clean house now.

[tkathy]

"Most American are more concerned with professional sports and reality TV"

Sports on TV are the soporific of the sheeple.

[jwpjr]

Well, I might be preaching to the choir, or as my dad would have put it "pissing against a wave" but I am STILL outraged that the handling of this entire episode put the cart before the horse by launching a criminal investigation before it was determined if there was a crime. We are on a VERY slippery slope when investigators whose questions must be answered truthfully under penalty of law and the threat of imprisonment can exercise that power when there was no crime in the first place. An analogy is that a body is found on the street corner and the authorities are at a loss as to the cause of death. Was it murder, natural causes, suicide? Knowing it will take several weeks to get the toxicology report back to clear up the confusion about the cause of death they set about a murder investigation. Granted, it's important to move quickly in order to preserve evidence in the event it turns out to be murder, but once coroner rules it was a heart attack how can you charge anyone who was questioned as a potential murderer with a crime for not being truthful with the investigators? A person who is innocent, and knows he is innocent, can understandably behave badly under the stress of a full court press by heavy-handed investigators determined to prove him guilty.

If a technicality can let a confessed murderer walk free, then certainly finding out that the crime cited to justify the questioning in the first place turns out not to be crime HAS to be taken into consideration.

[blinachka]

"The CIA conduct in this matter is either a brilliant covert action against the White House or inept intelligence tradecraft. It is up to Congress to decide which."

I couldn't agree more!!

[txrangerette]

Rush had it right.

The rogue CIA action begs to be investigated. It was THEIR action that resulted in Plame's name and occupation being bandied about (even though it was NOT a crime), THEN they screamed bloody murder that she had been maliciously "outed". Even now, Wilson is running his mouth night after night on all the shows, continuing the rogue operation originally put in place by someone at the CIA.

Congress, for the love of America and what's right, DO YOUR DUTY.

[Jacquerie]

If Valerie used her CIA connections to leak something that would hurt President Bush's reelection, we would have a major crime.

You are correct but I suspect it is worse. The ramifications of a CIA attempt to bring down the President is something out of a Tom Clancey novel. For reasons listed in the article, it was no oversight that the rabid, unqualified 'rat Wilson was sent to Niger and allowed to blabber his falsehoods to the Slimes.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[kalee]

bump

[STARWISE]

BTTT!!

[wouldntbprudent]

It's about time someone started calling for an investigation into the actual issue here:

Was or was not Valerie Plame a covert agent?

Was or was not Valerie Plame's mere association with the CIA protected from disclosure under any law?

THEN these ancillary issues Toensing brings up.

[KenmcG414]

Amen! Amen!

[Bob from De]

Let’s look at the Senate Iraq report for a possible clue [page 59]:

On November 25, 2002, The Naval [REDACTED] issued a very brief report {Alleged Storage of Uranium Destined for Iraq [REDACTED] that a large quantity of uranium from Niger was being stored in a warehouse in Cotonou, Benin. The uranium was reportedly sold to Iraq by Niger’s President. The report provided the name and telephone numbers for the individual, a West African businessman, who was responsible for coordinating the alleged uranium transaction and indicated that he was willing to provide information about the transaction. CIA’s DO told Committee staff that the businessman has never been contacted and the DO has not made an effort to determine whether this individual had any useful information. The DO told Committee staff that they saw no reason to contact him and noted that “no one even thought to do that.”

Let me try and remember again who was establishing a business of trade in Africa, specifically Niger? Ah, yes - Joe Wilson. And who was in Niger in early 2002? Joe Wilson. And all of a sudden this report comes into the CIA about uranium in a warehouse for Saddam, but the CIA never follows up. We are going to war, the VP is at the CIA asking questions – and a load of uranium in a warehouse is ‘misplaced’.

In view of the above;
1. This report did find its way to the CIA.
2. Did it go to CIA-Valerie Division?
3. What individual deep-sixed this report?
4. Who is the supervisor responsible?

If Valerie recommended Joe for a "crazy story", why not for an ACTUAL FIND?