Month: October 2005

Want relief for your Pre-Indictment Stress Syndrome? How about Mr. Anonymous? How about the head of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit in the late ’90s? How about the longtime CIA analyst who wrote “Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror, first as “anonymous” and then, coming out, as Michael Sheuer.

Just before BoomanTribune.com front-pager Larry Johnson appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room yesterday with Wolf Blitzer — and that transcript will be posted shortly — Blitzer first called on CNN’s national security correspondent, David Ensor.

Ensor assessed the impact of the outing of Valerie Plame to the war on terror and to the CIA. I was heartened by Ensor’s bare-knuckle condemnation of the outing of Valerie Plame, buttressed by his interview with Scheuer:

BLITZER: The Bush administration is feeling the fallout as top officials wait for possible indictments in the CIA leak investigation. But what about the fallout over at the CIA itself? Was the agency hurt by the outing of one of its operatives?

Let’s turn to our national security correspondent, David Ensor. He’s been looking into this story — David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, just for starters, Wolf, the nation has lost the undercover services of a 20- year professional CIA officer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice over): Forty-two-year-old Valerie Plame Wilson, mother of 5-year-old twins, is now the most famous female spy in America. Exposing her as a CIA undercover officer did damage to U.S. intelligence, U.S. officials say. They refuse to be more specific.

MICHAEL SCHEUER, FORMER CIA ANALYST: To have someone exposed deliberately and, on top of that for political reason, I think, yes, it probably sent a chill throughout the clandestine service.

ENSOR: What made it worse is that she was not just an undercover officer. She spent part of her career as what’s known as a NOC, a spy with non-official cover. That is, without the protection of diplomatic status, working, officials say, to recruit foreigners who knew about murky international weapons deals involving weapons of mass destruction.

Continued below … all emphases mine)

As a former athlete, from days of a life lived so long ago I hardly recognize them as my own past, I remember mornings like this one.  I can best describe the feeling as “coming up for air.” Days following grueling competition.  Where your body aches with pain and exhaustion.  But your spirit, in victory or defeat, is filled with pride and accomplishment.  You breathe and heal and smile.  And you ready yourself to do it all again.

I have spent the last few weeks on a committee, planning for our local anti-war group’s response to the announcement that 2,000 U.S. soldiers have died for a lie – as an organizer for one protest, and the leader of a separate vigil.  I haven’t crawled into bed earlier than 1:30 a.m. in these weeks, and I’ve been up before 6:30 a.m. everyday.  Slogging along the anti-war trail.  Organizing.  And doing the life things that we all do – for me, promoting a novel, writing, some legal work, waiting on Fitz, and taking care of a family.  So I’m beaten down a bit.  Tired. Drained.  But left with that feeling.  That I’ve done something special.  That feeling of coming up for air.

If you want the details of the bumps and bruises and smiles and hugs, join me after the break.  Because sharing them with you is one of the best parts of the whole process for me.

Candlelight lined both sides of the bridge over the Mississippi last night, where I sat holding my six month old grand daughter, and my sign that said “Not One More Death”.  It was the  first Peace Vigil for both of us.   People of all ages stood in silent determination, candles raised to acknowledge the blaring support of car horns passing by.  I heard soft drum beats and  a soft bell ringing occasionally, and felt the shared  power of the people on all sides of us.

Here is my three-hours of sleep, no time to digest, initial analysis of what the Meirs withdrawal means.

I’ve been predicting that 2006 is going to be a swing election like 1974 and 1994. The humiliating defeat of Harriet Meirs is symptomatic of an institutional rot within the GOP. In many ways, it reminds me of the demise of HillaryCare, and I think it augurs very badly for the GOP in next week’s, and next year’s elections.

Below the fold, I’ll discuss strategies and predictions:

While we bide our time.

What if Bush was actually compassionate? What if Bush were actually conservative? What if Bush had nominated competent people to government posts? What if we actually helped Afghanistan re-build their country (either time)? What if clear skies meant clean air? What if we really left no child behind? What if we went to war with the army we wished we had? What if the homeland was secure? What if the Alberto Gonzales had been better at explaining the Geneva Conventions to Bush? What if Karl Rove hadn’t been beaten up everyday at school? What if Barbara Bush had loved her sons?  

What if George and Laura had walked out to Cindy Sheehan with a pitcher of iced tea and a comfortable chair?