With special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation winding down, Washington media and political blogs are buzzing about the possibility of indictments soon being handed down to senior White House officials in the Valerie Plame affair.
The Washington Post reports that Fitzgerald’s investigation has focused of late on Vice President Dick Cheney and his office’s power struggle with the CIA over prewar intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
It’s a reminder of what, at bottom, the Plame case is about — the battle over WMD intelligence and whether it justified the Iraq war. Did the White House go too far in manipulating intelligence or pushing back against those who dissented from the official administration position? We might soon know.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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17 Comments
Hard to tell. For what I read, Judith Miller said she cannot recall who told her about Plame, and she said that Scooter Libby did not say it.
We all know that Joseph Wilson was not selected by Dick Cheney to go to Niger, it was the CIA and some say, by his wife. Joseph Wilson also did not file any reports on his findings to any government agency or branch. He did testify to a committee that he couldn’t find any evidence, but that was it. He personally did not find evidence, but the British and Italians intelligence agencies say they did have evidence and it is documented.
Joseph Wilson therefore wanting to keep his crediablity as the sole person that knows all and ends all of everything with Niger decided to write an op-ed piece in the NYTimes.
Yeah “rolleyes”! Really professional person there.
I’m not condoning that Plames name be released. It was a bad dirty political trick and the Republicans are most likely responsible and they should pay the price. So I’m not trying to defend the Bush administration.
Looking at this objectively, I say that Joseph Wilson has some serious credibility issues. I for one believe he was incompetent in his job when it came to Niger. I’m not saying this to bang on him politically. I”m saying this as a professional credibility issues.
Going over to Niger and drinking wine with the Dictator over there and asking if any Iraqis ever try to buy Yellow Cake, and he says “no”, doesn’t mean there was no evidence. He was over there for what? A couple of days? Like you are going to find anything out. Of course he couldn’t find any evidence, because he wasn’t doing anything, and spending half of his trip relaxing in Paris.
It was a vacation for him. Not a fact finding trip. That is why he never wrote an offical report about what he did and what he found out over there.
Wow. That attack by Joe Williams on Joseph Wilson was so silly I’m not going to bother commenting on it.
Word on the web is that Fitzgerald has 22 indictments ready to go, and that John Hannah from Cheney’s staff is singing like a canary to avoid indictment or as part of a plea bargain. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the White House right now.
Isn’t it funny how outraged the right-wingers can get at Wilson for being RIGHT and how sanguine they remain about Bush for being totally WRONG about the WMD’s.
The idea that “everybody thought Saddam had WMD’s” just doesn’t wash. Scott Ritter, former weapons inspector, was running around with his hair on fire telling everybody that the WMD threat was neutralized by the mid ’90’s.
Hans Blix was on the ground with a crack UN team and find nothing day after day.
“The IAEA says that Saddam can have a nuclear device in six months. I don’t know how much more proof you need,” Bush said.
Actually the IAEA (Int’l Atomic Energy Agency) said just the opposite–that Saddam had no way to make nuclear weapons. This is what Wilson said too.
2000 American soldiers have died for a pack of lies. A quarter of a TRILLION dollars spent for a pack of lies.
But it’s WILSON who didn’t do his job. Yeah, that damn Wilson.
The other thing that the Fitzgerald investigation will stop was the absolutely brilliant episode of political “blame-gaming” played by Dick Cheney.
In summary, it went like this:1) twist arms/micro-manage the CIA’s intelligence on WMD & Iraq – insure an outcome you want; 2) When the WMD argument turns out to be false – 3) then BLAME the CIA for being ineffective and 4)then pull the teeth of that agency. See today’s washingtonpost.com for a story on Goss and his mismanagement of that agency – kinda of reminded me of the Corkins/BOE scandal.
While the gamesmanship was brilliant, it was not a good time for this to happen with the supposed terrorists lurking around every corner.
Galahad. If the Bush administration lied, then they lied. But Wilson didn’t do a job.
That is I’m saying. I know you want to protect him and make him high and mighty because he hurts Bush, but I could care less about his agenda or how the left kisses his butt. I’m making the case that he didn’t do his job. Nothing political, just professional.
Joe, it’s time to post some facts instead of dittoing everything Rush says.
Joe said, “He personally did not find evidence, but the British and Italians intelligence agencies say they did have evidence and it is documented.”
Oh, you mean those forged Italian documents?*January 2,2001The Italian police discover that the Niger Embassy in Rome has been ransacked. It appears that the people involved in the break-in searched through the embassy’s documents and files. In 2003, Italian investigators will suspect that this incident is related to a collection of forged documents obtained by an Italian journalist in October 2002 which play a significant role in US allegations that Saddam Hussein attempted to obtain uranium oxide from Niger between 1999 and 2001.*
*February 21Wilson leaves for Niger. During his trip, current and former Niger officials Wilson talks to say they were unaware of any contract being signed with Iraq. Wilson finds no evidence of uranium purchase.*
Joe said, “Joseph Wilson also did not file any reports on his findings to any government agency or branch.”and… “That is why he never wrote an offical report about what he did and what he found out over there.”
* March 2002Wilson returns from Niger’s capital Niamey in early March.Wilson delivers his report to CIA regarding the suspected uranium deal stating that it was “highly doubtful” any transfer of uranium took place.*
Let’s go a step further, okay? Just to show the WH reaction to Wilson’s (non–according to you)-report.
