Posted on 10/05/2003 4:32:15 AM PDT by billorites
IF AMBASSADOR Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was indeed a covert agent for the CIA (and not just an analyst), and if a Bush administration official did expose her, a 1982 federal law may have been broken and someone should pay. But considering the many ironies of this story, Wilson’s allegation that Bush’s administration “outted” his wife to punish him (by risking her death, implicitly) just doesn’t figure.
Wilson wrote a New York Times op-ed faulting the White House for suspecting that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger. (An ambassador in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and a long-time friend of and former aide to Al Gore, Wilson admits he became anti-George W. Bush after the 2000 South Carolina primary. He is now a big supporter of John Kerry’s Presidential campaign.)
Irony No. 1: The Bush administration allegedly released the name of a CIA officer as political payback against the officer’s husband. Doesn’t the Bush administration need the help and high morale of the CIA right now to help prosecute the War on Terror? What would it have to gain by putting a CIA operative’s life in danger? One must assume the leaker knew he wasn’t endangering Valerie Plame’s life.
Irony No. 2: Columnist Bob Novak was the journalist who printed Plame’s name. Novak opposed the war against Saddam Hussein because he, like Wilson, did not believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that were a threat to the United States. Was Novak used by the administration? Was he callous about Plame’s safety?
Having worked for Novak for five years, I know him to be an exceptionally savvy journalist who doesn’t allow himself to be used as a pawn of any administration. He is a patriot who cares deeply about the safety of men and women defending our country, and he is a recent convert to Catholicism who takes ethics and human life seriously.
Novak explained in his Oct. 1 column how Plame’s name ended up in his July 14 column. After Wilson’s predictably anti-Bush New York Times piece appeared, Novak probed into the matter of why the CIA would want a Kerry supporter to go to Niger to investigate possible “yellowcake” uranium sales in the first place. Administration officials said the reason Wilson was sent was because his wife, a CIA officer, pushed for him to go.
Here’s where a law may have been broken by administration officials, but here is where it also is necessary to digest a few facts.
The fact that Wilson’s wife was a CIA officer is newsworthy, because it tells Americans that even after the massive intelligence failure of September 11, the CIA may be making decisions based on politics and personal ties instead of what’s best for the country.
Was former ambassador Joe Wilson the best person to send to Niger to search for uranium dealers? Maybe not, given his strong anti-Bush bias and the implausibility of thugs from Niger revealing anything noteworthy to an official ambassador who grandstands in the New York Times about his CIA connection. Why did the CIA not send a qualified investigator in Wilson’s place?
Secondly, it is important to realize this: Lots of people in Washington work at the CIA, and most of them are not glamorous secret agents whose lives would be endangered if their identities were revealed. In fact, columnist Maureen Dowd has revealed that Plame blabbed to Wilson about her CIA work around the time of their first kiss. She was apparently as casual as the administration about her “cover.”
In the 10 years I spent in Washington, I met three people who rather off-handedly told me they had done work for “Langley,” the Virginia neighborhood where the CIA is openly situated. When Novak called the CIA to confirm his sources’ allegation, he wrote, the CIA confirmed it but asked him not to print Plame’s name. The CIA did not say that printing Plame’s name would endanger her. Instead the official said it could make traveling overseas more difficult for her, Novak reported.
Here’s where a journalist makes a decision about motives: Is it likely that the CIA asked that Plame’s name not be printed because her life or health would be jeopardized as an analyst? Or is it more likely that the CIA is embarrassed that someone found out the politics and personalities behind its post September 11 decision making?
Irony No. 3: Who are the fiercest defenders of CIA operatives and fiercest critics of “freedom of the press” now? U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Harvard officials, and the editorial pages of the liberal Washington Post and New York Times.
If a law was broken, whoever broke it should pay the price. But let’s not be naive and accept Joe Wilson’s tripe about the White House wanting to endanger his wife as payback for his criticisms. The more likely motivation is administration concern that even after the CIA fell down on the job before 9/11, it continues to take short-cuts in the War on Terror.
Bernadette Malone is the former editorial page director.
