The Home Team
Bush's surrogates sought to discredit the integrity of any professional with the courage to disagree with his decision to invade Iraq.
Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote an article in the "New York Times", which contradicted Bush's assertion in his 2003 State of The Union Address that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger. Wilson knew Bush's claim was false and that he had purposely deceived Congress and the American people to gain support for the invasion of Iraq. A day after Wilson shared his conclusions in the Times, the White House finally acknowledged Bush's assertion; "did not rise to the level of inclusion in the State of The Union Address".
Joseph Wilson was acting ambassador to Iraq, under the first President Bush, prior to the start of the Persian Gulf War. Under Clinton, he served our country as an ambassador in African countries. Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame Wilson served this nation for a total of 43 years. Valerie Plame Wilson worked overseas on assignments in areas related to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. She worked as a covert agent to recruit foreigners who knew murky deals involving WMDs.
After Joseph Wilson publicly shared his information about Bush's false claim in the State of the Union Address, Republican columnist Bob Novak revealed Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a covert CIA agent. She had meticulously crafted her cover over a period of 18 years. Novak has acknowledged that he learned her identity from Karl Rove. Revealing Mrs. Wilson's identity is viewed as political payback for her husband revealing the truth about Bush misleading Congress in his State of the Union Address. The threat of a nuclear weapon was the key component in gaining support for the invasion of Iraq. By revealing Mrs. Wilson's identity, the Bush regime served notice to all other conscientious citizens that there would be a price to be paid for contradicting this president.
Novak's column raised concern that leaking a covert agent's identity might put CIA operatives around the world at risk. Potential foreign agents have seen a CIA officer betrayed by officials in her own government.
Senior member of the U.S. intelligence community, Michael Scheuer asserts: "To have someone exposed deliberately and, on top of that, for political reasons, I think, yes, it probably sends a chill throughout the clandestine service."
James Marcinkowski, former CIA Officer insists: "The issue here is, how are you going to tell agents that their identity is going to be protected when this government can't even protect the home team."
The matter was referred to the Justice Dept. by the CIA and on Dec. 30, 2003, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed special counsel to investigation this matter. The case raised speculation on how high up in the White House the source was. Last September, former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage finally came forward to admitted being Novak's primary source.
In October of 2005, Fitzgerald brought an indictment of five counts of false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice against Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby was found guilty of four of those counts. He had testified under oath, that he learned about Mrs. Wilson's identity from Cheney, forgot about it, and then was reminded by "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert. Russert testified that Libby never told him about Joe Wilson’s wife.
At the press conference after the verdict, Fitzgerald said the trial had proven that Libby learned Plame's identity from Cheney, who obtained it from official sources. Trial testimony made it clear that Bush had secretly declassified a portion of the prewar intelligence estimate that allowed Libby to leak the information to Judith Miller of the New York Times.
On June 10, 2004, Bush was asked, if he would stand by his "pledge to fire anyone" involved in the leak. He replied: "Yes." However, almost four years after the leak, only Armitage has stepped down from his post and Libby is heading to prison. Karl Rove retains a White House post with high security clearance and Cheney is still the vice-president. Bush doesn’t have a shred of credibility left.
The war grinds on without any end in sight and congressional Democrats recognize that the narrow majority in the Senate makes impeachment impossible.
Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote an article in the "New York Times", which contradicted Bush's assertion in his 2003 State of The Union Address that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger. Wilson knew Bush's claim was false and that he had purposely deceived Congress and the American people to gain support for the invasion of Iraq. A day after Wilson shared his conclusions in the Times, the White House finally acknowledged Bush's assertion; "did not rise to the level of inclusion in the State of The Union Address".
Joseph Wilson was acting ambassador to Iraq, under the first President Bush, prior to the start of the Persian Gulf War. Under Clinton, he served our country as an ambassador in African countries. Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame Wilson served this nation for a total of 43 years. Valerie Plame Wilson worked overseas on assignments in areas related to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. She worked as a covert agent to recruit foreigners who knew murky deals involving WMDs.
After Joseph Wilson publicly shared his information about Bush's false claim in the State of the Union Address, Republican columnist Bob Novak revealed Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a covert CIA agent. She had meticulously crafted her cover over a period of 18 years. Novak has acknowledged that he learned her identity from Karl Rove. Revealing Mrs. Wilson's identity is viewed as political payback for her husband revealing the truth about Bush misleading Congress in his State of the Union Address. The threat of a nuclear weapon was the key component in gaining support for the invasion of Iraq. By revealing Mrs. Wilson's identity, the Bush regime served notice to all other conscientious citizens that there would be a price to be paid for contradicting this president.
Novak's column raised concern that leaking a covert agent's identity might put CIA operatives around the world at risk. Potential foreign agents have seen a CIA officer betrayed by officials in her own government.
Senior member of the U.S. intelligence community, Michael Scheuer asserts: "To have someone exposed deliberately and, on top of that, for political reasons, I think, yes, it probably sends a chill throughout the clandestine service."
James Marcinkowski, former CIA Officer insists: "The issue here is, how are you going to tell agents that their identity is going to be protected when this government can't even protect the home team."
The matter was referred to the Justice Dept. by the CIA and on Dec. 30, 2003, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed special counsel to investigation this matter. The case raised speculation on how high up in the White House the source was. Last September, former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage finally came forward to admitted being Novak's primary source.
In October of 2005, Fitzgerald brought an indictment of five counts of false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice against Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby was found guilty of four of those counts. He had testified under oath, that he learned about Mrs. Wilson's identity from Cheney, forgot about it, and then was reminded by "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert. Russert testified that Libby never told him about Joe Wilson’s wife.
At the press conference after the verdict, Fitzgerald said the trial had proven that Libby learned Plame's identity from Cheney, who obtained it from official sources. Trial testimony made it clear that Bush had secretly declassified a portion of the prewar intelligence estimate that allowed Libby to leak the information to Judith Miller of the New York Times.
On June 10, 2004, Bush was asked, if he would stand by his "pledge to fire anyone" involved in the leak. He replied: "Yes." However, almost four years after the leak, only Armitage has stepped down from his post and Libby is heading to prison. Karl Rove retains a White House post with high security clearance and Cheney is still the vice-president. Bush doesn’t have a shred of credibility left.
The war grinds on without any end in sight and congressional Democrats recognize that the narrow majority in the Senate makes impeachment impossible.
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