What was the purpose of the leak?

[ochazuke]

Can someone tell me what they were trying to achieve by divulging the status of Mr. Wilson's wife as a CIA operative?

[Cocoa]

1. I think it was the nepotism angle

someone quoted a White House official saying Wilson was looking like too much of a saint, they wanted something to tarnish him.

I think it's possible that it was a blunder, that whoever leaked it didn't think of the illegality of it. Who knows. I don't think it matters if they did it intentionally, it's just as bad if in their vengeful zeal they acted recklessly with national security info.

[w13rd0]

2. Rove's mind...

...is something I try to understand, in the sense one seeks to understand the enemy, but it isn't something I can "peer" into. Revenge, smearing as nepotism, take your pick. Who knows what their motivations are, besides naked power and aggression to secure that power.

[grytpype]

3. Primarily...

Primarily, it was an attempt to discredit Wilson by suggesting he got the Niger assignment through nepotism. (Wilson had investigated the Niger connection on behalf of the US in February, and when Bush used it in the SOTU anway, Wilson went public with his findings.)

The secondary effect is to put the uppity intelligence community into a state of fear, so they'll stop trying to tell the truth about Bush and the flimsy case for invading Iraq.

And, it was revenge against Wilson personally.

[lebkuchen]

4. My guess

Lots of CIA/FBI agents have the goods on the Bush administration. Wilson dared to speak the truth, and he violated an unspoken Bush rule of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." He had to be made an example of for others who are considering taking the path of truth, exposing the Bushies' skeletons.

[salin]

17. exactly - discredit wilson - and show others who might tell... that bushco

will f*ck with them and their families - even so much as to put their life in danger.

[judy]

5. I think the idea was to discredit him...

The official line is that the only reason why he was sent to Niger, is because his wife, a CIA operative pulled strings to have him sent there, not because anyone important had sent him because of his qualifications.
As Novak said, he is a Clinton appointee, and his trip was so unimportant that Cheney did not ever see his report.

That's all BS, of course. Wilson was sent to Niger because the CIA wanted him there as he is extremely qualified. Before being a Clinton appointee, he was Ambassador to Iraq during George 1 (the last American diplomat to have had a meeting with Saddam before GW1), and his trip was sanctioned by high level people, but it went against the marketing campaign of the Iraq "product"

:puke:

[seoigh]

6. Intimidation

It was a warning to anyone in the CIA who may have had an intention to be a whistle blower. Take yourself back to mid-July -- everyone was talking about how the pre-war intel had been cooked. A lot of retired CIA types were saying in the media that they wished someone at Langley would step forward. By outing Plame, the administration was warning CIA agents that whistle-blowing would be met with cover-blowing. Bush doesn't want the CIA talking about pre-war intel, plain and simple.

[KayLaw]

10. Yes

That and punishment for the New York Times article.

[PurityOfEssence]

13. Exactly; just as Joe Wilson said

It's a warning to any other government employee or anyone else who's privy to anything that if they "out" the administration, they will be destroyed. They will be professionally, financially and socially ruined, even it if means putting the country at risk.

Wilson has said repeatedly that this was a warning to others. Revenge is just icing on the devil's food cake.

[JHB]

7. I don't think it was nepotism...

...though that angle may have been icing on the cake.

Wilson was directly contradicting the White House's spin on the yellowcake, making them look bad. Bush and Rove discourage that sort of thing by making sure anybody who tries it pays for it. Remember the graduating students who who were threatened with losing their diplomas and being arrested if they merely turned their backs on him during the graduation ceremony? Remember Helen Thomas, who doesn't get to ask questions at W.H. press briefings anymore because she kept asking tough questions? By making a harsh example of one person or group, it deters similar action by others.

Same principle here. The goal was to hurt Wilson (and send a message to everyone else) by not only going after him but after his family as well. Except in their arrogance other considerations (like WMD proliferation and national security) weren't even on their radar screen, and they didn't think of what might be destroyed in doing so.

And they're still trying to brazen their way out of it, because that's worked so far. But a slow-motion mutiny by the CIA rank & file may not let them get away with it this time.

