Plame-Out?

Opinion Journal.com/WSJ ^ | 9-30-03 | James Taranto

[shhrubbery!]

Time for some heads to roll at the CIA. They either purposely or stupidly allowed this pompous twit, Wilson, to be sent off on a "mission" to undermine our president -- for partisan reasons.

Somewhere I read that Bush has kept Tenet and other Clinton holdovers because of a sentiment of his father's.

George Herbert Walker Bush is said to have felt compassion for CIA staffers who were fired when a new chief executive took office, and vowed that he would not do the same.

Apparently his son GWB has been honoring his father's advice.

Times change, and national security demands change.

Clean out the Augean stable of the CIA (and the FBI)!

[roses of sharon]

C-span also showed the hours long questioning of the British panel that investigated Iraq intell, particularly, the uranium claim. Very hostile quesioning, I might add.

They concluded unanimously that intell was NOT "sexed-up", and the uranium claim was a valid assessment. They said they had seen all intell for themselves.

Wilson smeared Cheney and Bush in a July op-ed, insinuating that Cheney sent him and ignored his report.

Cheney denied he knew Wilson or saw a report, all Cheney asked the CIA to do is look into the uranium intell.

Wilson then admitted he made no written report, and had an investigation over "tea" with officials.

In defense of Cheney and Bush, some, or one of their people, may have called reporters and probably said, "no we did not send him, we knew nothing of his report, since his wife works there she may have sent or recommened him".

I'll bet it was that simple, the motive of "revenge" seems rather silly, since how does committing an felony to 6 reporters constitute revenge?

You should see if C-span has that British committee tape for sale. It is very interesting. Which is why our media showed none of it.
Just too many darn facts.

[Maria S]

Could you post the entire article (if it's O.K. with the Admin.). I don't want to register with the LA times. Thanks,

[Steve0113]

LA Times articles must be excerpted, per the settlement with FR.

[Steve0113]

ping

[kevao]

To whom does the phrase "when he told me" refer? Is it the senior administration official, or Ambassador Wilson?

It is the "senior administration official", and not "Ambassador Wilson's report".

[Gothmog]

I'm not sure if we can post the entire article, but if you've been following the story you will know pretty much what has been reported elsewhere, except this part which kind of gets to the truth of the matter:

"But the most widely discussed theory focuses on the high-stakes bureaucratic battle that raged around Bush and his top aides in July over a single 16-word sentence in the president's State of the Union address.

"That battle pitted officials from Cheney's office and the White House's National Security Council, who argued that Iraq had been seeking nuclear weapons, against the CIA, which argued that some of the evidence was weak."

'pragraph mentioning the Bush 16 word' Snip

"The controversy led to an embarrassing round of behind-the-scenes finger-pointing between the CIA and the White House over who was responsible for putting the shaky claim about uranium into Bush's speech. Eventually, National Security Council staff took responsibility.

"But that acknowledgment came only after sharp disagreements."

Wilson went to Africa Snip

In addition to Wilson's report "a senior CIA official, Alan Foley, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that he, too, was skeptical of the uranium claim, and said he had urged the NSC's chief weapons proliferation expert, Robert Joseph, to leave it out of the president's speech.

"Wilson's wife works with Foley in the CIA's Nonproliferation Center.

"On the other side of the dispute, the NSC's Joseph is said to be an ally of Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"'Foley fought with Joseph about keeping the Niger claim out of the State of the Union,' [former CIA agent] Cannistraro explained. 'Cheney and Libby made sure it got in. Then you get a report from the CIA casting doubt on the authenticity' — Ambassador Wilson's report." The Los Angels Times, 10/1/03

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scandal1oct01,1,1890560.story?coll=la-home-leftrail

In other words, it was a policy dispute and Plame ignored the fact that she was not elected to make policy. She lost an internal battle and worked (in private and w/ her husband in public) to try to get her point across.

[Maria S]

Thanks!

[Maria S]

Thanks!

[Timesink]

This is the Plame Name Blame Game ping list.
Freepmail me to be added or dropped.
You may also find all posts to this ping list by searching on keyword PLAMENAMEBLAMEGAME.

Note this is a HIGH-VOLUME ping list!
Please ping me to any Plame/Wilson threads!
There is no way I can catch them all myself!!

[Ann Archy]

Mr. Wilson said that 6-8 people thought he shoud go to Niger....so WHO were those 6-8 people??

I think the Wilson's have something in common with the Rosenberg's.

[Ann Archy]

I SWEAR I said Rosenbergs before I read your post....and someone high up is pulling the Rosenberg-Wilson's strings.

[SunStar]

Let us not forget that the person in charge of the CIA is Clinton-Appointee George Tenent.

[tonyinv]

I've been thinking that the leak did come from State. We know now that it wasn't from the White House and Novak said that the guy was NOT a "partisian gunslinger".

Obviously Novak may be biased but I dont think he'd be characterizing the person in such a manner if it was a political appointee.

I'm thinking a career State official slipped up probably not knowing what Ms. Plame did at the CIA. She may very well have been "undercover", its just that no one knew this, as they shouldn't have.

I think the investigation that has been ongoing is of Wilson, his mission and his wife, and maybe even some people at the CIA.

[tonyinv]

My girlfriend has tossed the Rosenbergs idea out there also, anything is possible. It would be nice if this gets turned around and bites them all in the ass.

But either way the groundwork has been layed to say that any prosecution of Ms. Plame, Mr. Wilson,or anyone else at CIA or State will be called a coverup/smear/revenge.

[NotQuiteCricket]

You know I'm your girlfriend, right?

:Þ

[tonyinv]

yes..I forgot your screenname :)

[Cobra Scott]

Thank You! Finally, my faith is restored; it may be a small detail, but I cannot grasp why any "operative" would go to the trouble and expense (with my tax money and yours) to create a front company and then use their real name, or anything even close.

Probably used her Langley office address too, right? Probably with an email of PlameV@cia.gov....