I saw this striking blonde," he recalled, still sounding smitten six years later. At first she said she was an energy analyst, but confided sometime around the first kiss that she was in the CIA. "I had a security clearance," grinned Wilson, then a political adviser to the commander of U.S. forces in Europe.
Weird how that part of the quote somehow gets left out, isn't it?
That should be enough to indicate that the story is BS.
JULY 2003 : (WILSON SEEKS A BOOK AGENT) - "Novak: The Wilsons for Gore ," by Robert Novak, Townhall.com, 10/05/03
AUGUST 21, 2003 : (WASHINGTON : WILSON ATTENDS PUBLIC FORUM IN SEATTLE, ATTACKS BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S KARL ROVE) "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words." -- Joseph Wilson Aug 21, 2003
AUGUST 29, 2003 : (ALAN FOLEY, HEAD OF THE WEAPONS INTELLIGENCE, NONPROLIFERATION, AND ARMS CONTROL CENTER ANNOUNCES HIS PLANS TO LEAVE THE CIA) A top CIA expert on weapons of mass destruction, who became embroiled in controversy over whether the White House stretched evidence about Iraq's programs, said he planned to leave the agency in October. Alan Foley, who heads the Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control Center, told colleagues in a note dated Aug. 29 that he had been "thinking about life after the agency for some time" and decided to leave after 26 years to enter the private sector. ...While I can't prevent the inevitable speculation that will be generated by the timing of my decision, I want you to know that this is something that I decided entirely on my own," Foley said in the note, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. "I can't deny that the pressures of the past few months have not weighed heavily in my mind, but there are many other aspects to my decision, not the least of which is that I'm intrigued by the prospect of trying my hand at a second career in the private sector," he said. - "Head of CIA Weapons Analysis Program Leaving," Reuters , 09-10-03
* Remember Joseph Wilson......this is his wife Valerie Plame's boss.2 posted on 09/10/2003 5:39 PM PDT by Dog
* Isn't it fascinating that we would have a new poster today talking about intelligence blunders and such? On the same day that Mr. Foley's resignation is made known. Quite a coincidence, isn't it?10 posted on 09/10/2003 6:21 PM PDT by Miss Marple
* Thanks for the ping, I believe Foley want's out before any investigation gets underway about Joseph Wilson & his wife's involvement in this whole Niger smear attempt 14 posted on 09/10/2003 6:35 PM PDT by MJY1288
SEPTEMBER 11, 2003 : (NY "PROGRESSIVES'" CONFERENCE INCLUDES RAY MCGOVERN, WILLIAM RIVERS PITT, OTHERS) On September 11, 2003, a conference was held in New York. "World's Leading Progressives Gather to Rethink 9/11" was the title of the press release, dubbed the "Largest Forum Ever on 9/11 Questions and Alternatives to Corporate Rule, Repression and War". What are "9/11 Questions"? Well, such phrases as "What Did Bush Know?", "Who Really Piloted the Planes?" and so on. The partial list of participants is telling:
Medea Benjamin, Kelly Campbell, Mike Ferner, Catherine Austin Fitts, Amy Goodman, John Judge, Rev. Peter Laarman, Wayne Madsen, Rania Masri, Cynthia McKinney, Hibaaq Osman, Ray McGovern, Greg Palast, William Rivers Pitt, Virginia Rasmussen, Michael Ratner, Michael Ruppert, Danny Schechter, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Steve Staples, Susan Witt…
SEPTEMBER 2003 mid : (NIGER FLAP/WILSON AFFAIR : CIA SENDS STANDARD 11- QUESTION FOLLOWUP QUESTIONAIRE TO THE DOJ) The CIA follows up such referrals [as the one sent to the DOJ in late July] with a second letter to Justice answering 11 standard questions, such as what damage was [d]one to national security and who in government knew of the information. The CIA sent this letter in mid-September. - "Wilson, wife have tight ties to Democrats. " By Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 2 Oct 03