[ewagner]

12. Something running around loose in my brain

maybe I need more coffee, but try this:

Did whoever leaked the story think that nepotism discredited Wilson report?

the outing did not address the validity of Wilson's report.

Are these guys that stupid?

[skip fox]

16. Please see my post, #15, below

Discrediting Wilson is not as damning to the leakers as the purposes of revenge or warning, but Oit will lead us in the right direction, not the wrong ones. And nepotism was just Novak's take on it. (Means squat.)

[Homer12]

8. This is Slash and Burn Politics

They don't care, they'll take anybody down with them.

You see the best way to destroy government (if your a neo-conservative or a conservative) is to do it yourself.

And they do it better than any administration has done it since.

[zeemike]

9. My guess is

That it is fresh meat to feed the Democrats so they don’t notice the manipulation that the Repugs are doing in California and the Democratic primary.
It should be enough to last till the election and take away the news of the primary coverage. And that is worth it to them because no one of any stature will go to jail over this.

[LanternWaste]

11. You're lack of faith is disturbing, Admiral Needer

My opinion is that the WH was trying to send a message to anyone in the diplomatic corps and intelligence agencies that they "better damn well tow my line, or THIS will happen to you...."

Rove saying to Wilson, "You're lack of faith is disturbing, Admiral Needer."

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. First, it was vengefulness toward Joe,

for writing the Op-Ed piece. Then, a warning to the CIA. "Here is what we CAN and WILL do to you...if you speak the truth." JMCPO

[skip fox]

15. I disagree: Primarily to discredit Wilson as an anti-admin. maverick!

I keep pushing my pet purpose, but let me lay out the four commonly referred to:

1. Revenge on Wilson.

2. Warning to any others with similar information or gripes.

3. To indicate nepotism, and thus discredit Wilson.

4. To imply the trip was self-initiated (Wilson got wife to send him) and thus discredit Wilson.


These are not, as is often pointed out, mutually exclusive. But the primary one is #4. If the
administration could show that Wilson was chomping at the bit to get to Niger, they could paint him
and his investigation as partisan. The story would run: Here's Wilson yelling about the false
information in the President's speech, but no one could really believe his investigation in Niger was
objective since he was a Clinton man, got himself assigned to Niger the previous fall, then found
what he WANTED, and reported to the CIA. It is little wonder that the President gave no credence to
Wilson's report. We've seen him as a maverick all along.

The nepotism "take" (3) was thick-headed Novak's, who simply didn't "read" the leak in the manner
intended.

#1-2 are side benefits, only, not the primary reasons IMHO.

Once we see #4 as primary, we see another kind of mind working. One which is intelligent, cold and
dispassionately calculating, trying to substitute one narrative to undercut another. Not a mind given
to firebombing opponents (like Rove?), but one which tries to quickly and surely relegate Wilson to
the junkpile of history. Nothing personal; he's just gone. No credibility. No more editorials. Nada.

To my mind, this places it in Cheney's lap.


#1-2 (revenge and warning) make better stories, but they might draw us away from the true
leakers.

IMHO

[HFishbine]

18. Cheney

It was to distance Cheney. Recall that Cheney was saying he didn't even know who Joe Wilson was. Wilson meanwhile wa saying the CIA told him that the Vice President wanted to send someone to check out the uranium story.

To put some distance between Cheney and the truth, Novak was used to plant the notion that Cheney had nothing to do with sending Wilson to Niger, he was sent on his wife's recommendation -- so the story went.

Cheney may or may not have been involved in the leak, but the motivation was indeed to discredit Wilson for the purpose of defending Cheney.

[skip fox]

19. Damned interesting point!

Yes, "She sent him there" is the central message.

I think your hypothesis is as good as mine. But would they have shopped this around as they would a story they thought discredited Wilson. I gotta think about it.

Damned good point.

[9215]

21. Next question, did Cheney

know and approve of Wilson being sent, did he know and disapprove and was somehow overridden.....? This is a great subtopic to get the mental juices flowing.

[skip fox]

22. I'm guess he didn;'t know about Wilson personally until

later. But then what the hell do I know?

You're right, the entirity of this is a fully equipped intellectual gym.

[skip fox]

20. Kick

:bounce: