Karen, our Salon “Hermit”, asks a few questions today regarding the Plame Affair.  It looked to me as if an overview was called for; I’ve whipped one up.  It's been a while since this business first hit the press and a brush up wouldn't hurt since the case has now gone to a grand jury.

===

The Bush Administration asked former Ambassador Joe Wilson to investigate the claim that Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Niger.  Wilson was a career diplomat, serving as chargé d’affaires in Baghdad during the first Bush Administration; he was the last U.S. diplomat to speak directly with Saddam Hussein prior to Gulf War I.  He had been recommended for this assignment, coming with high praise and an extremely strong background.

Unfortunately for this Administration, Wilson could not find any proof the claim was legitimate; he reported this to the Administration in March of 2002. This did not serve the Administration's contention that the Iraqis were an imminent threat because they had nuclear capability.  In spite of Wilson's report to the contrary, the Administration continued to promote the premise that Iraq had uranium anyhow, even making similar claims in front of Congress in October of 2002 when asking for authorization to use military force against Iraq.  Wilson has also been open about the nature of his findings, making the Administration's claims look highly questionable (hence the furor over the "16 words" after the 2003 SOTU).

Someone in the Administration, as yet unidentified publicly, called six different journalists, one of which was Bob Novak.  This Administration source leaked to Bob Novak the fact that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative specializing in nuclear weaponry -- and Bob said as much in print.  Bob knows what the term "operative" means; the fact that Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson's wife, was not openly known to be an "operative" meant that she was undercover.  In fact, she was under the deepest cover: NOC (non-official cover).  The CIA would disavow her; she would have no overt support from the CIA of any kind.  As the wife of an Ambassador, she had access to a broad range of contacts, all of which were compromised when her identity was disclosed.  Further, she was personally at risk, having been publicly identified.

The outing of an operative is a crime, under laws passed during the first Bush Administration; a crime has been committed somewhere within the Administration, since somebody with access to highly sensitive information (Plame's classification and her relationship to Wilson) released that information, whether directly to Novak or to some intermediary.

The intent of releasing this information is not clear, although the motivation may be retribution against Joe Wilson for not supporting this Administration's claim that the Iraqis had acquired uranium.

Bob Novak's role and responsibility is suspect, since this is not his first brush with known leakage from the White House; in fact, Karl Rove used him to leak information in 1992 while Rove worked for the first Bush Administration.  Rove was subsequently fired by that Administration for this leak.

The questions that the investigation seeks answer are: 1) who revealed to Novak Plame's status?  2) did that person know this was not common knowledge, or did someone above them with extremely limited access to highly confidential information reveal this to them?  It's a question of where the leak began; we already know it was a leak and that it compromised national security and the lives of the operative and any assets with which the operative came in contact.

“What I didn’t find in Africa” Joe Wilson, 06-JUL-03

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0706-02.htm

Bob Novak's 14-JUL-03 article, Trip to Niger
http://www.cnsnews.com/Commentary/Archive/200307/COM20030714b.html

First letter to the White House from former CIA members regarding the Plame Affair (14-JUL-03)
http://www.counterpunch.org/vips07142003.html

CNN interview with Joe Wilson, 29-SEP-03

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/29/cnna.wilson.zahn/

How deep is CIA cover? Ed Finn, MSNBC, 29-SEP-03

http://slate.msn.com/id/2089062/

Bob Novak's 01-OCT-03 follow-up article, The CIA Leak
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200310\COM20031001a.html

"Why are these men laughing?", Ron Suskind, Esquire Mag, Jan. 2003; note firing of Karl Rove in 1992 for leak to Bob Novak
http://www.ronsuskind.com/newsite/articles/archives/000032.html

Time article, 22-JAN-04, Grand Jury Hears Plame Case
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,581456,00.html

===

I’ve tried to be neutral in putting this together, which is a bit difficult for me.  I think it’s important to note that this kind of outing is unprecedented.  Technical resources, meaning raw data and systems used to provide them – have been compromised in the past, much to the concern of the affected Administration and the CIA.  But no NOC operative – a covert operative working at the most sensitive and risky of levels – has ever been outted like this, by persons within an Administration.

It does not matter which party affiliation you support; whether this happened under a Democratic, Independent or Libertarian administration, this breech is bad.  An operative’s life has been put at risk, a chain of assets spanning her career is at risk, our national security is at risk.  Lastly, a mother with a young child has been put at risk.  It’s simply untenable.  This must be investigated, rapidly, so that any other potential leaks are sewn up to prevent future damage.

Besides Novak, there are five other journalists who know which party was trying to peddle the story.  You can bet they’ve probably gotten lawyers – but they know.  And they may not have to protect the source that called them since these five journalists did not report the story as Novak did.  They know.  The truth will come out.

If you find an error in my summation, please drop a note here in comments.  I’m sure we’d all appreciate the clarification.

I don’t think a clarification will change the threat this situation represents.  Threats, I should say.  Somebody, singular or plural, should be doing the frog walk out of the White House.

5:02:42 PM    comment []

Sorry, I'm tied up with volunteer work for the Dean campaign; we're down to the wire, with only two weeks to go before the Michigan Caucus. 

I'm thinking about starting a new category to capture content related to the campaign; it might be better suited to a new category.  I'll mull it over a bit more.

In the mean time, I'm working on phone bank for the campaign.  If you're in Michigan and the phone rings, pick up, will you?  It might be me!

(And for you naysayers: When the fat lady sings on one of these remixes, I'll be done.  In the mean time, YEEAAARRRGGGHHH!  Scream for Dean!)

1:09:49 PM    comment []