Posted on 07/11/2005 1:18:58 PM PDT by CorporalTravis
Democrats and their operatives in the mainstream media are breathlessly reporting that White House political advisor Karl Rove leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, allegedly a covert agent for the Central Intelligence Agency. Her name and ties to the intelligence agency became public after her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, made allegations that the Bush administration exaggerated claims that Saddam Hussein sought to acquire yellowcake uranium from Africa.
But the e-mails between Time magazine White House correspondent Matthew Cooper and his bureau chief Michael Duffy that mysteriously found their way into the hands of rival publication Newsweek only indicate that Rove had a conversation with the reporter about Wilson and never mentioned his wifes name. Cooper wrote that Rove tried to steer him away from Wilsons assertions because his conclusions might have been inaccurate. He also said that neither CIA Director George Tenet nor Vice President Dick Cheney sent Wilson on any mission. Instead, he suggested it was "Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip.
This clearly indicates that Rove did not engage in the smear campaign that Wilson has alleged. Just saying that the ambassadors wife worked for the CIA is not an outing and doesnt demonstrate that Rove was aware that she might be a secret agent. The agency has thousands of employees, with only a small percentage of them having a covert status. The question still remains whether Plame was covert at the time Rove spoke with Cooper.
If anyone is responsible for Plames outing, it is Wilson himself. Not content to express his opinion within the diplomatic, military or intelligence communities after his inconclusive report was dismissed, he went public. His scathing, op-ed for the New York Times was an overt political act that put him in the spotlight he craved, but also called attention to those around him. As was repeated in Gannongate, controversial figures come under intense professional and personal scrutiny. It now seems clear that Wilson was willing to sacrifice his wifes career to gain the notoriety he sought.
Journalists and government officials began to question Wilsons motives and how he came to be sent on such an important mission. His outspoken criticism of the Bush administrations policy toward Iraq made him an unlikely candidate for the trip, despite his qualifications. Wilson did not posses a unique set of abilities and experience to justify selection for a highly sensitive investigation.
Wilsons primary role and his wifes secondary role in her outing have been completely ignored by both the media and the agency itself. In an October 2003 interview with Wilson, I confronted him about an internal memo that detailed a meeting where his wife recommended him for the mission. He denied that any such meeting took place. A CIA source later told Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank that the memo was a forgery, which he dutifully reported in a front-page story in December 2003. Yet the Senate Intelligence Committee verified the content of the memo as part of its July 2004 report and chastised the ambassador for his misleading statements to the contrary. Wilson was immediately dropped as a senior foreign policy advisor to the Kerry campaign and all references to him purged from its website.
Plames outing was not a punishment for Wilsons disagreement with the administration it was the by-product of a publicity-seeking ex-diplomat. Wilson's own actions focused attention on the couple and raised disturbing questions about the agency and its ability to provide the intelligence necessary to protect the Homeland.
I really wanna believe this, but there's no evidence. I understand the motive, but the column doesn't say the "how" part. Also, "Jeff Gannon" has become a verb.
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