Libby: Bush authorized the Plame leak

[RecoilRob]

Why was Joe Wilson sent to Niger to 'check' if Saddam had attempted to buy yellow cake? Joe Wilson was an avowed Bush Hater. He was supposedly sent by the CIA. If so, it was an attempt by persons within the CIA to hurt the current Administration.

Upon his return and subsequent blabbing to the Media, he said he was sent by VP Cheney. Wrong. The White House released documents to support the facts (as they saw them) about Iraq and the nuclear program and that they had NOT sent Wilson.

In those documents, Joe Wilson was mentioned as he was the last 'official' dealing with the problem. His wife was NOT mentioned in the releases at all.

When Libby met with correspondents to discuss the matter in an attempt to correct the mis-information being spread by the media, the subject of Valerie Plame was brought up. By the reporter who already knew who she was and what she did.

Her being a 'secret' is a joke if more than one columnist (Robert Novak + others) already knew of her before talking to Libby. Mentioning her being Wilsons wife to Libby he responded in the affermative.

He is now on the hot seat for telling the Grand Jury that he met with one journalist instead of another. He got them mixed up and out of order. Probably wouldn't be hard to do. But, the important thing is that the reporters have said that they knew of Plame BEFORE talking to Libby and this is why he isn't being tried for leaking her identity....even though it wouldn't have been a crime even if he did.

Total Political Hack Job trying to create the impression that the current Administration did something wrong. The final outcome will be as unreported on as the 911 commissions final report that exonerated President Bush and the Admin. from all wrongdoing. But you never heard that on TV, did you?

 

[ColoradoKid]

Leak

People,
Discourse is fine, but this story is NOT news....it'd about a year old...put to bed and really a YAWNER....!! Geez, let's talk about something that MATTERS...!!

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Loose use of the word treason.

I stand corrected. I guess that's why there's a seperate law against outing an intelligence agent. I would note from my source that she was a covert agent specializing in weapons and had traveled abroad (presumably the ME) in recent years where she "met with folks who worked in the nuclear industry, cultivated sources, and managed spies." I don't imagine it was very good for her operation, not to mention the "sources" and "spies." What would you call it?

Why was Joe Wilson sent to Niger to 'check' if Saddam had attempted to buy yellow cake? Joe Wilson was an avowed Bush Hater. He was supposedly sent by the CIA. If so, it was an attempt by persons within the CIA to hurt the current Administration.

Upon his return and subsequent blabbing to the Media, he said he was sent by VP Cheney. Wrong. The White House released documents to support the facts (as they saw them) about Iraq and the nuclear program and that they had NOT sent Wilson.

You have sources for all of that?

Total Political Hack Job trying to create the impression that the current Administration did something wrong. The final outcome will be as unreported on as the 911 commissions final report that exonerated President Bush and the Admin. from all wrongdoing. But you never heard that on TV, did you?

The 911 Comission Report was widely reported and was, in fact, a best seller. What planet were you on? The report neither exonerated nor implicated the Admin., because it's scope specifically excluded such questions.

Discourse is fine, but this story is NOT news....it'd about a year old...put to bed and really a YAWNER....!! Geez, let's talk about something that MATTERS...!!

The news that Bush authorized intelligence leaks is NOT a year old, it's less than 48 hours old. When my kids were pre-adolescents, they always used to call things boring that they didn't like, but they've mostly grown out of it.

 

[1911JMB]

There are plenty of things to be mad at Bush for. Among other things, he is guilty destroying the economy, going to war on false pretenses for gains of his friends with a cost of tens of thousands of lives, and continuing to ignore the constitution. He has caused more death than all international terrorist attacks combined. I don't especially care if he personaly okayed leaking Valerie Plame's identity. It just doesn't matter that much.

 

[SIGarmed]

There are plenty of things to be mad at Bush for. Among other things, he is guilty destroying the economy, going to war on false pretenses for gains of his friends with a cost of tens of thousands of lives, and continuing to ignore the constitution. He has caused more death than all international terrorist attacks combined. I don't especially care if he personaly okayed leaking Valerie Plame's identity. It just doesn't matter that much.

You Bush haters sure can't get over it can you?

Destroying the economy? You've got to me kidding? Where do you get your info?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/busines...08,0,6451643.story?coll=bal-careers-headlines

211,000 jobs created in March
Jobless rate falls to 4.7%; longer Fed crackdown feared
By James P. Miller
Originally published April 8, 2006

The U.S. economy created 211,000 new jobs in March, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped to 4.7 percent, according to a Labor Department report yesterday that underscored the labor market's continuing improvement.

If Bush is destroying the economy I hope he destroys more of it.

