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It's All Part Of The Same Story
In addition to the problems created by "The Downing Steet Minutes" memo, there is now another set of problems related to another secret memo and yet another basis for accusations that the Bush Administration either lied, or otherwise deliberately misled Americans in the run-up to the Iraq War.
The Downing Street Minutes refers to a memo written by an MI5 (British equivalent of the United States CIA) analyst about the Bush Administration's decision to wage war on Iraq, far in advance of when the administration claims such a decision was made.
This latest memo, from the CIA, provides key information about when, who and how CIA analyst Valerie Plame's name first surfaced in regard to the Bush Administration's dubious claims of Iraq's alleged attempt to buy uranium from Niger, and how the leaking of that information came to be part of a Grand Jury investigation involving top Bush Administration officials. The administration's claim about the Iraq-Niger-uranium-WMD nexus (later proved false), were at the time, a key plank in building the case for war against Iraq, so much so, that the assertion became part of President Bush's State of the Union Speech in January 2003, two month's prior to the US invasion of Iraq.
We pick up the details about this latest memo and its ties to the Plame investigation, from the Washington Post:
A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.
Plame -- who is referred to by her married name, Valerie Wilson, in the memo -- is mentioned in the second paragraph of the three-page document, which was written on June 10, 2003, by an analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), according to a source who described the memo to The Washington Post.
The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.
Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, though that designation was not specifically attached to Plame's name and did not describe her status as covert, the sources said. It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret.
Prosecutors attempting to determine whether senior government officials knowingly leaked Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative to the media are investigating whether White House officials gained access to information about her from the memo, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.
The memo may be important to answering three central questions in the Plame case: Who in the Bush administration knew about Plame's CIA role? Did they know the agency was trying to protect her identity? And, who leaked it to the media?
Almost all of the memo is devoted to describing why State Department intelligence experts did not believe claims that Saddam Hussein had in the recent past sought to purchase uranium from Niger. Only two sentences in the seven-sentence paragraph mention Wilson's wife.
The memo was delivered to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on July 7, 2003, as he headed to Africa for a trip with President Bush aboard Air Force One. Plame was unmasked in a syndicated column by Robert D. Novak seven days later.
It's important to note (as is later done in WaPo's story) that this memo was originally dated over one month earlier, but was redated, when it was sent to Colin Powell on July 7, 2003, in response to the then-Secretary of State's request. As the investigation unfolds, it seems that July 7, 2003 is emerging as a key date in the now familiar refrain, "What did (fill in the blank) know, and when did (fill in the blank) know it".
This memo is also the first time that former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, is mentioned prominently as a part of the investigation.
There's more to WaPo's story, and I would encourage everyone to go and read all of the article.
And while the bruhaha and side-show of the confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee that will not even officially begin for another month, begins to suck all of the oxygen out of the White House Press Room, it's important for us all to remain vigilant about this story, and to continue to pressure (read shame) the media into reporting it.
And since it seems that the media not only has difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time, but also is demonstrably poor at the remedial mathamatic deductive skills necessary to add one and one and come up with the correct answer of two, we will also need to repeatedly draw their attention to the fact that the Downing Street Minutes and Plamegate, are but two ugly heads of the larger Hydra-like issue of how Americans may have been misled into supporting the Iraq War.
The extent to which the Bush Administration may have deliberately misled the American people into supporting the Iraq War is the real story here. Whether it's the Downing Street Minutes, Plamegate, the White House-Republican leadership coordinated assault on Richard Clarke's credibility over his assertions as to when the White House had decided to go to war with Iraq, the same story which was echoed in Bob Woodward's book, Bush At War, giving detailed accounts of meetings and conversations between Vice-President Cheney and Prince Bandar (who just resigned his post as to the United States) that support Clarke's assertions, and the non-denial denials which followed, and the mulititudinous information already on record which I haven't the space or wherewithall to post here, it's all the same story.
The only question remaining is when will the media tie it all together and report it as such?
contact CSPAN,
to request the Public Disclosure of Covert Agents hearing that was held this morning on Capitol Hill, (chaired by Congressman Waxman & Sen. Dorgan,) ask CSPAN to broadcast this hearing this weekend on CSPAN or CSPAN2 TV:
http://www.c-span.org/about/contact.asp?code=About
Also, many former CIA agents testified this AM at the hearing. This is Larry Johnson's statement:
CORRECTING THE RECORD ON VALERIE PLAME
by
Larry C. Johnson
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/07/correcting_the_.html#more
Still waiting for the entire hearing transcript to be available online.
