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End of an Affair [Plame]
Washington Post ^ | September 1, 2006

Posted on 08/31/2006 10:08:00 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative

Edited on 09/01/2006 5:56:51 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, over the past three years. But all those who have opined on this affair ought to take note of the not-so-surprising disclosure that the primary source of the newspaper column in which Ms. Plame's cover as an agent was purportedly blown in 2003 was former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage.

Mr. Armitage was one of the Bush administration officials who supported the invasion of Iraq only reluctantly. He was a political rival of the White House and Pentagon officials who championed the war and whom Mr. Wilson accused of twisting intelligence about Iraq and then plotting to destroy him. Unaware that Ms. Plame's identity was classified information, Mr. Armitage reportedly passed it along to columnist Robert D. Novak "in an offhand manner, virtually as gossip," according to a story this week by the Post's R. Jeffrey

Smith, who quoted a former colleague of Mr. Armitage.

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue......

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: armitage; bullzogby; bush; bushhassers; bushlied; cia; cialeak; getbush; getrove; gotcaught; iraq; knewitallalong; lyingliars; makingitup; mediabias; misterplame; movealong; muchadoaboutnothing; nigerflap; nothingtoseehere; plame; plamebroiled; plamegate; plamenamegame; pravdaus; propaganda; retraction; smearcampaign; tempestinateapot; waronerror; washingtonpost; wilson; wilsondone; yellowjournalism
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To: MJY1288
Who knows--maybe they will next issue an apology for the global cooling media scares of the 1970s and the global warming media scares of the 1990s and 2000s...to be followed by an editorial explaining how moderate tobacco use lowers stress and increases life expectency.

:-)
261 posted on 09/02/2006 3:20:00 AM PDT by cgbg (MSM aid and comfort to the enemy costs American lives.)
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To: Howlin; Peach; Mo1; StarFan; SuzanneC

I couldn't resist emailing Chris Matthews
Hardball@MSNBC.com

Subject line: Richard Armitage

Message: "LMAO at Chris Matthews!"


262 posted on 09/02/2006 4:08:33 AM PDT by YaYa123
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To: YaYa123

I love that! Good for you, YaYa.


263 posted on 09/02/2006 4:47:59 AM PDT by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: YaYa123

How perfect. Think I'll follow suit and hopefully he'll be bombarded with enough e-mails which might shame him to finally apologize. If he does, let me know as I refuse to watch him.


264 posted on 09/02/2006 5:54:47 AM PDT by StarFan
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To: Carolinamom
According to Byron York (National Review), Joe and Valerie are STILL going forward w/their court case against Rove, Cheney, and Libby....Their lawyer said Armitage was just 'gossiping' and isn't included in the 'conspiracy' against them.

This will make for an interesting case: a "conspiracy" to truthfully answer questions from reporters about a factual matter already in the public domain.

265 posted on 09/02/2006 6:15:44 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: sphinx
There is much more to Joe Wilson than that he is married to Valerie and tried to perpetuate his lies against the Bush Administration. Read this expose in The American Thinker:

The African Connection: Rep. Jefferson and Joe Wilson, etc.

266 posted on 09/02/2006 6:33:08 AM PDT by Carolinamom (This is no time to go wobbly. - Lady Margaret Thatcher)
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To: Carolinamom

That's interesting. I scanned the article quickly and haven't noodled on it, but at first glance a question arises. If Joe Wilson was deeply involved in business ventures in Africa at the time of the Niger trip, there could be federal ethics/conflicts of interest issues arising from his wife's recommending him.


267 posted on 09/02/2006 6:43:49 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: StarFan

I can hardly stand to watch either, even when there's a sub host, so sometimes I read the transcripts, available here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3719710/


268 posted on 09/02/2006 7:14:07 AM PDT by YaYa123
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To: ChadGore; MJY1288; Bernard Marx; silverleaf; muawiyah; hgro; Purrcival; =Intervention=; adam_az; ...
WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband

BULL!

From Freddie The Beadle Barnes' article today:

The media--especially the Washington Post and New York Times--relied heavily on Wilson's reckless and unfounded charges to wage journalistic jihad against the White House and Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Reporters and columnists, based on little more than Joe Wilson's harrumphing, bought the line that the White House "leaked" Plame's name to discredit her husband. In an editorial last January, the New York Times said the issue in the case "was whether the White House was using this information in an attempt to silence Mrs. Wilson's husband, a critic of the Iraq invasion, and in doing so violated a federal law against unmasking a covert operative." The paper's answer was yes.

