AUDIO LINK ON CHUCKIE
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Chuckie messed up today
HOLDING DOWN "RETURN"
SHOULD FREEZE ACTION
new & improved
Posted on 09/29/2003 1:49:52 PM PDT by Pokey78
Edited on 09/29/2003 2:01:54 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
In July I was interviewing a senior administration official on Ambassador Wilson's report when he told the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction. Another senior official told me the same thing. As a professional journalist with 46 years experience in Washington I do not reveal confidential sources. When I called the CIA in July to confirm Mrs. Wilson's involvement in the mission for her husband -- he is a former Clitnon administration official -- they asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else. According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operator, and not in charge of an undercover operatives...
Who knows on that one. The other thing I just googled up was Novak's comments after he wrote his column and he was being questioned on it.
Novak is dissembling. Either now or then. On July 22nd, this ran in Newsday
Novak, in an interview, said his sources had come to him with the information. "I didn't dig it out, it was given to me," he said. "They thought it was significant, they gave me the name and I used it."
I don't know honestly if Novak was telling the truth then when he said it was handed to him, and she was an operative, or now when he said that it was during a routine interview and she was only an analyst.
Novak is not telling the truth at one point in time here. It's a question of which Novak you want to believe.
Just one problem .. he didn't prepare a report
I really don't know
At this point, I don't believe EITHER Novak. They are both liars. Either the White House tried to peddle the story or they didn't. It now appears that they didn't but the damage is done. Maybe that's all Novak wanted in the first place.
Why did he take this leak and print it? Can he be trying to passively aggressively destroy the white house? He knew better than to leak this out. Even if Valerie Plame was a janitor, you don't leak out CIA agents identities, even if the request not to do so was mild.
He is dissembling on Valerie Plame's status. 3 networks now have stated that she ran informants, and that the CIA is checking the damage. So, it gets muddled. The sense I can make of it is that Plame used to run informants under cover as the ambassador's wife, but has now shifted to work as an analyst. She may not have assets now, but she could have assets from 5-10 years ago who would be nervous about this leak.
Who did the leak benefit? The democrats. Novak shouldn't have agreed to do the leak, because it could only cause blowback. I am now of the opinion that Rove was not involved at all, but it was a 28 year old jackass who thought he was going to play Nixon plumber squad. The 6 other reporters realized the person was being an ass, and refused to report this for national security reasons, as well as the anger of the White House for printing something so stupid with no side benefits.
Further Novak is damaging the White House further with his purposeful evasions. He could let people know that no "professional" was involved, but is using his reporter source shield to actually make the story worse.
Somebody not to bright was the person to talk to Novak, and Rove has never been accused of that crime.
Novak was dead against the Iraqi war. Why would he try to carry water for the White House in leaking this story? Logically, he would want to not weaken Wilson, because Wilson was on Novak's side on this one.
Novak knew that the blowback would be bad on this one. If I was Karl Rove, I would have the White House do the following.
Attack Robert Novak. Say he was being duplicitous in leaking the CIA agents name. Give up the junior staffers who did this. Say that Novak did a disservice to his country for manipulating young go getters, and he should be ashamed of himself.
The White House does not want/need to be linked to Novak here. Novak is running his own agenda.
It's become difficult to distinguish paleo-conservatives from left-wing radicals.
This thing smelled long ago when Wilson started his crap
The question is why is it beig brought up again .. I'm with other freepers that this is to devert attention from something bigger
One of those supposed to have been given the story according to the WP was Andrea Mitchell and she seems to backing away from the story now
As for the media .. they are blowing this way out of portion about a cover up
Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi, a Board member of the American Muslim Council, and co-founder of The American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans' Affairs Council,was arrested on as-yet-unspecified criminal charges at Dulles International Airport,after returning from London.
As much as I dislike all of the individuals you named I find it hard to believe they would approach Putin. Afghanistan was another failure of the UN, for years they sought a way with which to deal with the civil conflict and rise of the Taliban. For years they failed. There were many interests, factions and agendas afoot there. In any event, I suspect Iran or perhaps dissidents in the region, even certain elements who reside in Pakistan. And I further suspect that they called on Russia for arms and money, not overt support. This could well be the reason Putin said we would be sorry for going to Iraq, he knows that in the aftermath of victory comes the extremists and ongoing, bleeding unrest.
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