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 01:20 PM
Larry Johnson was on Al Franken's show yesterday. Interesting guy -- and trained with Valerie Plame (then known as Valerie P.) in CIA school.
Larry C. Johnson: Why Is This a Story?
There’s a reason why this Rove – Plame story is on the front pages. The outing of a CIA officer hurts national security and allowing this to stand (i.e. not firing Rove) sets a horrible precedent and message to our intelligence officers. We had former CIA officer Larry C. Johnson on the show today. On Monday, he and ten other officers sent an open statement to congressional leaders. Here’s part of what they wrote:
You can listen to/read the rest here:
http://shows.airamericaradio.com/alfrankenshow/node/3016
Thanks Casey, only I'd like to point out that this wasn't "misleading"...this was outright "lying".
Lying in order to use the American military to fight a private, personal vendetta.
That is treason of the highest order.
Here is what we should be asking:
Why did the administration feel it was necessary to lie about the reasons for war, to "fix the facts around the policy"?
Why did the US really go to war?
Why is the US military being used to fight a politician's personal war?
Is that constitutional?
What is the punishment for that?
Just listed on the CSPAN main page, they now have link to video/audio of Covert agents hearing:
RECENT PROGRAMS >>
Hearing on Security Implications of Revealing Covert Agent's Identity (07/22/2005)
http://www.cspan.org/
AP story published before this morning's hearing:
Ex-Intel Officers Speak on Plame's Behalf
WASHINGTON - Eleven former intelligence officers are speaking up on behalf of CIA officer Valerie Plame, saying leaking her identity may have damaged national security and threatens the ability of U.S. intelligence gathering.
In a statement to congressional leaders, the former officers said the Republican National Committee has circulated talking points focusing on the idea that Plame was not working undercover and deserved no protection.
There are thousands of U.S. intelligence officers who work at a desk in the Washington, D.C., area every day who are undercover as Plame was when her identity was leaked, the 11 former officers said in a three-page statement.
The former officers' statement comes amid revelations that top presidential aide Karl Rove was involved in leaking Plame's identity to columnist Robert Novak and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, and that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, also was a source for Cooper on the Plame story.
The leaking of Plame's identity followed public criticism leveled against the Bush White House by Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. He suggested the administration had manipulated intelligence to justify going to war in Iraq. A criminal investigation into the leaks is ongoing.
"Intelligence officers should not be used as political footballs," the 11 said. "In the case of Valerie Plame, she still works for the CIA and is not in a position to publicly defend her reputation and honor."
here~
http://tinyurl.com/cuv9a
http://www.cspan.org/
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 01:55 PM
THANK YOU, OTV4D.... I posted a reply to you at the end of last thread without checking to see if there was a new thread..... I appreciate your help and diligence, 'cuz I have the draft form of the letters to networks and want to send them a link to the proper info....
There's no link to the video yet from the link on this thread, but at the center top of the page on that link... Karen Hughes is back.... and shrubbie wants her nomination approved..... egads and little fishes... he's bringin' in the second string now, eh?
Rat Fink Rove just may... (only may???)... have to go for one reason or another and sit out the rest of shrubbie's second term in his jammies at an undisclosed location (we know shrubbie will pardon his brain and mentor in evil tactics, and he'll never see the inside of the jail cell he deserves to be in for the rest of his life - if not executed for treason....)
tutter if you are out there today please email me. I have some current info regarding the Bob Casey organization you will want to know about.
CORRECTING THE RECORD ON VALERIE PLAME
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/07/correcting_the_.html#more
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 01:20 PM
I read Johnson's piece as slow as I could (no skimming!) to get all the details... Johnson's piece is excellent, and the web site has other stories by other ex-CIA people who knew Plame-Wilson and her status, and the writing is more like a report with facts, no embellishing spin one gets with op-ed pieces in newspapers.... I recommend reading all the facts....
Thanks for the heads up on this post, OTV....:-)
Gleanings from this morning's e-newsletters:
{{{Can we hope this story is drivel and that the Dems are just sitting back, biding their time and plotting their strategy and writing their questions for Roberts and waiting for the actual hearings to begin before expressing opinions.... which will keep the TreasonGate stories about the lies leading up to Bu$hCo's War on the front page and reminding people they were lied to repeatedly about the justifications for the war of choice (not necessity) that is/was unjustified, illegal, immoral, and unethical, and that the resulting crimes committed at Gitmo and AbuGhraib are reprehensible and not characteristic of the majority of real Americans and only reflect the values of that nest of pit vipers in the White House and the few loyalists and apologists who still think that pit vipers are friendly????? (Whew!!! I feel like I just wrote a long sentence that would compare to anything Faulkner is capable of!!! :-) }}}
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dems22jul22,0,122193.story
BUSH'S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE
Activists Lack Allies in Battling Court Pick
BIG-TIME TROUBLE, BUT WHY WORRY?
Molly Ivins, AlterNet
As most of the country focuses almost entirely on social issues and culture wars, our economic problems are threatening to bring the country down by its foundations.
http://www.alternet.org/story/23670/
ACTIVISTS AGAINST ROBERTS
Allison Stevens, Women's eNews
Women's rights activists have been loudly protesting John Roberts' nomination for Supreme Court Justice -- but
political observers say the conservative judge is likely to be confirmed.
http://www.alternet.org/story/23665/
{{{ I wish they wouldn't give up before the Judiciary Committee even meets!!! BTW, DCP Bloggers, AlterNet also has blogging capability after each news article they post. It's as easy to use as the DCP blog.... and, yes, I have left my opinion on their blog, too.}}}
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/politics/politicsspecial1/22cases.html
In His Opinions, Nominee Favors Judicial Caution
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072101782.html
The Nominee As a Young Pragmatist
Under Reagan, Roberts Tackled Tough Issues
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072102500.html
Nominee's Wife Is A Feminist After Her Own Heart
OUTRAGE!!!
Only 2 Senators attended this morning's confirmation hearing on Karen Hughes, both Republicans!!!
Where are our DEM Senators on this committee, Biden sent in his "statement of support" letter:
Where's Dodd, Kerry, Boxer, Feingold,Obama, etc??
Absent.
Karen Hughes on Track to Confirmation
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
7 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A scaled-back Senate Foreign Relations Committee showered praise Friday on Karen Hughes and put the former political adviser to President Bush on a fast track to confirmation as the State Department's top public relations official.
Only two senators attended the hearing. In the absence of votes in Congress on Fridays, most lawmakers leave early for the weekend.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/buth5
YEAH CSPAN!!!!!!!
MUST SEE TEEVEE
This afternoon on CSPAN, replay of this morning's hearing:
04:02 PM EDT
Public Hearing
Public Disclosure of Covert Agents
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Henry Waxman , D-CA
Larry Johnson , Central Intelligence Agency
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp
Posted by: Veritas at July 22, 2005 01:49 PM
IMHO, the answers to your questions are:
(1) The war was planned before the 2000 Selection. (See PNAC web site.)
(2) To control the flow of oil - world supply has peaked, controlling prices and flow means big $$$$$$$$$$ for Bu$hCo, his family, his "friends" in the oil business. (See PNAC web site.)
(3) One-upmanship on his daddy who limited the first gulf war (and sonny said he wanted to be remembered as a 'war president' in 1999).
(4) No.
(5) Unknown (but I'd like to recommend it be the same as the punsihment for treason).
Precedent was set regarding lying as grounds for impeachment when Clinton lied about having sex.... why can't multiple lies be used as grounds for impeachment, but add the Constitutional grounds of high crimes and misdemeanors this time because Bu$hCo's lies have meant thousands of deaths and new lows in legal standards because he and his AG condoned torture and setting the pResiDunce above the law and they have unbalance the checks and balances of power as defined in the Constitution, and the secrecy has added to those crimes; and then there are the billions (likely will end up trillions) of dollars in debts that our great-grandchildren will still be paying off.... add to the list any other valid reasons for impeachment that we've all known about since day one.....
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 02:52 PM
OTV4D: I {{} heart }}} you!!! Thanks for the link, and I WILL be listening again.... :-)
ok, this is really weird.
I just copied the above info from CSPAN's schedule, about the hearing being shown this afternoon.
Now it has disappeared from their schedule...
replaced with something else...
Will be watching to see if they re-schedule this.
NonnyO
I know I didn't dream up the CSPAN schedule, since I copied & pasted directly from their website, as soon as it came up, I've been waiting for this all morning.
So just as quickly as it was posted on their afternoon schedule, it has now disappeared..
