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I never thought that I would live through times when a large portion of the American public would be so misguided as to actually condone an administration that took this country to war based on lies. Lies that have been the cause of the deaths of almost 1,770 of my fellow Americans, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians, and there is no end in sight. The latest revelation of dishonesty in the Bush administration is the fact that key members of Team Bush revealed the identity of an agent of the CIA who was working on the issue that these people used as the first (of many) justifications for going to war. Weapons of mass destruction. Out of spite and pettiness and revenge Karl Rove called around Washington to reveal the identity of the wife of Joseph Wilson to anyone who would listen and tell them of her work. This is damaging to our national security for many reasons, but the ones that strike me as being most important are:
As pointed out by Larry Johnson, a former CIA operative who has his own political blog, this administration (which means this president) cannot be trusted to guard the identities of anyone working clandestinely for the safety of this country. They run the risk of being exposed by Bush & Co. if they happen to have verifiable information that runs counter to the current line of ‘propaganda’ being broadcast on any given day by the Bush administration. The fact that Karl Rove and Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby were taking turns identifying Valerie Plame as a CIA operative, or verifying that fact to members of the press, ensures that the identity of the leakers was known to both Bush and Cheney. What is particularly repugnant is that they instigated the contact with the media, not the other way around. (For proof please see Matt Cooper’s grand jury testimony.) That although George W. Bush promised that if anyone in his administration was found to be responsible for this act they would be fired immediately. Well, it’s now a given. But not one person has been called on the carpet for their actions. Here is what his father, ex-President George H.W. Bush said about this perfidious act: "Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors." That's from a speech that he made on April 26, 1999.
What strange times we live in. To find that Americans would allow themselves to tolerate the dishonesty exhibited by this administration as well as to allow themselves to be fleeced to the tune of one billion dollars a week would have been unimaginable to me only a few years ago. Now, it’s just another day in America.
One last quote before I go:
"There's been nothing, absolutely nothing, brought to our attention to suggest any White House involvement, and that includes the vice president's office, as well,...if anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." – Scott McClellan, Press Secretaty for the Bush Administration.
Me Omaha, Nebraska
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