Amb. Wilson Was Involved with the Gulf War I Propaganda Campaign

[JCMach1]

This is probably going to be old info. for DUers(or not). I firmly admit to being slightly out of the loop at the moment here in the Middle East. Having said that, I found an interesting tidbit that some of you will remember from Gulf War I. If you recall Joseph Wilson was the Chagee d'Affaire for the Bush I administration in Baghdad:


"Ambassador Wilson was the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces, Europe, 1995-1997. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995. From 1988 to 1991, Ambassador Wilson served in Baghdad, Iraq as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy. During “Desert Shield” he was the acting Ambassador and was responsible for the negotiations that resulted in the release of several hundred American hostages. He was the last official American to meet with Saddam Hussein before the launching of “Desert Storm.”"

http://www.mideasti.org/html/bio-wilson.html

The important thing I uncovered was this: WILSON WAS THE ONE CRITICALLY INVOLVED IN THE 'FAILED' NEGOTIATIONS THAT LED UP TO GULF WAR I. In fact, Wilson was a victim of the propaganda campaign in the push towards war. Wilson's final critical meeting with Saddam was leaked to the media as being an utter failure. This propaganda came directly from high government officials via the Washington Post. Weeks later when the transcript of the Wilson/Saddam meeting came out, it became clear that Saddam was (far from being the next Hitler) trying to seriously reach an agreement far short of war. By then, though, the propaganda campaign had taken on a life of its own as the hawks in the Bush I administration moved doggedly towards war.

In other words, Wilson was hung out to dry as part of a propaganda campaign (sound familiar???). I firmly believe that Wilson saw this happening again and decided to speak out (which he did).

The speculative part of my post is this. I am coming to believe that the 'high government' officials who set him up in Gulf War I are the same ones who outed Wilson's wife.

I think Rove may be the misdirection in this case. Ultimately, I think the trail will lead to Dick Cheney and Wolfewitz.

[punpirate]

1. The diplomatic negotiations were hamstrung...

... not by Wilson, but by April Glaspie. As late as July 25, 1990, Glaspie was telling Hussein, "the US takes no interest in Arab-Arab affairs." If anyone set up Wilson, it was her, on instructions from the other set of Bushies.

Portions of Dan Quayle's diaries also lend credence to the supposition that the deceit was intentional to draw Hussein into invading Kuwait. In those, shortly before Hussein invaded Kuwait, Quayle wrote (paraphrasing here), "last-minute negotiations have failed, just as we expected them to." Those last-minute negotiations are possibly Wilson's.

As for the speculation, it's possible, I suppose, but for what purpose? A career diplomat, doing what was expected of him, and then getting caught up in results others planned and didn't let him in on? Why would that now, thirteen years later, be justification for a violation of law? After all, the issue is what he had to say now, about this administration's methods, and not that he revealed some tidbit from the elder Bush's time in office.

Nope, I've got to fall back on character to find the reason for this. Bush was likely furious about Wilson's outing of his lies. Rove fed that fury, and determined to make like difficult for Wilson by making life difficult for his wife--and by example, scare other potential whistleblowers.

As the saying goes, character counts, and it certainly should, in this analysis. Bush and Rove have tremendous tempers and decidedly pathological desires for political and personal revenge. Don't be dissuaded--Bush and Rove together very, very likely are the instigators of this crime, even if they are not the people who actually carried it out.

Cheers.

[JCMach1]

2. Perhaps I didn't make it clear, but I think this may have

motivated Wilson to NOT get caught in the same sort of bind again. I wasn't putting forward that Wilson was involved. IF anything he was used in the whole affair (sound familiar???) Having read what I did about the Propaganda operation, I now believe that the leak leads directly to Dick Cheney and possibly some of his people.

Rove was a red herring and a misdirection possibly offered up by the same people who leaked the info. in the first place. I.E. in full CYA mode.

[punpirate]

3. Still doesn't jive with current events...

... to my mind.

Wilson's going public didn't help him avoid trouble--it created trouble. I doubt he anticipated the administration outing his wife in order to cause him grief. No one would have, if the normal operative rules were in effect. But, those rules aren't in effect.

Rove's not a red herring. Rove and Bush are linked, almost symbiotically. If Rove is implicated (which he is, by follow-up statements to the same reporters getting the original message), so is Bush. Politically, the two are so intertwined as to be almost indistinguishable from each other. If Rove knew, Bush knew. Did Cheney tell Libby to spread the word? Maybe. Does Cheney act like he's the president? Yeah, often.

But, again, character. Cheney is cold and calculating, and this business is full of loose ends suggesting that it was done in haste and in anger.

Cheers.