The reports about his -- report he made from his trip
actually lent more credibility, not less, to the prospect that possibly
Niger was involved in a uranium sale. Wilson's assertion that his wife Valerie Plame
had nothing to do with his selection to lead a fact-finding trip is in
direct conflict -- what we learned in the Senate Intelligence Committee
investigation and what he told investigators. The real question is
whether Mr. Wilson and his wife will tell the truth about how he was
selected and what he did.
Anyone confused that Bond believed that Valerie played a key role in
selecting Joe? But let's go back to the facts. We now have Valerie's
memo. Are you sitting down? Ready yourself for a shock. Valerie wrote
to her boss:
My husband is willing to help if it makes sense, but no
problem if not. End of story. . . .[my husband] may be in a position to
assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to
pursue here.
Now, only a complete fucking moron would read these comments and jump
to the conclusion that "Valerie sent her husband on that mission".
Speaking of morons, consider Fred Thompson's recent comments:
As you may recall, for some inexplicable reason, the CIA sent the husband of one of its employees to Niger
on a sensitive mission. She had suggested it. He came back to the U.S.
and proceeded to publicly blast the administration. Naturally, everyone
wanted to know "who is this guy?" and "why was he sent to Niger?" Just as naturally, the fact that he was married to Valerie Plame at the CIA was leaked.
And Thompson wants to be President? But I digress. The basic point is
that Valerie was not part of a conspiracy to send her husband. Valerie
also is on the record testifying under oath that a Report's Officer in
her unit came to her to brainstorm on how to answer a query from the
office of the Vice President. It was in that context that Joe Wilson's
name was raised. Valerie discussed the matter with her immediate boss,
who in turn asked her to send note up the chain of command. She
produced the memo that now appears in the latest SSCI report.
Valerie also testified that junior employee in her office was called by
someone in the office of the VP prior to the VP being personally
briefed. (The call came on 12 February). Valerie's boss then directed
her to prepare the email that was sent to the Chief of the
Counterproliferation Division and a cable to Niger requesting country
clearance for Joe Wilson for a possible trip to Niamey.
Bond, Hatch, and Burr can barely conceal their erections as they
indignantly insist that a document released during the Libby trial
somehow undermines Valerie's testimony and raises the specter that she
has joined Libby and committed perjury. (Jesus Christ! Are folks like
Bond and Hatch really this stupid). They write:
"However, the Committee now knows, based on information
released during the Scooter Libby trial, that the Vice President had
not even asked about the Iraq-Niger uranium deal until the following
day. . . .the Vice President asked for CIA's assessment (nb: not an
investigation) of the matter.
No wonder these clowns were conned into believing that Iraq had ample
piles of WMD ready to strike the United States. The document does not
challenge Valerie's veracity, in fact, it supports her story.
Apparently Bond, Hatch and Burr were too busy to actually read the CIA
memo (I bet they haven't read alot of important documents). The
14 February 2003 briefing contains (see page 3) the following paragraph:
We have tasked our clandestine sources with ties to the
Nigerien Government and consortium officials to seek additional
information on the contract.
That boys and girls is called an INVESTIGATION. A clandestine one at
that. That's why Valerie sent out the cable to Niger on 13 February
2002, as confirmed even by Senators Bond, Hatch, and Burr. Morons! They
have not deposed the Vice President or Scooter Libby or any other
member of the Vice President's staff and asked who called the CIA on 12
February 2002. The Senators have not reviewed phone records to verify
whether or not a phone call took place. Nope, they use disingenuous
weasel words to try to impugn the integrity of a woman who conducted
herself--in the words of another CIA officer who worked with her in CPD
as--"the consummate professional".
But consider how Republican twits like Bond and Hatch do their work.
The original SSCI only provided part of the story about the meeting
that Joe Wilson attended at CIA in mid-February. It is true that many
in attendance, especially Doug Rohn, believed that it was not necessary
to send Joe Wilson to Niger. What the lying Republicans forgot to
mention is that
Joe Wilson agreed with Doug Rohn (see page 5 of DX 71.1).
Then Joe Wilson came home, was debriefed, and an intelligence report released. The title of the report? "
Nigerien Denial of Uranium Yellowcake Sales to Rogue States" (see p. 8). But what did the Republican led
SSCI Committee claim in its 2004 report? According to p. 73, conclusion #13 :
The report on the former ambassador's trip to Niger,
disseminated in March 2002, did not change any analysts assessments on
the Iraq-Niger uranium deal. For most analysts, the information lent
more credibility to the original CIA reports on the uranium deal. . .
That is total bullshit. You do not even have to be a trained
intelligence analyst to understand or appreciate that a report, rated
"good", that contains reliable information that Niger denies selling
uranium yellowcake to rogue states, is not relevant and that it
"increased analyst confidence" that Niger was in fact trying to do the
dirty deal.
This stunt by Bond, Hatch, and Burr is the latest installment of the
right wing’s ongoing character assassination of Joe and Valerie Wilson.
This time, Senators Kit Bond, Orrin Hatch and Richard Burr--a minority
of the minority of the SSCI—ineptly carry the administration’s slop jar
and, in the process of trying to dirty up the Wilsons, dump the shit
jar on themselves.
The objectives of the “additional views” are transparent. They are
following the Republican playbook unleashed against Joe Wilson when his
oped appeared in the New York Times on July 6, 2003. Blame him, blame
his wife, and the press will forget about the lie in the State of the
Union.
This time they hope their renewed attack on the Wilsons will divert
public attention from the devastating substance of the SSCI report. For
once most of the sane media did not take the bait or chase this
particular shiny object.
Give Senators Bond and Hatch their due. They have given a new depth of
understanding to the term, “hypocrite”. B ond, who decried the SSCI
report as partisan politics, has no qualms about unleashing a political
hit piece on the Wilsons. At least acknowledge that Orin Hatch is
consistent. He has no problem excusing the lies of Fredo Gonzales,
endorsing the subversion of the rule of law by his former staffer Kyle
Sampson, and using his good offices to spring a convicted drug
trafficker from an Arab jail. Smearing the Wilsons is just his knack
for doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. Remember, he also was
on the record saying that Utah polygamists he knew were good folks. I
am sure.
We are left with these basic facts. There was no credible intelligence
that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. Hell, Iraq could not
even process the uranium it had. Despite reports from the U.S. Embassy
in Niger, the Deputy U.S. Commander of EUCOM, and Ambassador Wilson,
people in the office of the Vice President pressed ahead with a lie.
Even when George Tenet repeatedly tried to prevent the President from
using this specious claim, the White House and its minions kept
grabbing for the lie and preached it to the American people.
It is important that we not forget the lies of George Bush and Dick
Cheney. Americans are dying in Iraq in a war of choice based on lies.
Instead of pursuing truth, Senators like Bond, Hatch and Burr spew
venom on honest Americans like Joe and Valerie Wilson. Not on my watch.
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