Un-fucking-excusable
Sep. 29th, 2003 10:22 amThis is no longer funny. The case of Valerie Plame is now officially the last straw for the Bush Administration.
For those of you not paying attention, Valerie Plame was a CIA contact operative, working South Africa. This was officially classified secret information. She is the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador to Iraq and Clinton's senior director of African Affairs. Wilson was sent to Africa-- along with his wife-- to investigate the supposed sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq and confirm the story that lead to the "sixteen words" in the State of the Union speech.
Ms. Plame was outed in a New York Times article written by Bob Novak, and the leak came from "a senior White House administrator." Most people suspect Karl Rove, although there are six likely suspects.
Wilson wrote a scathing editorial a few weeks after the State of the Union speech in which he shredded the "uranium" claim and called the Adminstration's contentions about weapons of mass destruction a pack of lies. The suspicion is that Plame was burned to discredit Wilson and make it sound like his wife, and not he, was the source of the information.
Today, Clifford May in the National Review has an incrediby ugly piece in which he claims that "everyone knew Plame worked for the CIA" so leaking the secret was "no big deal," and goes on to attack Wilson's credibility on the grounds that he wasn't a spy and had no contacts worth menitioning.
Let's spell it out for Clifford, shall we? There is no doubt that Valerie Plame's assignment qualified for Specialized Compartmentalized Information classification. It doesn't matter "who knew," leaking or publicizing that information is a violation of serious law and a significant felony. He's what one man has to say about it:
Dubya continues to to condone this holding back of an investigation, knowing that if he lets it proceed he'll lose most of his brain cells, which happen to be in Rove's head. This withholding is a felony.
While I'm sure there are some cackling with glee over any White House troubles, this isn't Monicagate. This is much worse. This is about a senior administration official accusing two white house officials of violating the Intelligence Identities Act. George's father is correct: if we are at war, someone in the White House has committed treason punishable by execution by firing squad.
That's what the law says.
For those of you not paying attention, Valerie Plame was a CIA contact operative, working South Africa. This was officially classified secret information. She is the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador to Iraq and Clinton's senior director of African Affairs. Wilson was sent to Africa-- along with his wife-- to investigate the supposed sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq and confirm the story that lead to the "sixteen words" in the State of the Union speech.
Ms. Plame was outed in a New York Times article written by Bob Novak, and the leak came from "a senior White House administrator." Most people suspect Karl Rove, although there are six likely suspects.
Wilson wrote a scathing editorial a few weeks after the State of the Union speech in which he shredded the "uranium" claim and called the Adminstration's contentions about weapons of mass destruction a pack of lies. The suspicion is that Plame was burned to discredit Wilson and make it sound like his wife, and not he, was the source of the information.
Today, Clifford May in the National Review has an incrediby ugly piece in which he claims that "everyone knew Plame worked for the CIA" so leaking the secret was "no big deal," and goes on to attack Wilson's credibility on the grounds that he wasn't a spy and had no contacts worth menitioning.
Let's spell it out for Clifford, shall we? There is no doubt that Valerie Plame's assignment qualified for Specialized Compartmentalized Information classification. It doesn't matter "who knew," leaking or publicizing that information is a violation of serious law and a significant felony. He's what one man has to say about it:
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.Any bets that Daddy won't be giving any more interviews regarding his idiot spawn?
-- George H.W. Bush
Dubya continues to to condone this holding back of an investigation, knowing that if he lets it proceed he'll lose most of his brain cells, which happen to be in Rove's head. This withholding is a felony.
While I'm sure there are some cackling with glee over any White House troubles, this isn't Monicagate. This is much worse. This is about a senior administration official accusing two white house officials of violating the Intelligence Identities Act. George's father is correct: if we are at war, someone in the White House has committed treason punishable by execution by firing squad.
That's what the law says.
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