SEPTEMBER 21, 2003 : (UK SAYS TWO FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES CONFIRM THAT IRAQ WAS TRYING TO BUY URANIUM IN NIGER) Britain's Foreign Office still maintains Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Niger, saying at least two foreign intelligence services confirm a sale was under discussion. The Foreign Office refuses to identify the two spy services. - "A look at the U.S.-British claims that Iraq tried to acquire uranium in Africa," AP, SEPT 21, 2003
SEPTEMBER 26, 2003 : (REPORTS THAT CIA WANTS THE DOJ TO INVESTIGATE WHO LEAKED VALERIE PLUME'S "COVER" TO PRESS - FUNNY HOW NO ONE ASKS WHY AN ANALYST IS CONSIDERED "UNDERCOVER") See "CIA seeks probe of White House; Agency asks Justice to investigate leak of employee’s identity, " MSNBC-NBC News , Sept. 26, 2003
SEPTEMBER 29, 2003 : (RAY MCGOVERN OF THE GROUP "VETERAN INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONS FOR SANITY" CONFIRMS PLAME'S STATUS, ADMITS KNOWING WILSON) Mon Sep-29-03 05:49 PM Ray McGovern, who was for 27-years a senior analyst for the CIA, further confirms the status of Plame within the CIA. “I know Joseph Wilson well enough to know,” said McGovern in a telephone conversation we had today, “that his wife was in fact a deep cover operative running a network of informants on what is supposedly this administration’s first-priority issue: Weapons of mass destruction.” - "VANITY: Wilson Outed His Wife's Status.," Vanity , assembled by seamole w/unsycophant, October 2, 2003, Posted on 10/02/2003 11:49 PM PDT by seamole
OCTOBER 2, 2003 : (WILSON MEETING WITH HOUSE DEMOCRAT CAUCUS) Wilson is expected to meet with members of the House Democratic Caucus today, but he denies he is doing it out of partisanship. Democratic lawmakers have called for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the leak. "I'm meeting with the Democratic Caucus because they invited me," he said. "If the Republican Caucus were to invite me, I would go up and meet with them as well." Wilson said he would be asked about his views on Bush's $87 billion budget request for reconstructing Iraq and Afghanistan, but said he expected to be asked about the investigation as well. Wilson said he believed his views concerning the way ahead are "nonpartisan, are the best way ahead for our country — not for one political party or another." The investigation concerning his wife should not be viewed as a partisan matter either, he said. "We're talking about a crime against the national security of the United States. That is not a partisan activity. That is a crime against the country." - "Ambassador Says White House Adviser Told Press His Wife Was ‘Fair Game’ ," abcnews.com , Octo. 2, 2003
OCTOBER 2003 : (WILSON FINDS A BOOK AGENT) In July when he revealed himself as author of a report commissioned by the CIA, Wilson sought a book agent. After being turned down by a prominent agent, he has now found one. - "Novak: The Wilsons for Gore ," by Robert Novak, Townhall.com, 10/05/03
JULY 10, 1997 : (WESLEY CLARK BECOMES C-in-C OF US EUROPEAN COMMAND) General Wesley K. Clark, U.S. Army, became the Commander in Chief of the United States European Command on 10 July 1997. - eucom.mil
JULY 27, 1999 : (GENERAL WESLEY CLARK TOLD HIS TENURE AS NATO COMMANDER WILL END ON APRIL 2000) Air Force General Joseph Ralston will replace Clark.
And you know this because...? You've personally talked to White House staff lately?
<The fact is, Wilson and his wife were very open about her employer, and a dem told Cliff May about Plame before Novak's column was written.
Whose fact is this? Bob Novak's? Now there's a reliable source for you, a guy with no particular reason to be somewhat biased in his recollections.
Really, nobody in this administration was out to reek revenge upon the idiotic (and treacherous) Wilsons.
At this point, it really doesn't matter. What matters is that a CIA operative has been exposed either through the malice or the sheer incomptence of administration officials and/or Bob Novak.
The CIA isn't going to simply let this one go. They can't afford to, because the excuse "oh, everybody knew that she worked for the CIA, so it's ok that her cover's been blown" ain't gonna work with any field agents.
