Naming of agent 'was aimed at discrediting CIA'

[UpInArms]

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565362612

The Bush administration's exposure of a clandestine Central Intelligence Agency operative was part of a campaign aimed at discrediting US intelligence agencies for not supporting White House claims that Saddam Hussein was reconstituting Iraq's nuclear weapons programme, former agency officials said yesterday.

In a rare hearing called by Senate Democratic leaders, the officials said the White House engaged in pressure and intimidation aimed at generating intelligence evidence to support the decision to make war on Iraq.

Senior administration officials in July revealed the name of Valerie Plame, a former clandestine CIA officer and the wife of Joseph Wilson, who was sent by the CIA in 2002 to assess claims that Iraq was trying to buy enriched uranium from Niger.

<snip>

Vince Cannistraro, former CIA operations chief, charged yesterday: "She was outed as a vindictive act because the agency was not providing support for policy statements that Saddam Hussein was reviving his nuclear programme."

...more...

[Maccagirl]

1. The question is...where's the outrage?

There will be no justice in this case. Heavy sigh.

[progressiverealist]

3. Chin Up! We do not yet know how this will end.

The administration and their shills in the corporate media will spin, spin, spin. But it's way to early to say that there will be no justice.

Will we see Rove perp-walked out of the west wing? Probably not, but I'd love to see it. But never forget, they're screwing with the C-I-A! Media or no media, these guys will not let this slide. The just won't, mark my words. Oh, sure, they can probably get Tenet to fall on his sword for the frat boy a few more times. They can probably quiet things down again. But this is not over.

Look, maybe Rove never goes to prison for this. But at a BARE MINIMUM what this has already done is dent the moron-in-chief's image and make him vulnerable.

Fight the good fight- beat Boosh in '04. In the words of Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never give up."

[snippy]

11. I think the outrage is coming. At a time of the CIA's choosing.

I do not think that the CIA would have leaked the request to DOJ for a criminal investigation unless the CIA had an end game in mind.

The CIA is accustomed to being blamed for intelligence failures and typically does little about it. This case has been different though. For whatever reason, the CIA decided to take on a current administration. That is a big step, maybe unprecedented. The CIA would not have done this recklessly or in a snit. It was done for a purpose. And that purpose is something more than an intent to embarass the administration, since that was accomplished when the news of the investigation was leaked.

Since the news of the criminal investigation was leaked, the CIA has kept up the pressure by having former CIA officials continuing to go public about the consequences and now the motives of leaking the Plame information. These former CIA officials would not be doing this without the approval of the CIA. I think they are being hand picked by the CIA to counter the administration's attacks on Wilson's motives. I expect this to continue.

I have no idea what the CIA intends to accomplish with this, but I am confident that it intends to accomplish something more than has happened as of yet.

[rocktivity]

14. Right, Snippy--the CIA are in the catbird seat with this

remember--lying, cheating, stealing, manufacturing evidence, and general dirty tricks on behalf the government is what the CIA is for. You can bet they've "thought this through," and that if this story gets buried, they've got plenty more than can "dig up"!


rocknation

[Zhade]

42. It sure feels weird.

To think, we're cheering for the same outfit (if not people - hopefully!) that overthrew a number of foreign governments and whacked a sitting president.

Life is very odd at times.

[Scimmio]

47. very interesting to see how it turns out...

Poppy, the Skull and Bones crew, and The Company all having to teach Junior's Gang a lesson...

I've noticed that FOX has poured it on, as far as "she was a secretary" and the more recent "the CIA did a poor job on WMD intelligence, that's why we can't find any". Um, the CIA said from the start that there weren't any hard facts for proof of WMDs. How does that make them responsible? And, c'mon, you really wanna pick a fight with the freaking CIA?

But, yes, it's odd indeed to cheer for them. If they do decide to act, it'll be interesting to see if it's an overt take-down or just a random series of accidents and health problems afflicting members of the administration. Now would be the most tin-foily moment for someone's chronic heart trouble to flare up. And it will be our children and grandchildren who get to read all the juicy bits once we're long gone and the files are finally de-classified.

