Wilson's War

NewsMax.com ^ | 10/01/03 | Dan Frisa

[kattracks]

Dan Frisa
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003

Novak giveth and Novak taketh away.

That?s the long and short of the so-called ?scandal? trumpeted by the Left and promoted by the lamestream media.

After all, it was the Novak column of July 14th that instigated this affair.

If that report was valid enough to instigate this flap, then why isn?t his clarification, that no one from the White House called him and that Wilson?s wife is neither an agent nor a covert operative, good enough to end it?

Well, ordinarily it would be ? but for the insatiable, breathless desire of Democrats and their media pals to ?tag? this President with something, anything, that might ?stick?

Once again a neo-lib has alleged that Karl Rove was at the heart of a problem in the White House. And once again it seems apparent that the charge is utterly false.

Recall how Gen. Weasley Clark recently said that his calls offering to assist with the war in Iraq went unanswered by Rove? And how it turned out that Weasley, like Wilson, was engaging in outright lying?

It appears that the neo-libs are chasing the same shadows again.

But let?s look at the genesis of the entire sordid story.

It has been reported, repeatedly, that Vice President Cheney requested that Wilson travel to Africa to investigate whether Iraqis had sought to purchase weapons-grade uranium (yellow cake).

This claim has apparently never been substantiated, and it has just recently come to light that Wilson?s wife ? a CIA analyst on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ? actually herself suggested that her husband ? Wilson ? undertake a trip to run down the story.

How, precisely, did Wilson go about this task?

Did he literally just show up in Niamey, Niger on the doorstep of the government and begin asking questions such as ?Have any Iraqis been around lately asking to purchase yellow cake??

Or did he ? alone ? don his super-sleuth raincoat and mill around the streets of Niger probing and poking around?

Actually no one but Wilson knows what he course he pursued on the ground there; we only know his conclusion ? that it was ?unlikely? that Iraq sought the uranium.

What does ?unlikely? mean to former acting ambassador Wilson?

We have no idea, because there has never been a credible report as to his activities; only the tremendous, and conclusory, bottom-line that he didn?t find anyone willing to provide him with any confirmation.

But he doesn?t ever aver that he had any proof whatsoever.

One thing that?s obvious is that he seemingly got nowhere.

Now comes the related ? and equally troubling ? issue of the infamously false charge as to the so-called sixteen words in the State of the Union address, relating to the British report that Iraq had, indeed, sought weapons-grade material for its nuclear weapons program.

The White House was wrong to have conceded that the phrase should not have been included in the speech, the Wilson ?report? notwithstanding.

Especially since the British parliament ? even after an exhausting inquiry ? concluded that the Blair government did not ?sex up? its pre-war intelligence reports, including the Iraqi attempt to secure the material.

All of which puts a major damper on the now-suspect flimsy Wilson claim.

In fact, Wilson himself has engendered even more suspicion as a result of his own outrageous fabrication last month during an appearance in Seattle that he hoped ?Karl Rove would be frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs? ? only to admit yesterday that he had no basis to make such a claim.

But he made matters worse by adding that he had ?great confidence that Rove? at least was aware of the issue.

How can that be when Wilson reluctantly admitted his original lie concerning Rove, attributing his false charge to getting caught up in the moment?

Wilson can?t have it both ways.

Rather than listening to the nut cakes in the Democrat party make outlandish and spurious charges against the President, perhaps someone should look into the circumstances that: a) caused Wilson?s wife to recommend him, and b) to have resulted in the CIA actually taking her up on the suggestion to send hubby on this now-suspect mission.

Bottom-line, there is no ?there? there and leaves one to wonder what is really going on here.

One thing is certain: when a State Department staffer looked into Bill Clinton?s passport and visa files during the 1992 campaign, the administration of President George H. W. Bush took swift action to punish the perpetrator.

Contrast that serious treatment with the laugh and pass that Defense department spokesman Ken Bacon gave to his underlings who released confidential and protected personnel file information on Linda Tripp to the press in an attempt to discredit her, a violation of the federal privacy act.

So Clinton?s administration could unabashedly thumb its nose at the law (duh!) while both the prior and current Bush presidencies did the right thing in upholding the law to hold potential lawbreakers accountable.

Glaring double standards aside, what in the heck was Joe Wilson thinking when he broke his obligation of confidence in publishing articles and commenting publicly on his mission for the CIA?

Seems like Wilson should be the focus of a criminal investigation ? not for leaking, but for the wholesale and willful dissemination of classified information gleaned at the behest of the U.S. government.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly. E-mail: danfrisa@newsmax.com

[capydick]

The?Repubs?need?to?get?ahead?of?this?story?and do better?than? getting Mitch?McConell out?there.

[Maria S]

I don't believe I've seen quite so many ????? grouped quite so closely together!

[maestro]

Did he literally just show up in Niamey, Niger on the doorstep of the government and begin asking questions such as ?Have any Iraqis been around lately asking to purchase yellow cake??

Was Iraq's Wilson carrying Chinese, Russian and North Korean passports?

[cwb]

People in the media keep defining this case as an attempt to intimidate Wilson. Some Democrats have even insisted that it is an attempt to intimidate his wife and children. O'Reilly jumped on the bandwagon tonite calling it retribution for Wilson's report. I really don't think this was the case and without knowing the motives, these people are just as guilty as those who they are accusing.