Oh, and by the way. Please explain what either one of the Wilsons have done that could even remotely be described as 'treacherous'. Ie: of treason.
This "former diplomat" was also a staffer for Al Gore and Tom Foley. He claims to support the Kerry campaign. And his CIA wife hosts fundraisers for Hillary!
I sense there is a whole lotta pahtizanship goin' on 'round heah...
Because I am able to use my powers of deduction based on facts and reasoning.
Whose fact is this? Bob Novak's? Now there's a reliable source for you, a guy with no particular reason to be somewhat biased in his recollections.
No. As I plainly stated, that fact is Cliff May's. He stated that a Democrat told him about Plame's CIA employment status before Novak's column appeared. I heard May say it on television last week, and further, he posted it on "The Corner" over at National Review and I posted the link to it the day he reported this. So chew on that for a bit.
What matters is that a CIA operative has been exposed either through the malice or the sheer incomptence of administration officials and/or Bob Novak.
Or the Wilsons, themselves.
I don't know where you are seeing that anybody said it's "OK" that her cover's been blown. Can you point me to it?
As I pointed out before, May said the reason the dem told him was to convince him that Wilson was a patriot and not a whacked out lib trying to bring down President Bush. (The dem is clearly wrong, but that was his stated reason for "blowing" Plame's cover, per May.) So we seem to have a combination of loose-lipped Wilsons, dems trying to convince conservative journalists that Wilson meant no harm to the president, and officials answering questions when a journalist asks "Why the hell would Joe Wilson be selected to go on a trip to Niger to ask about uranium". None of those explanations points to malice on the part of the Bush adminstration, much less revenge or some such nonsense.
Oh, and by the way. Please explain what either one of the Wilsons have done that could even remotely be described as 'treacherous'. Ie: of treason.
Lying about intelligence comes to mind.
What about Chuck Hagel? Or Bill Kristol? Are they both secret RINO's too? Can we also discount anything a Republican says if it makes the White House look bad?
There is NO motive to out Plame. First of all, if the administration wanted to kill her career, they could have done so quietly by having her re-assigned to the desk that monitors activity in Antarctica.
???? But that would defeat the main purpose of outing her openly. Which was to send a message to CIA staff to keep quiet about anything that might potentially embarrass the White House regarding Yellowcake, or else face having their careers ruined.
Can you really not see this as a potential motive, or are you just trying not to see it?
Secondly, quite a few people in DC knew that Plame was CIA. There have been several articles on this story.
And each one of those stories trace back to one person: Bob Novak. Hardly an uninterested party.
And even then, there's a huge difference between suspecting that someone works for the CIA, and having it confirmed in the newspaper.
Third, President Bush, whose father was a CIA director, values the CIA and has been quite supportive of their efforts, both publicly and in the budget. To think that he would use the CIA for political advantage, and a small one, is silly.
Actually, I don't think so. In fact, I don't think the President had anything to do with it. But someone within his administration clearly did.
Given Mr. Wilson's attitude and background, I think it far more likely that he used his wife's position to prove his insider knowledge, and that Novak checked with both the CIA and an administration official, who verified it.
So what? That in no way justifies outing a CIA operative. Whomever told Novak that Plame worked for the CIA is probably guilty of a felony.
Why would Bush go after one ambassador and his wife over this story, when he has tolerated and worked with people such as Ted Kennedy, who have said and done much worse things?
Well, probably because ole Teddy hasn't recently undermined the US rationale for going to war with Iraq, as Wilson did. And again, I don't think the President really had anything to do with it.
Sorry, but I don't buy your long list of comments, since many of them are simply YOUR opinion.
Fact: A CIA operative has been exposed.
Fact: Senior administration officials were involved in exposing a undercover CIA agent.
Fact: The CIA cannot afford to allow its agents to think that political officials can occasionally blow their cover either out of malice or incompetence.
I am frankly amazed that so many here don't seem to be grasping the importance of this scandal.
This isn't about politics, this is about *institutions*. The CIA isn't about to let any administration, whether it be Republican, Democratic or Rastafarian, undermine their authority.