[DrBB]

2. The question is, where's the COVERAGE?

C-SPAN, the London Financial Times. Woo hoo. Where the f is the New YORK Times? I heard CBS had a clip of yesterday's hearing on last night, but they scrupulously avoided the more inflammatory things the agents said. Why? These guys aren't nutcases, and what's more, they aren't even Democrats. "CIA Agents Accuse WH of Intimidation" --where's that headline in US media? I hear Joe Conason was there, so at least it'll get out on the web, but what else is new? Everything gets out on the web. Low impact, low signal-to-noise medium that it is.

[UpInArms]

4. the web may appear to be

a "low signal to noise" medium, but it is not.

Look what happened to Lott - all because of some tenacious bloggers.

The web is where the drumbeat starts these days and we can make it louder and louder.

Hang in there and keep tap, tap, tapping. It will keep drip, drip, dripping into the consciousness of our fellow citizens.

Each one of us has an obligation to continue to getting the message out there into the consciousness of others.

LTTEs, columns, just talking to people - giving websites out and information - make the rest of the country understand, as we do, what is going on.

Get the questions in their minds and they will demand the answers as surely as the sun comes up in the morning.

[the_red_pill]

23. couldn't agree more

I was just turned onto this site by a neighbor, who litereally opened my eyes and showed me what was going on. Among other things he mentioned the outting of a CIA agent as a flexing of white house muscle. This really sparked my interest, because for a government to sacrafice one of their own...and on top of that, one involved directly with our national security, well that just didn't seem possible. After a bit of searching on the net I was able to find out more about this event, confirming that things are not what they seem. And while most of America is currently occupied with who will win the World Series, its news like this, and people like my neighbor that can help to awaken the rest of America.

-red

happy to be another drop

[TXDemGal]

24. Welcome to DU, red

Glad your neighbor gave you a head's up and you found your way here. You can pass it on by letting others know what the real dirt it.

[the_red_pill]

26. ^^

Thank you cheryl, and believe me, I plan on it.

[bandy]

35. thanks, Red, and

welcome to DU - comfort for the soul.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. How much longer

can the US Media get away with ignoring and glossing over the acts of this misadministration? How did we go from a press that wouldn't let the President breath without criticism, to a press that now professes that it is wrong to criticize a wartime pResident? How much longer can they drag out the Koby story, while they pretend that no one really cares about Iraq, Afghanisatan, Israel, the economy, and the laundry list of wrong doings by this misadministration? What happened to the men and women in the press corp? Have they all had frontal lobotomies or something?

[quispquake]

7. That's why I'm REALLY HOPING Gore can get his news network off the ground.

People here were bitching that they said it wouldn't be 'liberal' enuff, but you know what??? I'd be perfectly happy with FAIR and BALANCED (what the words really mean, not what the nazis at Fox News have done with the words). We need a news service that will actually tell people what's going on!!!

[Zhade]

43. Don't hold your breath.

They're planning on turning it into "MTV News II". Sickening.

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/2003/10/001305.html

[ClassWarrior]

51. So glad to see...

...that we're keeping hope alive.

Sheeeeeeesh.

[jbfam4]

6. David Corn

and Eric Alterman were in the audience too. This story won't die.

[jbfam4]

10. Disappointed in Washington Post article

Dana Priest makes this into a dem vs gop issue. She missed so much of what was said or didn't write about it. There were real bombs and shock and awe statements from these three former CIA agents who supported Bush. I am sure C SPAN will replay this. It is a must see.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13974-2003Oct24.html
Democrats Seek a Wider Inquiry

By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2003; Page A06


Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee heightened their criticism yesterday of a Senate inquiry into prewar intelligence on Iraq, saying it is ignoring how the White House used the information to build support for going to war.

Failing to examine the administration's use of intelligence "is a huge omission," said Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.). "Someone, somewhere has got to do an assessment," he told CNN.

[grasswire]

18. if you are disappointed with her coverage...

....then write to her.

[e-mail]

They only stay on track when we force them to.

[TacticalPeek]

22. I believe the Priest article is actually covering a different thing.

It doesn't mention the "rare hearing called by Senate Democratic leaders" which featured the exquisite testimony of the three ex-agents. In that group, neither Harkin nor Daschle are Senate Intelligence Committee members, I believe. It performed the great service of not so much a few more drips, as a few sprays of tar.

The intel committee thing is another angle Priest is doing. It could contribute something, since a little more D v R heat may be necessary to start that pot bubbling, and its an easy, traditional handle for the press.