He costs tens of thousands of lives? He caused more death than all international terrorist attacks combined? LOL.

I mean really that line was ridiculous.

I'm laughing I really am. I can guarantee that if there are tens of thousands dead an overwhelming number of them are enemy combatants that want to see our countryman dead, so they died trying. Good riddance.

 

[RecoilRob]

What planet am I on?

Malone, The national media reported extensively, for weeks, that the 911 Report was going to say that there was NO connection between Iraq and the attack. But, that was taken out of context and there were EXTENSIVE connections between Saddam, Iraq and worldwide terrorism. Including funding, training and arming the Taliban. Saddam was guilty as hell and needed to be gone. But that didn't make the Evening News.

What I was referring to was the steady drumbeat of 'we went to war for false pretenses' like the person a couple of posts back. There WERE WMD's and the fact that they DIDN'T find them is proof of the honesty of the action.

If the 'Invasion' was actually predicated on nefarious reasons they most certainly would have 'found' the WMD's on the first day. Why would someone start a false war based on lies when it would have been SO easy to plant the evidence needed to prevent 3+years of bashing?

The 911 report was published but how many folks have actually read it? I read all the PDF's available online but didn't buy the book. And, I have never met or talked to anyone who has read the final report. Only the cherry picked cliff notes thoughtfully provided by the news networks or the Bush Bashers.

The Joe Wilson/Libby thing will die a slow and quiet death and will never make the news....unless Libby is convicted. Which he won't be. Look at how they are lying with the "President authorised leak of Agents name" headlines. No he didn't. It is of the same stinky stuff as the fake National Guard forms that Dan Rather tried to sway an election with. Shameful.

You asked if I have sources for my opinion stated earlier. Yes, I do. Trust me.

 

[Kim]

Bad economy????????????????????????????????? LIED about WMD???????????????????????Really Gains of his friends???????????????????????is this the left wing Haliburtain,Caryle Group Conspiracy kinda like the right wing Trialateral Comission Conspiracy surely you jest. Some of us can sure be smart on picking out Brady Lies and Deciet but when it comes to other areas of propaganda I wonder about our sanity at times. I guess these are the times that try mens souls. History repeating. I guess we have the choice between more Vietnam syndrome or Victory. I know which side I am on. I hope for Victory for my Country. Even if I was against the war to begin with I am for Victory not Defeat. Just imagine how things would be IF both parties in this country were for Victory.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

What planet am I on?

In your post I was responding to, you said the 911 Commission Report exonerated Bush, and that it was unreported by the press. Now you throw in a lot of stuff about Iraq and WMD. How was I supposed to read your mind and know you were talking about Iraq?

The question about WMD and Iraq have been done to death here. If you can post some of your info or quotes from the 911 Commission Report citing connections between 911 and Iraq, I'll be happy to entertain them. Otherwise, I am unconvinced.

Yes, I do. Trust me.

Uh, no, I don't think I will. You're just some words on the internet to me. If you really wanted me to believe you, you'd post some references.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Oh, and your logic is really astounding. There was no evidence of WMD, so that's proof that there WERE WMD. Feh.

 

[roo_ster]

Fact Matters

Malone:

Wilson was evicerated by the Senate and the 911 comission. The man's tissue of lies shown for what they were:
1. Cheney did not send JW to Niger, as JW claimed, but he was sent by the CIA.
2. JW claimed his wife had no role in his selection as the guy to send to Niger, but the paper trail shows that his wife was the one who recommended him.
3. JW said that his report laid to rest the Saddam-Niger-Yellowcake business, but his reporting that the former PM of Niger said that Iraqi gov't officials were interested in trade relations with Niger was counted asfurther corroboration that Saddam was interested in Yellowcake by the CIA.

I am not going to cite chapter & verse in the 911 commission report or the CIA factbook showing just what Niger has to offer the world in the way of trade goods. If Joe Wilson is important to you, you would be well advised to check out how his story has held up vis-a-vis the evidence before you stake your own credibility on him. Bush-despisers who still have a grasp on reality realize what a buffon he is.

 

[Kim]

I have problems with Wilson for many reasons. One is I happen to get FSTV and UC stations on my satellite. Now I know there is something wrong with someone who is a former Ambassador of the US going around to hype his thesis of BUSH LIED on lefty college campuses. I have seen this man speak and he sounds luney. Sorry but like people always say when you start throwing around the term NAZI you lose all credibility espically an Ambassador. His talks remind me of the crazy ones of Scott Ritter. That boy has been trotting around the globe with his odd rantings. Sorry but I don't buy into the crediability of people who speak the way these people do. What is Wilson trying to do. Really what is his goal and why. So what if he went to Niger and he felt Iraq was not after yellow cake. So what. Apparently many disagreed with him. So what. His findings were not the only reason for the war. I want to know what is wrong with the man. Is he so centered on himself that he wants this country to lose the war. Is that what he wants. I ask why???????????????????????????????????????????

