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Edited on Thu Jul-14-05 06:04 PM by joemurphy
"What are the excuses for jeopardizing the lives of our secret agents?" The Republicans are offering these:
1. They argue because Rove didn't spell out the "name" of the agent, he should be excused.
But unless Wilson was a polygamist, it's pretty easy to determine who she meant. "I've referred to the Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House. I didn't mention Karl Rove by name. But everyone knows whom I'm talking about." This excuse insults the intelligence of the American people.
2. Rove was just trying to clear up some confusion about who sent Wilson to go to Niger.
But how is that important? Who cares who or why he was sent? Does that justify outing Joe Wilson's wife name? Why didn't Rove simply say it was someone other than Cheney that sent Wilson. Why did he have to mention Wilson's wife's identity?
Inslee says he's demanded copies of all documents in the White House discussing this. Congress needs to know who outed Plame and America deserves to know too.
Why hasn't the President asked Rove - a person who works with the President on an hourly basis -- "What happened?" He's obviously not trying to find out.
3. Wilson is a Democrat.
Inslee says Wilson is hardly a left-winger. But even if he is, that's no justification to flout the security laws of the U.S. and destroy the covert and protected status of our agents. Covert agents should be protected whatever their politics. No Administration has the right to punish political action in this way.
Americans deserve to be treated fairly. It's simply wrong to out a covert agent and destroy her career, merely because her husband exercised his rights and criticized the administration.
There are at least two people who blew Plame's cover. We need to know who they are to prevent this from ever happening again.
These excuses don't merit Congress refraining from its oversight role. It's not good for national security. We need to get to the bottom of this.
The fact that there's a criminal investigation underway is a point to remember. But this is about over. And besides, that's no reason not to examine things on a two-track basis.
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