Waiting to see if they will re-schedule the hearing broadcast tonight or tomorrow.
Primetime would be good, even on a Fri night.
Stay tuned....
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 03:10 PM
I know you didn't dream it up, OTV... I copied and pasted it from the web site, too!!!
Hmmmmmm... do I smell c-e-n-s-o-r-s-h-i-p?????
I hope it's just a re-shuffling of the schedule....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://tinyurl.com/buth5
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 02:42 PM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!!!!!
On the other hand.... if the Wicked Witch of Texas is back from her well-publicized retirement.....????? (Does that mean Rat Fink Rove is on his way out?)
ok, NonnyO
CSPAN is playing games with us...maybe they want to test how many of us are alert and watching! :)
I just checked again...the original schedule is back:
it will air shortly:
04:02 PM EDT
Public Hearing
Public Disclosure of Covert Agents
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Henry Waxman , D-CA
Larry Johnson , Central Intelligence Agency
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp
[now if CSPAN changes the schedule again, I give up]
I'm really wondering about what is going in your country about news.
Not only about the Valerie Plame's case, but because yesterday Farenheit 9/11 went on my cable TV. All that for that?
What I saw was a caricature compared to the regular news and documentaries (oh, documentries!!!!) we have abroad....and much more exlicit and harder than what you are given to see.
About oil. Chuck (former in Baku, now in Houson), had yesterday night a cristal clear analysis of it all. Get back to it. He is so darn right.... No news about it of course..
Seen from abroad, George is sinking. Sorry for the propaganda. I know he has his evil system at stakes, but he is more and more having US looking goofy. He is wrong about everything. it seems evident outside, I know it's not that easy in US... How long will it take them...to realize he was wrong. You were happy, I didn't say " to see the light".
By the way, not a line in my press about what is going on in the States. Only London matters.
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at July 22, 2005 03:24 PM
Thanks (again), OTV4D.... I have it on right now, it should air in about 12-15 minutes.....
The Donald is on the Hill testifying for some reason, but I'll be danged if I can tell what for, since C-SPAN indicates the Public Disclosure of Covert Agents hearing on the main menu....
Mark Weisbrot | Rove Scandal Could Stick
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0722-22.htm
GOP candidate calls for impeachment
July 21, 2005
By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff
A Congressional candidate who wants to impeach President Bush insists he can win the Republican primary.
Dennis Morrisseau, 62, of West Pawlet, plans to seek the Republican nomination to run for U.S. House of Representatives. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., who plans a run for the U.S. Senate.
A central part of his platform, Morrisseau said, will be bringing articles of impeachment against Bush.
He will most likely face Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville, adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard, in the September 2006 primary, along with any other candidates who might get themselves placed on the ballot between now and then.
Morrisseau said he considers himself more of a Republican than the president, and he thinks a lot of Vermont Republicans agree with him.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050721/NEWS/507210422/1002/NEWS01
Tune in~
It's just starting!
CSPAN
MUST SEE TEEVEE
CSPAN, replay of this morning's hearing:
Public Hearing
Public Disclosure of Covert Agents
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Henry Waxman , D-CA
Larry Johnson , Central Intelligence Agency
[I'm off, to watch this for the next couple of hours...this is what it's all about, I wish every American could watch this program.
Its about TRUTH and TRUST. ]
Master Plan:The Rise of the Commander-in-Chief State
*Note: Here is the column I spoke of a few days ago, giving a broader context to Bush's nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. (More on Roberts here.) A version of this piece will be printed in the July 22 edition of The Moscow Times. This version was first posted at Counterpunch.org.*
The United States long ago ceased to be anything like a living, thriving republic. But it retained the legal form of a republic, and that counted for something: as long as the legal form still existed, even as a gutted shell, there was hope it might be filled again one day with substance.
But now the very legal structures of the Republic are being dismantled. The principle of arbitrary rule by an autocratic leader is being openly established, through a series of unchallenged executive orders, perverse Justice Department rulings and court decisions by sycophantic judges who defer to power – not law – in their determinations. What we are witnessing is the creation of a "Commander-in-Chief State," where the form and pressure of law no longer apply to the president and his designated agents. The rights of individuals are no longer inalienable, nor are their persons inviolable; all depends on the good will of the Commander, the military autocrat.
