Posted on 07/27/2005 8:10:20 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
WASHINGTON - President Bush is jeopardizing national security by not disciplining Karl Rove for his role in leaking the name of a CIA officer, and has hampered efforts to recruit informants in the war on terror, former U.S. intelligence officers say.
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson used the Democratic Party's weekly radio address Saturday to reiterate comments he made Friday to a panel of House and Senate Democrats.
At that event, Johnson and others expressed great frustration that CIA operative Valerie Plame's name was made public. Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson, a critic of Bush's Iraq policy.
"Instead of a president concerned first and foremost with protecting this country and the intelligence officers who serve it, we are confronted with a president who is willing to sit by while political operatives savage the reputations of good Americans like Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson," Johnson said in the radio address.
Johnson, who said he was a registered Republican, said Bush has gone back on his promise to fire anyone at the White House implicated in a leak.
Federal law forbids government officials from revealing the identity of an undercover intelligence officer.
Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff, told Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in a 2003 phone call that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA on weapons of mass destruction issues, according to an account by Cooper in the magazine.
Rove has not disputed that he told Cooper that Wilson's wife worked for the agency, but has said through his lawyer that he did not mention her by name.
In July 2003, Robert Novak, citing unnamed administration officials, identified Plame by name in his syndicated column and wrote that she worked for the CIA. The column has led to a federal criminal investigation into who leaked Plame's undercover identity. New York Times reporter Judith Miller - who never wrote a story about Plame - has been jailed for refusing to testify.
Bush said last week, "I think it's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. And I will do so, as well."
Dana Perino, a White House spokesman, said Friday that the administration would have no comment on the investigation while it was continuing.
Johnson said he wished a Republican lawmaker would have the courage to stand up and "call the ugly dog the ugly dog."
"Where are these men and women with any integrity to speak out against this?" he asked. "I expect better behavior out of Republicans."
Hey Larry, I got a slam dunk for ya. You are a Moron !
Why does the AP consider this "news" on Wednesday when the speech was Saturday -- 4 days ago? I call it going to any length to keep a partisan story alive. I actually recall the days when the AP was a respectable news organization, but that was a long time ago.
New York Times
July 10, 2001
The Declining Terrorist Threat
By LARRY C. JOHNSON
WASHINGTON -- Judging from news reports and the portrayal of villains in our popular entertainment, Americans are bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism. They seem to believe that terrorism is the greatest threat to the United States and that it is becoming more widespread and lethal.
< snip >
-----
LOL. Great find.
It's called 'cranial rectosis' in the medical world...
Everyone in the media already knew Judith Miller was coolly connected to the CIA because she told them so. An undercover agent? – again – NOT. The facts are out there and it’s only a matter of time before even the dumbest demoCrap figure’s it out.
Larry Johnson - - Well – the Democrats found him and he is playing out his designated role.
The S.P. needs to call Larry to the Grand Jury. Just to watch him take the 5th.
I bet he's doing a round of rims.
Larry, don't we have to know who the *real* leakers were first?!
And do you really believe that the SP has spent two years on two, two minute conversations that were tangential at best to the story? ...Both independently validated as NOT being the original source of the leak.
Repeating BS doesn't make it TRUE.
Larry you're a partisan shill, admit it, and *PLEASE* shut up. You are dismissed.
(Johnson said he wished a Republican lawmaker would have the courage to stand up and "call the ugly dog the ugly dog.")
OK, Johnson. You are an ugly dog. Now, sit.
More on this meshuga ex spook http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2764
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.