[maryallen]

31. Daschle and the "Democratic Policy Committee "...

Daschle has given many of us heartburn, but this hearing -- under the aegis of the "Democratic Policy Committee" -- was really quite a brilliant political move. In actuality, the "hearing" was a press conference where the committee questioned three former CIA agents.

The reason it was so clever is because it was an end-run around the Intelligence Committee's Chairman, Pat Roberts who has, to the present, refused to properly investigate the leak or, for that matter, determine why we went to war based on faulty information.

So, in my opinion, this is one of the most creative moves the Democrats have made. It confirms the old adage:

"There's more than one way to skin a cat."

[snippy]

32. I agree. It provided the CIA with a forum to present its position.

And it is very interesting and encouraging that the CIA did not prevent the former officials from participating.

[bpilgrim]

13. here some more - including nyt - at GFP ------------------- LINK

http://new.globalfreepress.com/article.pl?sid=03/10/25/0328219

psst... pass the word ;->

peace

[berry]

21. David Corn (of The Nation) was also there.

I highly recommend going to C-span and looking at this hearing/press conference (it should be available on the web for at least a week).

Yes, I think the CIA knows what it's doing. But the Dems are right there too now--Daschle, Rockefeller, Harkin, Levin, and the new/old guy from NJ (the name slips my mind for the moment). Maybe there was one more. All VERY angry. Apparently, this kind of event is rarely scheduled--it looked like a hearing, but of course called by, and only attended by, Dems.

[jumptheshadow]

27. The New York Times

They were much more concerned with Whitewater, it seems.

[seventhson]

8. I was absolufuckinglutely flannergasted. Here was the CIA's FINEST

agents. ProBush agents even. BLASTING the White house and Bush in particular for clear TREASON.

It was probably the most incredible thing I have ever seen EVER in any kind of hearing (and that includes the revelations of Ollie North and John Dean) BECAUSE now it was NOT just a matter of breaking some law designed to keep presidents in check - it was a clear act of treason done for political motives. The WORST crime you can imagine.

Bush and his friends are stupid and in deep deep trouble when the top folks fighting terror in the CIA KNOW that the Bushes are corrupt as the day is long - Bush is TOAST politically.

I was SO proud of these spooks.

I have siad from the VERY BEGINNING that it would be honest men and women in the intelligence community who would save us BECAUSE they know the dirt and if they are noble and do their duties they will expose the criminals.

[goforit]

9. The outrage???......Nobody reads papers! People don't search the truth

This is what Bush is banking on!!!

[alfredo]

12. the former spooks I know are turning against Bush, and many

are very right wing.

[goforit]

34. That is good to know!

Some how they need to know we support them!!!

We need to start a fundraiser for 'them' specifically.

Does anyone know how to start a web?

[Occulus]

15. the thing is

in this one, sole case, that just doesn't matter. Like someone said above, this is the C-I-A we're talking about here. They know where most of the bodies are buried, both figuratively and literally.

Even if not one single news organ in the country picks this up, the issue will live on. The papers will likely only print the results anyway, but again, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that the CIA won't back down... not on this.

[goforit]

33. I would certainly hope you are right!!!

I hope the CIA would win on this one.
They should know that they are not alone!!!
There are alot of people behind them.

I for one am praying every min. of the day for them and humanity!!!

[Zhade]

44. It will be impossible for the media NOT to cover this.

Remember these two words: Operation Mockingbird.

Hell, even I could have told BushCo it's a bad idea to fuck with the CIA. Of course, I wouldn't have. I'm enjoying the fireworks.

[cliss]

16. "a vindictive act because the agency was not

providing support for statements that Saddam Hussein..."

Look at how that reads. In other words, the CIA was not going along with their lies, so they're getting punished. If there was no truth to the statement, why should they?

I have to agree with SeventhS. There are many, many talented people here in the US, and they simply will not stand for this kind of behavior. I suspect that if they have waged war against the Busch meisters, they will have a few tricks up their sleeve. After all, BushInc gives new meaning to the word Incompetent!

By the way, I don't think Bush is conservative. He's something else.

[9215]

36. Astonishing. It is like being hired

by the Mafia with "an offer you can't refuse".

[Technine]

41. Earth to Democrats

NONE of the CIA agents testifying at this hearing were in the CIA when this allegedly happened.