George W. Bush has granted himself the power to declare anyone on earth – including any American citizen – an "enemy combatant," for any reason he sees fit. He can render them up to torture, he can imprison them for life, he can even have them killed, all without charges, with no burden of proof, no standards of evidence, no legislative oversight, no appeal, no judicial process whatsoever except those that he himself deigns to construct, with whatever limitations he cares to impose. Nor can he ever be prosecuted for any order he issues, however criminal; in the new American system laid out by Bush's legal minions, the Commander is sacrosanct, beyond the reach of any law or constitution.
This is not hyperbole. It is simply the reality of the United States today. The principle of unrestricted presidential power is now being codified into law and incorporated into the institutional structures of the state, as Deep Blade Journal reports in an excellent compendium of recent outrages against liberty.
For example, on July 15, a panel of federal appellate court judges upheld Bush's sovereign right to dispose of "enemy combatants" any way he pleases, the Washington Post reports. In a chilling decision, the judges ruled that the Commander's arbitrarily designated "enemies" are non-persons: neither the Geneva Conventions nor American military and domestic law apply to such garbage. Bush is now free to subject anyone he likes to the "military tribunal" system he has concocted – a brutal sham that some top retired military officials have denounced as a "kangaroo court" that will be used by tyrants around the world to "hide their oppression under U.S. precedent."
One of the kowtowing jurists on the appeals panel was none other than John G. Roberts. Four days after he affirmed Bush's autocratic powers, Roberts was duly awarded with a nomination to the Supreme Court. Now he will be sitting in final judgment on this case – and any other challenges to Bush's peremptory commands. This is what is known, in the tyrant trade, as "a safe pair of hands."
The ruling by Roberts and his fellow Republican jurists ignores the fact that the Geneva Conventions – which lay down strict guidelines for the handling of any person detained by military forces, regardless of the captive's status – have been incorporated into the U.S. legal code, as Deep Blade points out. They cannot be abrogated by presidential fiat. And anyone who commits a "grave breach" of the Conventions – by facilitating the killing, torture or inhuman treatment of detainees (e.g., stripping them of all legal status and subjecting them to rigged tribunals) – is subject to the death penalty under American law.
This is why the Bush Faction labored so mightily to advance the absurd fiction that the Geneva Conventions are somehow voluntary – while simultaneously promulgating the sinister Fuhrerprinzip of unlimited presidential authority. The fiction was a temporary sop to the crumbling legal form of the Republic, a cynical perversion of existing law to keep justice at bay until the Fuhrerprinzip could be firmly established as the new foundation of the state.
It doesn't matter anymore if the president's orders to suspend the Conventions, construct a worldwide gulag, torture captives, spy on Americans, fabricate intelligence and wage aggressive war are illegal under the "quaint" strictures of the old dispensation; the courts, packed with Bushist cadres, are now affirming the new order, the "critical authority" of the Commander, beyond law and morality, on the higher plane of what Bush calls "the path of action."
This phrase – with its remarkable Mussolinian echoes – was incorporated into the official "National Security Strategy of the United States," promulgated by Bush in September 2002. That document in turn was drawn largely from a manifesto issued in September 2000 by a Bush Faction group whose members included Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Jeb Bush. Their plan, often detailed here, envisioned the transformation of America into a militarized state: planting "military footprints" throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, invading Iraq (even if Saddam Hussein was already gone), expanding the nuclear arsenal, massively increasing the defense budget – and predicating all these "revolutionary" changes on the hopes for "a new Pearl Harbor" that would "catalyze" the lazy American public into supporting the militarist agenda.
This agenda is designed, the group said, to establish "full spectrum dominance" over geopolitical affairs, assuring control of world energy resources and precluding the rise of "any potential global rival" that might threaten the unchecked wealth and privilege of the American elite. The rule of law could only be a hindrance to such a scheme; hence its replacement by the Fuhrerprinzip and the "path of action."
There has been virtually no institutional resistance to this open coup d'etat. It's now clear that the American Establishment – and a significant portion of the American people – have given up on the democratic experiment. They no longer wish to govern themselves; they want to be ruled, by "strong leaders" who will "do whatever it takes" to protect them from harm and keep them in clover. They have sold their golden birthright of American liberty for a mess of coward's pottage.
Annotated sources can be found here.
Chris Floyd
FOLLOW UP FROM THIS STORY;
Endless Nightmare, Ever Darker
An alert but anonymous commenter pointed me to this story, which I see now has been picked up by many others, but since it fits so perfectly with the column I posted below on America's new military autocracy and John Roberts' role in upholding it, I thought I'd give it an airing here as well.
