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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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 Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:13 pm Post subject: Why Plame Matters |
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| I don't pretend to have any clue how the Plame affair is going to end up. But this post does a good job of outlining what Ms. Plame may have gone through as a result of someone's political hissyfit. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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Heard it all before, but not summarized as succinctly as this. Thanks for posting the link, but I think it deserves some space here:
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Imagine that one day you wake up to the incessent ping of your beeper. It is still dark outside your window, and you slide out of bed, pad quietly down the hallway and try not to wake up the wife and kids, as you slip into your home office and place a call on a secure phone. You are told that your cover has been blown, that your family may be at risk. You have to make instant decisions for your own safety, that of your family, and of every asset you have in the field - and to do that, you have to prioritize which assets are more valuable and which you can afford to lose, if necessary. You have to decide then and there which of the people you cultivated, the ones you promised safety in exchange for information and cooperation, which of them may have to die because you may not have time to save them all.
Why has your cover been blown? Because you work as a CIA colleague of the wife of a man who dared to question the veracity of the President of the United States on a matter of national security, a matter of an exaggerated claim that was inserted in his State of the Union address to bolster his case for war in Iraq. And the President's cronies and hatchet men decided to out this man's wife for political payback, as a lesson to anyone else who would dare to question their decisions and as a means to staunch the bleeding from this initial salvo of criticism. Damn the consequences.
No consideration for all the lives interconnected in this network of agents and field assets, or the years it took to cultivate them. No thought of the impact that this betrayal by highly placed governmental officials would have down the line -- how hard it would make it to recruit human intelligence assets in the field at the very time that we need them most to gather information inside the terrorist networks that threaten us more and more each day.
No concern for the years of set up it took for Brewster-Jennings and Company, the cover company set up by the CIA that both you and this man's wife used, to get up and running. The fact that you and she worked along with a number of other highly trained CIA officers around the world -- trained in tracking down the weapons used by terrorists and thugs and the very people that threaten our nation's safety every single day wasn't important to them. Nor was the loss of the millions of taxpayer dollars it took to set this up and maintain it as viable cover in a number of countries worldwide.
Seemingly, no thought of the loss of ongoing investigations. If there was any consideration or calculation, a discounting of the loss of human intel assets dealing with WMD issues at a time of war, with terrorists who would like nothing more than to get their hands on the very chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and materials that you have risked your life to keep out of their hands.
The next time someone opens their yap and says to me that this case doesn't matter. That everyone does it. That it was just politics. That this is how things are done in Washington. That the President is going to pardon them anyway. That they'll find a way to weasel out of it. That she wasn't really under cover anyway. That they didn't know she was a NOC when they outed her CIA status. Or whatever other talking head pundit crap comes out of the pipeline on the next talking points bilge memo...well, it just doesn't matter.
Fitzgerald is going to do is job, and all the spin in the world is not going to stop him. What does matter is that everyone -- on the right and on the left -- understand what it means to out a CIA operative. And that it never, ever happens again as a sanctioned means for political revenge.
Look at the picture. Just look at it for a moment. Every star on that wall represents a CIA officer lost in the line of duty. Every single star. Below those stars is a book of names that records the officer and the loss. Some of the names attached to those stars cannot be revealed publicly, because the operation in which they lost their life was either so secret that it can never, ever be revealed, or because those agents have other friends and assets still in the field who would be jeopardized by their simple name being printed on a piece of paper inside the walls of Langley. In a few cases, the families of these agents are not told how the death of their loved one occurred, because the safety of others and of other agents is paramount, even to the satisfaction of a grieving widow and her children.
How dare anyone say that this case does not matter. You tell that to the family of anyone who has a star on that wall. Or to anyone who has ever had the honor of knowing and working with or living with any law enforcement hero who walks out their front door every day, knowing that it could be the last time they ever see their family. Knowing that a deep cover assignment risks not only their own life, but sometimes the lives of everyone close to them.
These officers do not serve this nation for glory. They do not seek fame, or fortune, or even accolade. Officers who serve on the line -- be they CIA, or special forces ops, or undercover local narcotics cops in your town -- these people serve because they must. Because someone has to keep the bogeyman at bay. They risk their lives so the rest of us can kiss our children goodnight, crawl into our comfortable beds, turn out the light, and feel safe. They put their body in front of all of ours as our last shield against the darkness.
The next time someone says to you, "What's the big deal?" you tell them. What was done to Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie and their twins is despicable, and goes much further than political payback ever should. It crossed way over a line. They will have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives, just in case. But it did not just touch their lives. It touched the life of every CIA agent working under Brewster cover, every employee of a Brewster company in ever country in which they maintained an office. And every single person with whom those people ever met, because all of them would be considered national security risks in their own nations for meeting with a potential CIA agent.
You see, it wasn't just payback. Take a long, hard look at that wall of stars. None of us will know how many were added because of this. But if Patrick Fitzgerald can ascertain who was responsible, then each and every person should be held to account. And I am not the only person who thinks so.