Get your act together, guys. It's going to require a lot more than this to get the ball-rolling with this investigation.

[proud patriot]

46. They are Classmates of Valerie Plame , and her her colleagues

the ball is rolling on this investigation

[0007]

17. A pissing contest?

We all know who can pee the highest.

Expect a bomb shell in the next ten days!

[grasswire]

19. I watched that hearing again..

...late last night. They aren't pulling any punches. Johnson said that the thing that infuriates him the most is the petty partisanship that caused the leak. He said the poisonous politics have to stop.

He also said that he didn't even know that Plame was married to Wilson until the story came out. That's amazing.

[Rose Siding]

20. I saw it too

The Dems looked like a serious underground opposition party ready to take the reigns- not radical but on top of it. I was greatly reassured that nobody will be sweeping this under any rug.

[the_red_pill]

25. link to text?

Has anyone converted this into text form? Link link does anyone have a link? No cable television here.

[Rose Siding]

30. Link to c-span video

Democratic Policy Cmte. Hearing on Intelligence Leaks

[Unknown Known]

28. Larry Johnson looked like he was about to cry

It really shocked me! These are people who voted for bush and where are any Republicans on this matter? Even though the Dems can be too soft a lot of times, I have to ask - where are any Repukes on this?
This should be an outrage to them as well.

Where's McCain?
Where's Chaffee?
Where's Hagel? Snow?

It speaks volumes about their allegiance - and it's not to this country. :nuke:

[DUGA]

29. I wonder

I watched the committee meeting on C-SPAN twice yesterday and I also found myself rather angry. I'm curious though how many "friends" Bush, Sr. still has in the Agency. I for one agree with Johnson and want to see a special prosecutor conduct an investigation in to this.

[Philosophy]

37. Maybe the CIA will "leak" something about Bush*

They must have a ton of dirt on him.

In fact this could be their strategy - if they really want to get back at * there is nothing they can do through legal channels that the administration couldn't stonewall and drag out until after the election - I mean where still waiting for the Cheney Energy Task Force and 9-11 investigation stuff from years ago. But they could covertly reveal just enough juicy tidbits about the BFEE to negatively influence *'s chances for reelection. And once he's out of office he's a sitting duck.

[SideshowScott]

38. Who needs the C.I.A. when we have the Bushgastapo hard at work!?!

Its kinda funny that the Bush white house is throwing lotsa wrenches at the C.I.A machine from making them take the fall for the rotten intel on 9/11 ( something that anyone willing enough to dig will find out thats not true ) to the TRESONOUS leak of an undercover agent that Bush really does not have any intrest to find out who it is.. Why you might ask..Well put on your tinfoil hats ladies and gents beacuse hes hard at work with his OWN spys, spooks and dirty deeds that he does not need the C.I.A. ..Thats what i think anyway

[Technine]

39. This article is dishonest!!!

I'm sorry folks, but if you're wondering why this story didn't grow legs in the mainstream media, it has everything to do with the fact that NONE of these former agents were in the C.I.A. when this took place.

I wonder. How many of you read this article thinking these were disgruntled C.I.A. employees who left in disgust after this leak occurred? The article sure gives the reader such an impression.

Vince Cannistraro has been retired from the C.I.A. for a few years now; he runs his own private securty consulting firm. What you're reading in this article are opinions, not firsthand factual accounts.

The rest of the media doesn't care about this because the hearing was one gigantic pile of B.S.

[Zhade]

45. Okay. You already made that point earlier in this thread.

It's not a very valid criticism, as ex-spooks never lose touch with the community, but hey, it's your opinion, cool.

No need to blanket the thread with a statement most of us will disagree with. Especially the "B.S." comment. Did you actually watch the hearing? Because I did, and it was very relevant - and full of facts.

[TacticalPeek]

48. I've never noticed a DUer mistake these guys for 'resigners in protest'.

However, there are handy refs for info on such:

http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/diplomat-resign.html

http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/resignations.html

etc.



:evilgrin:

[librechik]

50. Takes one to know one

come back when you take your blinders off

[proud patriot]

40. Our National Security was endangered for political partisan purposes

I'm Outraged ..

Media get your act together , and report the truth
about this exposure that endangered all of us .

[radfringe]

49. implications go deeper than just a "leak"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=590520&mesg_id=591995&page=