Whoever leaked this information may have done it simply to put into perspective Wilson's involvement in this case. After all, the media hasn't provided an explanation for why a retired Ambassador was sent to Niger in an "investigative" role, looking into the Uranium claim. It is very relevant if the only reason Wilson got this job was because his wife, as a CIA employee, helped him get it. Especially since Wilson hasn't only been anti-Bush, he has been pro-Iraq, in that he even opposed the embargo and no-fly zones.

From what I understand, for this to have even been a crime, the leaker would not have only had to know Valerie was an "undercover" agent, but he had to intend to do harm. As ignorant as this leak may have been, it simply sounds as if someone wanted to get out the other side of the story involving Wilson's appointment and how he happened to get this job...ala Valerie Plame. If this is the case, that person may be an idiot (and should be fired), but he may not have committed a crime.

[maestro]

Your#5,.......Excellent Analysis!

Exactly,......where are those three (3) Iraqi Mystery Ships?

/sarcasm

[cwb]

Thanks. I really don't believe this was retribution. I think whoever these sources are, were simply telling a part of the story that the media was ignoring. In fact, it sounds as if Joe Wilson is the one who techniclly took on the role of the spy in this case. And as such, he should've kept his mouth shut instead of writing op-eds for the NY Slimes. He opened himself up for this criticizm...and he should be the one looked at for leaking information through the media.

[lawdude]

Could someone, ANYONE, post a timeline of happenings regarding this issue?

It would appear to me that Wilson, himself, outed his wife.

I would love to see the actual, factual, timeline, not democrat lies and innuendo related to supposition.

[Redcoat LI]

Wouldn't it have been a better strategy to intimidate him before, or during his trip?His lackadaisical investigation and off the cuff conclusions, not to mention his op-ed in the N.Y.Times,suggest to me that this guy had absolutely nothing to fear from the administration.You would think that if there was going to be any backlash for his negative views,someone would have "suggested" what he should report. This whole scenario is pretty thin, which is probably why the RATS are going with a full court press on this one,before this whole thing fizzles out.

[cwb]

Yeah...this whole thing stinks. When I heard Boxer claiming that the administration was intimidatng Wilson's wife and children...that was way over the top. The story's already out there...what good is intimidation after the fact. It's not like the media would give Bush a pass on something like that. And remember, this story is from July and it is only getting traction, now?

[maestro]

Thanks. I really don't believe this was retribution. I think whoever these sources are, were simply telling a part of the story that the media was ignoring. In fact, it sounds as if Joe Wilson is the one who techniclly took on the role of the spy in this case. And as such, he should've kept his mouth shut instead of writing op-eds for the NY Slimes. He opened himself up for this criticizm...and he should be the one looked at for leaking information through the media.

I agree!

Shades of the David Kelly 'team'.....BBC....etc?

'Bury the French (U.N.).....CONNECTION.

:-(

[hiho hiho]

Am I the only one who thinks it improper for the spouse of an Ambassador to be a spook? It would seem that this only confirms other nations suspicions that our embassies are really CIA offices.

[Verginius Rufus]

Whose idea was it for Wilson to go through the motions of investigating, without seriously trying to find out if the Iraqis were trying to obtain yellowcake? Wilson's, or some higher-up at the CIA? What was the point? To try to derail any claims that Iraq was trying to build nuclear weapons, or just bureaucratic CYA in case they were later asked why they hadn't investigated?

[cwb]

Exactly. And if you remember when the inspectors were in Iraq, one of Saddam's big complaints was that our inspectors were CIA agents. It appears he may have been right. You'd think the liberals would be thrilled with this revelation since they are always attacking America's duplicity.

[maestro]

You'd think the liberals would be thrilled with this revelation since they are always attacking America's duplicity.

The real 'mess' was on their Clintoon's 'Watch'......what a joke!.....'watch?'...what 'Watch?'...???

[cwb]

"Whose idea was it for Wilson to go through the motions of investigating, without seriously trying to find out if the Iraqis were trying to obtain yellowcake?"

This is one of the reasons why someone obviously thought Valerie Plame was relevant in this case. Since it appears she suggested her husband...an anti-Bush, pro-Iraq activist, one has to wonder why this guy was sent to begin with. His 7-day trip, sipping tea and talking with the locals is hardly an invstigation into the facts surrounding this case. This is why I think this wasn't retribution but more of an effort to expose the duplicity of these two and whoever else participated.

[Redcoat LI]

Media driven scandal,a RATS best friend.

[alwaysconservative]

Excellent posts! You've nailed it exactly. And what business is it of Wilson to post "confidential" federal investigations in the NYSlimes and NOT a report back to the CIA? They're both a total waste of space, typical of most Klintoonites.

[alwaysconservative]

How does that happen anyway?????????????????????

[Stultis]

Media driven scandal,a RATS best friend.

I can't even begin to relate how angry I am right now. I was just watching the dummycrats in the House doing their little after-hours piss 'n moan session. Jay Inslee said (paraphrased, but damn close to verbatim) "We've got problems in Iraq now, and we don't need this distraction."

Even coming from a 'Rat, can you believe the unbridled, over-the-freakin'-top hypocrisy required to make a statement like that? This P.O.S. knows that his party is engineering this, that they are purposefully causing this "distraction", that they want it to be as big, and as drawn out and as "distracting" as it can possibly be made to be, and yet he has the gall to regret it, to decry it even, as an unacceptable distraction!!!! What shameless, corrupt and unctuous pretence.

Good, God. I'm glad for the sake of my television that there wasn't a brick handy.