"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." President George H. W. Bush, on the 26th of April, 1999, at the dedication ceremony of the George Bush Center for Intelligence.
Too bad his son doesn't seem to have listened to the old man.
UPDATE: After reading a comment from Gotham Image, I feel obliged to point out that those stars on the wall represent CIA officers who have died while on duty for this country. There are no stars for any of the assets who have given their lives assisting us and our agents in protecting this country -- no way of assessing the loss of life of our human asset network from all of this from the outside. The CIA will have done an internal assessment of the losses and difficulties caused by this breach of national security, but it is something the general public will never know (for good reason, I might add.) Just something to think about. Collateral damage ripples out endlessly in this environment, and we may never know how far to the edge of this particular pond that this has gone.
posted by ReddHedd @ 8:57 PM |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| The above pasted statement was very well thought out and poignant. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I think Bush is the worst thing to happen to the US, ever, so many will think I am biased, but *anyone* who believes Bush the Elder didn't know about Iran-Contra or that Dumbya didn't know about this is either naive beyond counting or a fool.
Both deserved impeachment. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:19 am Post subject: |
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Newsweek: Armitage Plays Unwitting Role In CIA Leak
The Man Who Said Too Much
A book coauthored by NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff details Richard Armitage's
central role in the Valerie Plame leak.
According to a new book, the State Department has known for years
that Armitage (left) outed Plame 
� Perspectives
� O'Donnell weighs in on White House woes
� Libby defense may highlight infighting
� Cheney Notes Surface in Fitzgerald Probe
� Exec privilege in CIA case downplayed
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Updated: 10:49 a.m. ET Aug. 27, 2006
Sept. 4, 2006 issue - In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer.
Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a "senior administration official" who was "not a partisan gunslinger."
Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14533384/site/newsweek/ |
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:35 am Post subject: |
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Of course it matters!
From my July 14th post:
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I think she has a very legitimate complaint. There was no other plausible reason for Rove to leak such extraordinary info comprimising the safety of one of their OWN undercover agents (!!!) than for the admin to exact revenge on Joe Wilson for saying the African yellow-cake was a sham excuse to invade Iraq--later STILL used by Bush in a public address even after Wilson had gone and investigated and submitted a report that it was groundless.
This is not just playing dirty pool, it's *beeping* treasonous given that with her exposure, everyone connected to her while still undercover all those years got put at perilous risk as well.
We'll never know what happened to them either.
Rove still has his job
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What was done to the Wilsons is *beeping* TREASON!!! Where's the outrage? Do the Repukeblicans have so much power that they can get away with treason????!!!
This should be getting Bush impeached and Rove tossed into jail. It's the filthiest administration since Nixon.
I have my fingers crossed it's going to be one hell of a loud, eye-opening, benchmark court case. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| canuckistan wrote: |
What was done to the Wilsons is *beeping* TREASON!!! Where's the outrage? Do the Repukeblicans have so much power that they can get away with treason????!!!
This should be getting Bush impeached and Rove tossed into jail. It's the filthiest administration since Nixon.
I have my fingers crossed it's going to be one hell of a loud, eye-opening, benchmark court case. |
To answer your question, YES! Its the power of fear. They have convinced too many Americans - we have become a stupid nation - that fear is greater than freedom. Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death? No. Give Me Liberty Only If There Is No Fear Of Death.
Ah, but this is all predictable if you read and accept what Kennedy had to say in Rise and Fall of the Great Nations. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| canuckistan wrote: |
Of course it matters!
From my July 14th post:
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I think she has a very legitimate complaint. There was no other plausible reason for Rove to leak such extraordinary info comprimising the safety of one of their OWN undercover agents (!!!) than for the admin to exact revenge on Joe Wilson for saying the African yellow-cake was a sham excuse to invade Iraq--later STILL used by Bush in a public address even after Wilson had gone and investigated and submitted a report that it was groundless.
This is not just playing dirty pool, it's *beeping* treasonous given that with her exposure, everyone connected to her while still undercover all those years got put at perilous risk as well.
We'll never know what happened to them either.
Rove still has his job
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What was done to the Wilsons is *beeping* TREASON!!! Where's the outrage? Do the Repukeblicans have so much power that they can get away with treason????!!!
This should be getting Bush impeached and Rove tossed into jail. It's the filthiest administration since Nixon.
I have my fingers crossed it's going to be one hell of a loud, eye-opening, benchmark court case. |
Yeah, I agree. It's bad. |
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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| Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:51 am Post subject: |
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Kuros wrote:
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Yeah, I agree. It's bad.
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It's not just bad-- if anyone in the military, for which Bush is the Uber "Commander in Chief" don't forget, were to publicly "out" any undercover operation (let alone for crappy revenge motives), they'd go to Ft Leavenworth in chains so fast their head would spin.
Given the Plame affair, listening to Bush, Rummy, or anyone in that admin drone on about "national security" just makes me sick. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:17 am Post subject: |
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| What if it really was Armitage and not one of the cabalistic neo-cons of the inner circle? |
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