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

His talks remind me of the crazy ones of Scott Ritter.

Funny you should mention Ritter. A guy who was on the ground in Iraq and who turned out to be RIGHT about the WMD. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

As far as Wilson is concerned, I will have to look up some of the allegations, but it won't be for a while, since I'm travelling for the next few weeks. I would love to see any of your sources, jfruser, or can you point me to citations directly from the 911 Report? Right-wing hacks and spinmeisters don't count.

 

[1911JMB]

Sigarmed,

Come visit michigan. We have have a hideous job market. I don't know what the grand total of tax dollars Bush has squandered is, but I can say with certainty that the 300+ billion Bush has spent on this unnessasary war could have been much better spent in the states. I don't know the exact numbers, but 211,000 new jobs created per month is not sufficient to overcome population expansion, so the rate of unemployment is still rather high and will remain high for a long time it appears. A perhaps minor but still related point is the obvious fact that Bush is at the very least connected to the oil buisness, and has done nothing to try to keep gas costs down. Fuel costs have devastated many people below the poverty level.

Tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have died in the crossfire of this war. That is indeed far more than all terrorist attacks combined. I hope you do not truly find that funny. Also, as you said, plenty of Iraqi combatants have died trying (and often succeding) to kill US soldiers. I certainly can't and won't come out against US soldiers defending themselves, but just the same I can't blame Iraqi's for being pissed that the US military is there. If the Russian government decided we needed to be "corrected" and invaded the US, would you say "Good riddance" if a good friend of yours died in a gunfight with Russian troops? I don't see the difference.

I think this post deserves a Jay Leno quote:

"Back in the Clinton years the economy was booming, gas was cheap and stocks were soaring. Thank God thats all over!"

 

[R.H. Lee]

GWB will be in office until mid January 2009, Inauguration Day. Now the Democrats can either go on whining and crying and blaming, or they can get down to business and find someone who can actually WIN the office of POTUS in 2008.

Which will it be?

 

[1911JMB]

"GWB will be in office until mid January 2009, Inauguration Day. Now the Democrats can either go on whining and crying and blaming, or they can get down to business and find someone who can actually WIN the office of POTUS in 2008.

Which will it be?"

All I can ask is who cares? I'm a Libertarian, and it just doesn't matter to me.

 

[R.H. Lee]

That's ok. The same advice goes for Libertarians. Find a candidate who can actually WIN. Constant criticism and demonization of this President won't help. He's going to do whatever he's going to do until his term of office is up.

 

[1911JMB]

The biggest problem Libertarians have is that their biggest concern is trying to run a candidate for president. A libertarian will probably not take the white house in our lifetimes, but getting some libertarians into the senate, as well as more local positions like mayor and city council is a possibility.

 

[roo_ster]

Report on the US Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq

Malone:

Peruse pages 39-47 of the Report on the US Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq if you want to know what the bigwigs of both parties thought of Wilson:
http://intelligence.senate.gov/iraqreport2.pdf
(24MB)

---------

Ritter is being punished, alright, not for his WMD about-face, but for soliciting sex from a 14 year old & 16 year old girls (who happened to be officers posing as jailbait on the net):
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/22/ritter.arrest/
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30587
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ritter

----------

This does bring to bear another, tangential point: Why should anyone give someone's writings on this or other political sujects any attention if they are willing to believe what has been demonstrably false for nearly two years and are not willing to examine their own positions. One might come to the conclusion that they were GWBush-like in their lack of intellectual curiosity in even their own positions.

 

[Thin Black Line]

Scorecard from a Republican

Among other things, he is guilty destroying the economy,

Absolutely not. How about Americans who continue to buy imported
goods and put their neighbors out of work? I now live in Michigan (Iraq
last year) and the reason our auto/parts industry has fallen flat on its
face is due to Americans buying foreign cars that had low/no tariffs
and favorable exchange rates often manipulated by the other country
to their advantage.

going to war on false pretenses for gains of his friends with a cost of tens of thousands of lives,

Keep in mind that it did take the Hill to authorise "use of force." One must
ask why the Hill has not sent a clear message that there must be a strict
time table for the removal of troops. In the future one can also hope
that they will pay closer attention to the intelligence they are given and
take it with a pound of salt.

