Valerie Plame Wilson
by Richardson ~ March 16th, 2007. Filed under: America.Valerie Plame was definitely wronged, however this statement is inaccurate:
“My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House and State Department… I could no longer perform the work for which I had been highly trained.”
First, she can thank Richard Armitage and Bob Novak, but there is absolutely zero proof that the Whitehouse was involved. Second, many case officers leave the field to work from DC, so her leaving the CIA because she can no longer do the work is patently false. Unfortunately she’s let her politics get in the way of truth, which is what she’s accusing others of.
March 17th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
I think the key statement from Plame in her testimony was that she stated unequivocally that she had nothing to do with her husband’s being chosen for this mission. If that is true, then I agree that she was wronged.
However, if it is not true then I would firmly disagree. The question of why Wilson was chosen has not been adequately discussed in the media, in my opinion. The answer to that seems tainted by CIA intrigue.
If she was involved then I believe it was proper to trace his involvement back to her and she should be held accountable for politicizing her post knowing full well what her husband’s findings would be given his political leanings. She should be held to task for hiding behind her covert status when she, as a desk-ridden manager of a WMD program, knew full well that her status did not qualify her for identity protection under covert status.
Somehow though, after all the crap the CIA has done over the years, no one wants to look at their procedures in this matter. The only focus is on the White House who asked the very question that everyone out to be asking: Why was Joe Wilson chosen for this job???
March 18th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
In her testimony, as you note, she emphatically denied that she had anything to do with her husband being selected for the trip to Niger. However, on Fox News Sunday today (heard by me via C-SPAN radio), Brit Hume pointed out that investigators (not sure from where, could be congressional, Whitehouse, or special council, etc.) found clear evidence that she did in fact lobby for her husband to get the trip, including a memo from her to that effect. If Hume is incorrect, I’m sure that will come out.
It’s not necessarily inconsistent for her husband to accept ambassadorships, as the spouse of an ambassador would be a good cover for someone in her profession. Bottom line for that issue is that if she was indeed a “covert” operator, her personal and political profile was too far above the radar.
Revisiting her comments about not being able to do her job anymore, I’ll reiterate that that’s complete BS. She could easily continue doing essential, highly sensitive, and important work for years to come, in operations, but in a support or coordinating role, as many others before her have done. A bit of cold war or post-9/11 intelligence failure reading makes that abundantly clear. Instead, she’s shooting for easy money with a book and/or movie, and flat out lying under oath on her way to the bank. It’s not inconceivable that she’ll end up getting the same treatment Libby did.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
“The question of why Wilson was chosen has not been adequately discussed in the media, in my opinion. The answer to that seems tainted by CIA intrigue.”
I believe that the intrigue in question can be more correctly lain at the feet of some prominent neocons, rather than the CIA. This was not an intelligence failure. This was a political failure that comes from ignoring volumes of messages that contradict your pet theory, to latch on to the few that do, despite caveats warning that the information may be bogus.
Of course, that’s just my pet theory. The rest is all smoke screen.
March 18th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
One can only hope, but I wouldn’t count on that, given the media and Dem fawning over her and her husband as “victims.”
Covert status, eh? That’s interesting… given that she donated $1,000 to Al Gore’s 2000 campaign. And the CIA let her do it, too. Considering transparency laws associated with campaign contributions, that sure is an odd way of maintaining her covert status.
I find it sad that Libby might head to jail on rather flimsy evidences of lying to federal investigators while the Wilsons, who likely lied to Congress, are laughing all the way to the bank.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe in karma… I know it can take a while, but I really don’t think the universe will be in harmony on this one.
March 19th, 2007 at 5:51 am
I quit caring about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson a long time ago:
http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may200407121105.asp
Here is her defense for sending her husband to Niger:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzFkNTA3ZDA4ZDcxNTQzNTc0N2FlN2RiYjk3NzhkMzA=
This all 100% partisan politics.