The latest revelations from David Corn and Michael Isikoff confirm what me
and my CIA colleagues (Jim Marcinkowski, Michael Grimaldi, and Brent Cavan)
have said for the last three years–Valerie Plame Wilson was an undercover
security officer when her relationship with the CIA was exposed by Robert
Novak. Prior to today’s news, Raw Story and MSNBC reported that Val was
working on Iran. Corn and Isikoff’s scoop says it was Iraq and provides
some pretty meaty details to back it up. This much is certain:
* Valerie Plame was working undercover as a senior CIA operations
officer.
* Valerie Plame was working on issues related to Weapons of Mass
Destruction in order to keep America safe.
* Valerie Plame traveled overseas as part of her undercover work and was
protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
* Valerie Plame was betrayed by President Bush and his political
appointees.
Anyone who claims Valerie and Joe are the cause of this are goddamn morons
and beyond the reach of reason. Joe and Valerie Wilson did not write Robert
Novak’s op-ed. Bob Novak did and he knew better (CIA asked him not to put
out the information). Joe and Valerie Wilson were not sources for Bob
Novak. That falls on the shoulders of Karl Rove and Richard Armitage (at
least). Thinking Republicans should be horrified at this news. With their
silence and acquiesence to the lies and calumny directed at Joe and Valerie,
they are setting a troubling precedent.
Republicans are endorsing the exposure of a CIA operations officer. If
Republicans can do it, then maybe, someday, Democrats in hot water may
decide to engage in the same shameful behavior. That’s an action that
shouldn’t be in anyone’s playbook.
Me and my colleagues have purposefully avoided asking Valerie about her job
or position at the CIA. We still honored the principle of need to know.
However, we did know that by virtue of our own experiences in working in an
undercover positions that the exposure of her identity not only compromised
her ability to continue working, but it also endangered her family and the
spies and assets she worked with overseas.
At the end of the day we are left with this basic fact–a loyal, honest CIA
officer became a political football because her husband dared to speak the
truth about a lie President George W. Bush told to the American people. Now
that we have a clearer picture of what Valerie was doing for her country,
the scale of her betrayal by the President and his advisors is enormous.
Rove, Armitage, Libby, Cheney, and Bush did a bad, bad thing.
……………………………………………………..
Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder
of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm
that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by
terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously
with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s
Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized
expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk
management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety
of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio,
ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News,
and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for
publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York
Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and
aviation security around the world. Further bio
details.
Personal Blog: No Quarter
|| Bio
Recommended
Book List || More
BoomanTribune Posts
Valerie didn’t give them what they wanted to hear. Naughty, naughty Valerie. Failed to make the Boss happy. She made the mistake of thinking, we the people were her boss. That’s not the way it works anymore in the United States of Cheney, where the Veep is now the uncrowned King and a “hard worker” is our Nation’s official meet and greet public face guy.
And I wonder whether or not any agents were lost, compromised, or killed when Plame was outed. Hopefully she was working at too high a level to have had one on one contact with any Iranian contacts, and Saddam was on the run by the time she was outed so maybe the Iraqi agents were safe. But you never know.
Do you think it sent a message to the CPD about how they are expected to report this time around?
What about the damage assessment? I remember Larry saying in a post a long while back that it’s standard procedure to do one. Don’t know though if any details, even general, are available.
Maybe ABC will make a documentary about this and show it 2 months before an election!
I wish I could give you 20 for that. 4 will have to do!
Oh me too. That comment was oh so sweet. I’ll give it a 20….it has a great beat and boy can I ever dance to it!
Thanks for the clarity and brevity. In this case where there are many side roads, these characters are much appreciated.
<<If Republicans can do it, then maybe, someday, Democrats in hot water may decide to engage in the same shameful behavior>>
Maybe. But I think there are two sets of standards; see the way Bush v. Gore was asserted as a non-precedent.
exposure of her identity not only compromised
her ability to continue working, but it also endangered her family and the spies and assets she worked with overseas.
You don’t have to have ever had worked for the CIA or any other security agency to have worked that out. Judging from his comedy Jon Stewart worked that one out as did almost all of liberal blogosphere. Only the willfully stupid failed to understand that.
I can only imagine the ongoing ruckus in the MSM this sorry tale would have caused IF GW was a Dem! As it is, it is another major “non-event”. They called Ronnie the Teflon man, and at the time for good reason; but now I think the name could be applied to all the top guys at BushCo.