CIA agent's naming led to giant hoax by Bush foes

The Australian ^ | 9-15-06 | Fred Barnes

[MichiganMan]

CIA agent's naming led to giant hoax by Bush foes

Fred Barnes

September 15, 2006

THE rogues' gallery of those who acted badly in the CIA "leak" case turns out to be different from what the media led us to expect. Note that we put the word "leak" in quotation marks, because it's clear now that there was no leak at all, just idle talk, and certainly there was no smear campaign against former US ambassador Joseph Wilson for criticising President George W.Bush's Iraq policy. It's as if a giant hoax were perpetrated on the country - by the media, by partisan opponents of the Bush administration, even by several Bush subordinates who betrayed the President and their White House colleagues. The hoax lingered for three years and is only now being fully exposed for what it was. Let's start at the top of the rogues' list:

Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state under Colin Powell, was the first to reveal that Wilson's wife was a CIA employee. He blabbed carelessly to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, then to columnist Robert Novak, who mentioned it in a July 2003 column. Armitage, after admitting this to the FBI in October 2003, stood by silently year after year as Vice-President Dick Cheney, Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and other White House officials were blamed for what he had done, and Bush suffered politically.

Loyalty is not Armitage's strong suit.

[MichiganMan]

Fred Barnes knocks this out of the park.

[MNJohnnie]

And all Chissy Matthews and the rest of the DNC hacks pretending to be Journalists can do is stammer "oh the story is too complicated to cover now"

Way to go Mr Barnes. Nicely done.

[jwalsh07]

"Colin Powell, Bush's friend and secretary of state in the first Bush term, knew what Armitage had done and never let on. He met with Bush countless times as the White House was being pummelled in the media and by Democrats for outing a CIA agent to take revenge on her husband.

Bush called publicly for the leaker to be identified. Powell knew the identity, but remained silent. Some friend.

Disgraceful.

[jwalsh07]

"Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the "leak" case, was aware of the source of Novak's story when he began his continuing investigation in December 2003. Yet finding that source was supposedly the object of his probe. Now working with a second grand jury, Fitzgerald surely knows the supposed conspiracy to defame Wilson is, and always was, a fantasy. Still he won't let go. Fitzgerald has proved once more why naming a special prosecutor is a colossal mistake.

Contemptible.

[jwalsh07]

The Ashcroft Justice Department. Armitage brought his story to investigators after the CIA requested an investigation when the name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, appeared in Novak's column. So when the department decided weeks later to appoint a special prosecutor, it already knew who had "leaked" Plame's name. Then attorney-general John Ashcroft excused himself, leaving the decision to his deputy, James Comey.

Rather than face a torrent of partisan recriminations for dropping the case, Comey passed the buck to Fitzgerald. There were no profiles in courage at Justice.

Incredible.

[reasonisfaith]

"Chissy Matthews and the rest of the DNC hacks pretending to be Journalists"

After so many media drivebys, their vehicle is breaking down. It will crash someday.

[killermosquito]

We have to go to Australia to read the truth!?!?!

[ASA Vet]

Fred Barnes knocks this out of the park.

Almost.
It would have been out of the park home run if the headline hadn't referred to a middle level analyst as an "agent."

[operation clinton cleanup]

If Republicans play this right, we may have to thank Joe Wilson for saving the Republican majority in Congress.

[tina07]

their vehicle did break down, they just haven't got the brains to stop driving it!

[gunnedah]

I predict Powell will switch to the Democrat Party and get something for his time. I do not think he will run for President but I think he wants to but his wife is against it and I think she fears for his safety.

[Doctor Raoul]

That's Prissy Matthews...

[digger48]

Posted on 09/14/2006 8:28:05 AM EDT by digger48


Your Sept. 12 editorial "Jack Bauer Insurance" was a disservice not to me or to fictional characters like Jack Bauer, but to the very real CIA agents whose commitment to the truth didn't fit the administration's neoconservative agenda on Iraq, and to agents endangered by reckless administration policies.

(snip)

Former CIA case officer Jim Marcinkowski argued the Valerie Plame leak hurt "the credibility of our case officers when they try to convince an overseas contact that their safety is of primary importance." Former CIA agent Larry Johnson, a registered Republican, said it "speaks volumes" that President Bush held no one accountable for the leak of an agent's identity. Forgotten is President George H.W. Bush's admonition that those who expose our agents are "the most insidious of traitors." CIA officers don't need Jack Bauer insurance--they need insurance against the recklessness of this administration


(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...

[digger48]

Sorry....That was John Kerry's remarks in the WSJ today

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..Bush called publicly for the leaker to be identified. Powell knew the identity, but remained silent. Some friend. .."

Powell does not not look good in this. As a matter of fact he looks like a duplicitous weasel. His halo has a tarnish.

"..What's left to do? Fitzgerald, in decency, should terminate his probe immediately. And he should abandon the perjury prosecution of Libby, the former Cheney aide. Libby's foggy memory was no worse than Armitage's.

Last but not least, a few apologies are called for, notably by Powell, but also by the press. A correction - perhaps the longest and most overdue in the history of journalism - is in order. .."

Neither thing will ever happen. Powell took revenge on Bush by letting the leak burn him and Fitzgerald operated the entire investigation to create a purjury trap, since the disclosure of Plame was no violation of law in the first place.

[Doctor Raoul]

...I think he wants to but his wife is against it and I think she fears for his safety.

Going back to a long time a go and an election season, Powell had rented the Reserve Officers Association building for his announcement and she talked him out of it. For the reasons you stated.

[Wuli]

When this is a headline news report, told just as Barnes reports it, in prime time on national TV, then there will be hope in the world.

Oh yea, I won't hold my breath.

[SuzyQue]

Exactly where is Patrick Fitzgerald? Why has no one in the media asked him to explain any of this?

[Paladin2]

The media (or FReepers) need to start a Fitz stakeout/smokeout seeking an explaination of his infamous press conference.

[ARE SOLE]

Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state under Colin Powell, was the first to reveal that Wilson's wife was a CIA employee. He blabbed carelessly to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, then to columnist Robert Novak, who mentioned it in a July 2003 column.

Great summary. One thing, Armitage according to Novak did not blab carelessly to Novak, it was deliberate, he expected the "revelation" to be published. It was a deliberate betrayal by Armitage and Powell of the President. They then kept quite for years and watched the President twist in the wind while he dealt with two wars.

Regards