269 posted on 09/02/2006 7:36:09 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro
The MSM now saying that they've heard enough about the Plame-Wilson Affair is equivalent to Hezbollah attacking Israel and when the IDF strikes back, the MSM calls for a ceasefire.

See my tagline, please...

270 posted on 09/02/2006 7:48:07 AM PDT by Pharmboy (Every single day provides at least one new reason to hate the mainstream media...)
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To: Just A Nobody

I've been wondering why Bill Kristol has not weighed in on this sham of an investigation that was allowed to continue, due to the malice and cowardice of his boys, Powell and Armitage. Kristol, though a vocal war supporter, has backed off his enthusiasm for the Bush administration, of late. I have suspected that he was returning to the McCain camp in preparation for 2008. I heard somewhere that McCain had been courting Powell and Armitage.


271 posted on 09/02/2006 8:31:17 AM PDT by Eva
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To: sphinx
If Joe Wilson was deeply involved in business ventures in Africa at the time of the Niger trip, there could be federal ethics/conflicts of interest issues arising from his wife's recommending him.

That could very well be the reason for the whole brouhaha. Joe knew that higher-ups were looking into his trip, and decided to "get out in front of the story" by making his own accusations in the New York Times. Smokescreen, in other words.

272 posted on 09/02/2006 8:37:06 AM PDT by JennysCool (Roll out the Canarble Wagon!)
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To: martin_fierro
In an editorial last January, the New York Times said the issue in the case "was whether the White House was using this information in an attempt to silence Mrs. Wilson's husband

Good luck to anybody who thinks they can SILENCE Joe Wilson, period.

273 posted on 09/02/2006 8:39:56 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: martin_fierro; Grampa Dave; abb
WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband.

Just unbelievable-----these people exist in a total vacuum.

274 posted on 09/02/2006 8:44:11 AM PDT by Liz (The US Constitution is intended to protect the people from the government.)
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To: Liz

"Just unbelievable-----these people exist in a total vacuum."

Thanks to the Marxist Homosexual Lunatics in charge of ABCNNBCBS and dinosaur fishwraps like the Compost and NY Slimes, they did live in a real news vacuum before.

They could say anything about our presidents, senators and congressmen and get by with it due to their control of the MSM.

Now they have lost that control, and their days of bsing, lying, spinning and trying to coup our president with electronic and written words are over.

Think of them as the current Norman Bates. Their days of infinite power and control of real news are over.


275 posted on 09/02/2006 8:48:17 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (There's a dwindling market for Marxist Homosexual Lunatic lies/wet dreams posing as news.)
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To: martin_fierro
What's more probable is that the WaPo can no longer deny the obvious. Of course they could have. Look at the NYT, for example. Or almost any left wing blog. Or the Dems on cable.
276 posted on 09/02/2006 8:59:49 AM PDT by n-tres-ted (Remember November!)
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To: headstamp
"Wonder if Libby has any legal moves he can make on this now."

I have been wondering the same thing. Libby should be able to do something. Good grief, Someone should be held responsible for what was done to him.

277 posted on 09/02/2006 9:12:28 AM PDT by Texas Mom (Two places you're always welcome - church and Grandma's house.)
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To: tiredoflaundry

Now that is hilarious! And of all people to post it on DU, Pitt is the one who posted over there that Rove was indicted on May 12, then he went into a drunken frenzy and cussed out the owner of DU for questioning if it was true. LOL.


278 posted on 09/02/2006 9:38:08 AM PDT by jennyjenny
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To: YaYa123

Oh, You are SOOOOO BAAAD!!! ROFLMAO


279 posted on 09/02/2006 10:05:41 AM PDT by SuzanneC
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To: Grampa Dave
Think of them as the current Norman Bates.The MSM's days of infinite power and control of real news are over.

"I sure hope they don’t go down to the fruit cellar with Norman."

280 posted on 09/02/2006 10:06:24 AM PDT by Liz (The US Constitution is intended to protect the people from the government.)
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