Sometimes people hire an attorney just for advice because they think they're going to be attacked. In this case, however, I'd say Joe is beginning to wonder about the wisdom of his unfounded charges.
I suspect that Bush plans to play hardball on this one. That is, going ahead with a thorough investigation, as Bush ordered, was probably the last thing Wilson wanted.
This is because Joe knows that the "leak" will lead either to him or to a sympathizer in the CIA or State. And then Bush will be able to get rid of that person. (And said person will probably go to jail, or get very close to it!)
"So, tell me the truth, Jamal, did Saddam Hussein ever try to buy yellowcake from you guys?"
"Why, of course not, Joe!"
"I didn't think so. Here ya go, Jamal, have some more mint tea."
That is exactly how George Tenet characterized the trip. Here's his statement that basically says this was a big joke (I would love to know when Tenet found out about this trip. He was not involved in setting it up):
Text of CIA Director George Tenet's statement
EXCERPT:
Because this report, in our view, did not resolve whether Iraq was or was not seeking uranium from abroad, it was given a normal and wide distribution, but we did not brief it to the President, Vice-President or other senior Administration officials. We also had to consider that the former Nigerien officials knew that what they were saying would reach the U.S. government and that this might have influenced what they said.
Oh, please, the people who "blew" this cover were either the Wilson's themselves or other Clintonistas like them within the CIA or State who hate Bush - and whom he was not savvy enough to remove when he took office.
None of this would have happened had Bush cleaned house and swept people like Joe and Valerie out the door. And their boss with them...
That should be enough to indicate that the story is BS
Actually, on one of these many threads, someone found that Valerie Wilson was doing some research on the Plame name in Russian geneology records. Maybe a Google would turn up the link.
No. Joseph Wilson's position is the adminstration was wrong that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium. The fact is, Wilson himself thought that was the case in 1999.
You mean you didn't know that? How could that be?
The fact is, the administration is being proven correct, of course, and it is Wilson who looks lamer with each passing day.
And each one of those stories trace back to one person: Bob Novak.
Oops. You're wrong again.
I am frankly amazed that so many here don't seem to be grasping the importance of this scandal.
The scandal is why a group in the CIA was/is trying to undermine President Bush.
Or the Wilsons, themselves. Not unless they're in the habit of writing columns for the Chicago Sun Times under the name "Robert Novak".
So we seem to have a combination of loose-lipped Wilsons
Yeah, you just keep trying to convince yourself of that.
dems trying to convince conservative journalists that Wilson meant no harm to the president Oh, those helpful, helpful dems. Who would have thought they'd go out of their way to help President Bush. And that Cliff May would be so unconcerned about a Democrat's potential violation of national security.
None of those explanations points to malice on the part of the Bush adminstration, much less revenge or some such nonsense
The problem is, they're all pretty unlikely explanations. Because nowhere in any of them was it at any point necessary to reveal Valerie Plame's CIA status. Not by Novak, and not by any senior level officials.
Lying about intelligence comes to mind.
Then let him be charged as such.
Don't you find it a little odd that if that were true, that he wasn't instantly charged with a felony? Or do you think that the White House is relatively easy going about people filing false intelligence reports?
You really aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?
LOL
(That means, EVERYBODY thought of that already. Doesn't mean a crime was committed, still, though. There are several criteria that must be met, but if someone committed a crime, arrest them.)
Not unless they're in the habit of writing columns for the Chicago Sun Times under the name "Robert Novak".
*Joe Wilson* took it upon himself to write an op-ed July 6th (Novak then wrote his column of July 14 based on Wilson's curious column) revealing that he, Joe Wilson, was sent by the CIA to Niger.
I hope even you can see that it was Joe Wilson, and Joe Wilson alone, who revealed that.
As to charges the Wilsons may or may not face, I have confidence that if enough evidence is gathered to prosecute and convict it will be done.
It does make sense:
"Why was Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of this administration, chosen to go on a trip to Niger to inquire about Iraq seeking uranium?"
"Because his wife suggested him."
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