*October 2002October 5The CIA sends a four-page memo to Bush administration officials, including Bush’s deputy national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, and the chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, expressing doubt over claims that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Niger. Stephen Hadley will later claim in July 2003 that he did not brief Condoleezza Rice on the memo.
October 6The CIA sends a second memo in two days, warning the White House that there is little evidence behind the Africa-uranium claim. The memo also notes that the alleged purchase “was not particularly significant.” The memo’s recipients include National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley.
October 7 or beforeCIA Director George Tenet argues “personally to White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley,” that the Africa-uranium claim should not be included in Bush’s October 7 speech because the allegation is based on only one source.
2003January 2003January 28The 16 words are spoken by the President in the State of the Union address.”The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
February 2003February 5Colin Powell goes to the UN to make the case about WMDs and Saddam Hussein.
March 2003March 7The IAEA and Mohamed ElBaradei, provide proof that the Niger-Iraq claims were based on forgeries.
March 8State Department says “we fell for it” regarding the forged documents.
Joseph Wilson indicates on CNN that the U.S. government has more information than the state department acknowledged with respect to the Iraq-Niged uranium claims (he does not mention his trip and his report directly).
“Wilson appeared on CNN, saying that the U.S. government had more information about the Niger fabrication. After that appearance, Wilson said sources told him that a meeting in the Vice President’s office led to a decision “to produce a workup” to discredit Wilson, according to his memoir, The Politics of Truth.”
The decision to produce a workup on Wilson in order to discredit him is made, at a meeting within the Office of the Vice President – possibly attended by Dick Cheney, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Newt Gingrich, and other senior Republicans.
March 19Invasion of Iraq begins.*
Joe, all of the above is clearly documented. And, by the way, Wilson doesn’t have to “hurt Bush.” Bush manages to do that all on his own–with a little help from his friends (administration).
Any more Rush comments you’d like to make?
—–
All Wilson did was “drink tea” with Niger officials.
This is the right-wing line, and by golly, they’re sticking to it.
RD please provide source!
Joe, how many sources would you like me to post? Shall we start with Wikipedia and go from there?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowcake_Forgery
Here are two more:
http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Plame_Investigation_-_DOJ
http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Yellowcake_forgery
All provide links. Or you can google it yourself.
This is interesting, too:
On March 7, 2003, only days before the invasion, the Director General of the (The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released results of his analysis of the documents. Reportedly, it took IAEA officials only a matter of hours to determine that these documents were fake. Using little more than a (Click link for more info and facts about Google) Google search, IAEA experts discovered indications of a crude forgery, such as the use of incorrect names of Niger officials. As a result, the IAEA reported to the U.N. Security Council that the documents were “in fact not authentic.”
Soon thereafter, the documents became generally accepted by the press as falsified. In July 2003, (A person who has conservative ideas or opinions) conservative commentator (Click link for more info and facts about Patrick Buchanan) Patrick Buchanan stated, “[T]he truth now, we know, is that a forgery was put together to get this country into a war with Iraq, that forgery found its way into our intelligence agencies, it found its way into the State of the Union, and the president of the United States should show more indignation and outrage that this was done.” Buchanan added, “Somebody in our own government knew very well that was a forgery, and they advanced it on up the line.”
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/y/ye/yellowcake_forgery.htm
RD, where’s the link to Rush?!?!? How’s a conservative supposed to believe it if Rush doesn’t say so?
Sorry, XXX, you’ll have to google Rush on your own. My blood pressure can’t take it. ;)
Thanks for the info RD.
I was incorrect on some points.
Joe, you’ve earned my respect for admitting it. Thanks.
I will read your links tomorrow RD. So far you are absolutely devastating! Without reading the links you provided, your arguement is best summarized this way.
Officials of the Bush admininstration up to and possibly including the Vice President wanted a war with Iraq. They were prepared to do anything neccessary, up to and including the use of phony intelligence, in order to steer American and international opinion toward this goal. This included not just a will but a DESIRE to silence and or destroy anyone in dispute.
Bush did say “You are either for us or aginst us” didn’t he. To me it was always just rhetoric. It is scary to think it may have become policy at not just the foreign but also the domestic level.
I think Fitzgerald is onto something very big here. He is known as apolitical and a very straight shooter.
You keep digging RD. I want more posts into this and I don’t have your resources.
Joe? This is not about party or loyalty anymore. It sure as hell aint about the “quality of the messenger” especially in light of fact that the administration SEEMS to have gone to great lengths to silence or discredit that messenger.
The truth will out.
But if this nation was summoned to commit blood and resources to war when war was not necessary or warranted; those committing us to that course are entering the realm of treason at the national level…..and war crimes on the international level.
JR, I found the link I was originally looking for. I’ll add a disclaimer that it is an opinion piece, but lists many facts. It does offer some food for thought. It’s in 2 parts. I’ve just now discovered part 1 and haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/072705_rovegate.shtml
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/080905_rovegate_2.shtml
Cheney does not have the missing billion dollar funds he gave halliburton for rebuilding infrastructure in iraq. How do you expect treason by revealing covert operative identities any more serious?
Well ya all need to know the hole truth bout that lil attack us good Americans did over in that sa-damn land?
Well, truth is Saddam gave my Daddy the finger and my finger was stuck with coke up my nose ….so I had no way to return the favor. So to show saddam who is the badest I sent him our very best. Any questions?