White House threatens veto on detainee policies. Excerpt from AP:
"The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a massive Senate bill for $442 billion in next year's defense programs if it moves to regulate the Pentagon's treatment of detainees or sets up a commission to investigate operations at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere. The Bush administration, under fire for the indefinite detention of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and questions over whether its policies led to horrendous abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, put lawmakers on notice it did not want them legislating on the matter.
"'If legislation is presented that would restrict the president's authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice,' the bill could be vetoed, the [White House] statement said."
It really defies belief. Bush is openly telling the elected representatives of the American people that he will not allow them to put any fetters on his power to treat captives in any way he sees fit. He will not allow them to outlaw barbaric practices that stain the nation's honor and stir hatred against its people around the world. He will not even allow them to examine the allegations. He must have a free hand -- an iron hand -- to do what he pleases, to whom he pleases.
Oh, how he delights in his raw power, in his brutality, this nasty little man, this vile, soul-crippled creature. How the thought of war and torture makes him strut. What have we come to? How much deeper must we fall? When and how will we ever wake up from this nightmare?
http://www.empireburlesquenow.blogspot.com/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050721/pl_nm/arms_congress_dc
Former Intelligence Officials Testify About Damage Caused by Outing of Covert CIA Agent - Video & Transcript Links
July 22nd, 2005
The video (direct Real Player link)and transcripts from today’s hearing on PlameGate are all linked here.
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=40
This is the letter I sent to ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS (with slight editing for the latter). These news agencies that reach every home with or without cable or satellite dishes need to get their $h*t together and start giving us FACTS. We do NOT need spin; we need FACTS...
To Whom It May Concern:
If you do not cover (IN FULL) what is on C-SPAN-3 with hearings having to do with outing a CIA agent..... shame on you!!! They are questioning former CIA agents about the Republican talking points and negative spin to cover up the Republican/NeoCon LIES having to do with TreasonGate (Bu$h/Cheney and Repubs didn't merely "mislead" us into war, the whole lot of 'em LIED, and say Bush and Cheney and the whole cabal in the White House LIED!!! We already know they LIED.)
This whole hearing should pre-empt afternoon soap operas or be broadcast IN FULL in the evening (without commercial interruption)!!! People need to know what these CIA agents are saying about the treason that has been committed by the Bu$hCo cabal!!! It's way past time for people to be told the truth about this administration and the web of lies and deceit that have been shoved down our throats since the Selection of 2000. The whole Bu$h administration needs to be held accountable for their lies and their crimes.....
This afternoon on CSPAN, replay of this morning's hearing:
04:02 PM EDT
Public Hearing
Public Disclosure of Covert Agents
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Henry Waxman , D-CA
Larry Johnson , Central Intelligence Agency
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp
Watch it, and report the TRUTH for a change on your evening infotainment "news" and don't merely end with the damned Republican/NeoCon spin!!!
Thank you.
Sincerely,
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/cspan.csp?command=dprogram&record=546118025
Public Hearing
Public Disclosure of Covert Agents
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 187846 - 07/22/2005 - 2:00 - No Sale
Waxman, Henry, U.S. Representative, D-CA
Johnson, Larry, Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency
Marcinkowski, Jim, Agent, Central Intelligence Agency
Goodman, Mel, Chief (Fmr.), Central Intelligence Agency, Soviet Union and Third World Affairs
Dorgan, Byron L., U.S. Senator, D-ND
Holt, Rush, U.S. Representative, D-NJ
Witnesses, including former CIA analysts and case officers, talk about the national security implications of disclosing the identity or affiliation of covert intelligence officers. They also comment on recent fallout from White House statements to the press that led to the disclosure that Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, worked as a covert operative on issues involving weapons of mass destruction.
I sincerely love folks who watch c-span,
(already watching before i came in here, still my favorite blogging folks are of course all 'tuned-in")
...great hearing, Larry Johnson, says it all for me!
~*~
just a note off subject, but dear to my heart...
~*~
Tanonaka Pleads Guilty To Campaign Spending Violations
Former News Anchor Faces 30 Years In Prison
POSTED: 4:51 pm HST July 21, 2005
UPDATED: 10:27 am HST July 22, 2005
HONOLULU -- Former news anchorman and Republican politician Dalton Tanonaka pleaded guilty Thursday to crimes that could get him 30 years in prison.