Yes, we've lost a lot of good soldiers. I can tell you for a fact that they
were the BEST America had to offer. These were guys who would give
you their last MRE and ask if they could get you a bottle of water to
wash it down with! Thousands of Iraqis have also died. I'm not going to
debate whether if it would have also happened under Saddam. Probably
would have. There's a lot of if's, maybe's, and excuses. Too bad Baer
wasn't supported under the Clinton administration. Too bad for a lot of
things before that....

Ok, now I will tread on some truly dangerous ground since stating the
following has gotten one of my other posts completely removed from
THR:

YES, it is of grave concern to myself and fellow Constitutional Republicans
that there seems to be a lot of vested business interests between this
current administration and certain big businesses. To be fair, this has been
the case with ALL the previous admins during our lifetime as well as many
of the people on the Hill. That one would even mention that a certain
highly placed Republican has 635,000 shares in a very large company is
strictly verbotten among Party members and will instantly get you branded
by the less well-informed members of the Party as some kind of pinko. In
the meantime, those of us who know about it have to ignore the free
loading elephant in the living room.....it's an election year!

and continuing to ignore the constitution.

Again to be fair the interpretation of the Constitution and how it is put into
practice has not been the sole exercise of this current administration or
reserved to the Executive branch alone.

 

[1911JMB]

Thin Black Line,

I can agree to an extent with everything you said other than the economy's problems being the fault of people buying imported goods. The average auto worker earns something like $400,000 per year for his or her company, and due to those at the top screwing up, auto workers jobs are being outsourced.With Toyota and Honda assembling their cars in the states, they are rapidly becoming as American as the Big 3. As far as I'm concerned, if the parts are going to be made in a foreign country no matter what brand you buy, you might as well buy a car that will last without a lot of problems. Keep in mind that I say this having 2 friends that worked for Ameican car company's, and had their jobs sent over seas.

 

[robertbank]

Thin Black Line

Wife drives a Toyota Avalon made in St. Louis, Missouri. Best darn car I have ever owned. Made by and designed by Americans from a Japanese company. Reason Big 3 are in trouble is they make crappy cars. Why pay the same amount of money for a car that is just about as good as a Toyota?

Take Care

 

[Camp David]

One must ask why the Hill has not sent a clear message that there must be a strict time table for the removal of troops.

WHY? Just because you want it?

Did Eisenhower develop a strict timetable for removal of troops from Europe before the landing in Normandy? Did Lincoln develop a strict timetable for removal of troops from Virginia when he attacked the Confederates at Manassas? Indeed, has any wartime commander ever developed a detailed timetable for removal of troops either before hostilities commence or even during hostilities?

Thin Black Line: CAN YOU CITE ONE INSTANCE IN HISTORY OF SUCH A TIMETABLE FOR TROOP REMOVAL? Just one will do!

 

[CAnnoneer]

I was against the Iraq War from the start, but even I freely recognize that announcing a timetable of withdrawal is just silly. The unsavory elements will hunker down, wait it out until the last GI ships off home, then pounce onto the government and each other. That will plunge the country into a big messy civil war, whose only logical result is an Iranian theocracy.

Let's keep it real. The way to prevent the mess was not to get into Iraq in the first place. Maybe one day we will learn the truth about it. Maybe by the time we do, it won't matter once single bit. Either way, there is something rotten in Washington.

 

[LAK]

The bottom line is; why was Plame's status "leaked"?

Regardless of Plame's past or current CIA status at the time of the leak, as Wilson stated in an interview; once your status in the CIA is in the public domain - you're finished.

Had Joe Wilson been just another yes man for the geo-political agenda at stake, it would not have happened. The leak was malicious, and in this context there are some public explanations needed just for starters, followed by a Congressional hearing with impeachment powers.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- that suggests White House involvement. There are anonymous reports all the time in the media. The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." - Scott McClellan, WH Spokesman, September 29, 2003.

Read it and make some more excuses

..at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030929-7.html

---------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[shermacman]

To counter Lobotomy Boy's silly statements and LAK's tin-foil hat conspiracy theory, the Investor's Business Daily offers this:

Lost in the brouhaha over President Bush's "leak" of "classified" information is the real reason for the outrage: The "leak" proved that Joe Wilson was a liar. Among the things that bothered us in this affair is that it's deemed first-rate, Pulitzer-worthy journalism when a major newspaper prints classified information that our enemies find useful, but when the commander-in-chief authorizes the release of declassified material to defend his administration's position it is treated as a betrayal of the public trust, if not an impeachable offense.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&artnum=1&issue=20060410
That makes Investor's Business Daily guilty of treason, right Lobotomy Boy? How many of us are "driving the gas pellet trucks to the concentration camps" now?