Tanonaka secretly funneled thousands of dollars into his campaigns, prosecutors said. However, his lawyer denies he was trying to hide anything.
Tanonaka's journalism career included KITV, KHON, the Honolulu Advertiser and Japanese television. Name recognition wasn't enough to get him elected.
Prosecutors said if voters thought a journalist would be trustworthy, they were wrong. "By his pattern of omissions he violated the laws and the trust," federal prosecutor Ronald Johnson said.
Tanonaka admitted illegally financing campaigns for lieutenant governor and Congress with about $80,000 in loans. He hid the debts from a bank to get other loans and he kept a consulting contract with a Japanese lumber company secret, leaving it off candidate disclosure forms, prosecutors said. His lawyer calls the violations "technical."
"But by omitting things, was Dalton trying to hide things from the government? No, I don't think he was trying to hide anything. But that doesn't make it OK," defense attorney Michael Green said.
"The word technical is not anywhere in there. It is knowing and willful conduct, making false statements, accepting illegal campaign contributions," Johnson said.
Even though the penalties in the case are potentially very stiff, Tanonaka's attorney hopes for probation or home detention because Tanonaka pleaded guilty quickly and his crimes apparently didn't cost anyone any money.
"Everyone thinks that, who doesn't know the story, thinks he's a crook, and he's not," Green said. "The people of the United States were hurt by these omissions. The people in this country have a right to expect that their government is going to be ethical and healthy," FBI Special-Agent-In-Charge Charles Goodwin said.
Tanonaka will be sentenced in November. He hopes to find a job in Japan.
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/4755759/detail.html
Posted really at 11:03AM Hawaii time
new AP story, should be in every newspaper tomorrow morning:
Ex-CIA Officers Rip Bush Over Rove Leak
By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 58 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Former U.S. intelligence officers criticized President Bush on Friday for not disciplining Karl Rove in connection with the leak of the name of a CIA officer, saying Bush's lack of action has jeopardized national security.
In a hearing held by Senate and House Democrats examining the implications of exposing Valerie Plame's identity, the former intelligence officers said Bush's silence has hampered efforts to recruit informants to help the United States fight the war on terror. Federal law forbids government officials from revealing the identity of an undercover intelligence officer.
"I wouldn't be here this morning if President Bush had done the one thing required of him as commander in chief — protect and defend the Constitution," said Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst. "The minute that Valerie Plame's identity was outed, he should have delivered a strict and strong message to his employees."
Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff, told Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in a 2003 phone call that former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA on weapons of mass destruction issues, according to an account by Cooper in the magazine. Rove has not disputed that he told Cooper that Wilson's wife worked for the agency, but has said through his lawyer that he did not mention her by name.
In July 2003, Robert Novak, citing unnamed administration officials, identified Plame by name in his syndicated column and wrote that she worked for the CIA. The column has led to a federal criminal investigation into who leaked Plame's undercover identity. New York Times reporter Judith Miller — who never wrote a story about Plame — has been jailed for refusing to testify.
Bush said last week, "I think it's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. And I will do so, as well."
Dana Perino, a White House spokesman, said Friday that the administration would have no comment on the investigation while it was continuing.
Patrick Lang, a retired Army colonel and defense intelligence officer, said Bush's silence sends a bad signal to foreigners who might be thinking of cooperating with the U.S. on intelligence matters.
"This says to them that if you decide to cooperate, someone will give you up, so you don't do it," Lang said. "They are not going to trust you in any way."
Johnson, who said he is a registered Republican, said he wished a GOP lawmaker would have the courage to stand up and "call the ugly dog the ugly dog."
"Where are these men and women with any integrity to speak out against this?" Johnson asked. "I expect better behavior out of Republicans."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050722/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak_democrats
excellent compilation of up to date info over at Dkos:
The Plame Floodgates Open
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/162415/235
new thread
Tenet resigned at night along with his Deputy over the handling of intelligence officers and the manner in which the White House was operating outside the law. Resigning at night is an internal red flag.
The resignation of such high official(s) signals people in Government that the Republic is in trouble, that there is a fire under all the smoke.
Now we have intelligence Officials publically calling out the President of the United States, which reinforces why tenet resigned. There is something seriously wrong in the White House, and they are making sure the World knows it as well.
This is what its all about...the Emperor has no clothes, the President has No Mandate, the White House has no more rocks to hide under.
God bless the patriots left in Our Government, speaking truth to power.