Gee, whatever happened to....

The American Prospect

The Fitzgerald probe reminds us: Whatever happened to Pat Roberts' Phase II intelligence report?

A second problem for Rockefeller: An internal staff memo urging him to call for an independent investigation of the administration's use of Iraq intelligence was leaked to FOX News' Sean Hannity in November 2003. The resulting mini-furor that erupted in the right-wing media has contributed to Rockefeller's reluctance to act.

But the main reason he has been inhibited is that previous public comments he made apparently caused the Pentagon to abruptly stop cooperating with the investigation. At the July 2004 press conference occasioned by the release of the Phase I report, Rockefeller asserted that certain activities of members of the office of then-Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, including a secret Rome meeting with the Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, might have been "unlawful." At that point, Feith's office simply stopped cooperating with the investigation, and Roberts hasn't compelled Feith or his staff to comply. "[The Defense Department] got very skittish about volunteering as they had been up to that point," an SSCI staffer told the Prospect. "They got all lawyered up. Roberts' position, and [the Defense Department's], has been either 'show us what you're talking about' or 'withdraw the statement and we'll continue our cooperation with you.' Rockefeller wouldn't do either."

Accountability may yet arrive. With press-time reports that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was homing in on a group of top White House aides for playing a role in outing CIA agent Valerie Plame to the media (in an effort to retaliate against her husband for exposing the White House's hyping of dubious Iraq intelligence) perhaps the courts will take up where Congress has failed.

And when the courts are done with that, maybe they should look at Republican Senators and Representatives under the RICO act for conspiring to ruin our country.

How is this not like Vietnam?

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined on Wednesday to rule out American forces still being needed in Iraq a decade from now. Senators warned that the Bush administration must play it straight with the public or risk losing public support for the war. [my em]

[. . .]

Fuck all those folks who say there's no comparison. The only difference is jungle vis-a-vis desert. Our guys are getting killed, there's no end in sight to the insurgency, and corporate America is getting rich. My dad was a DoD contractor and his best years were during the Vietnam War. Some of the wounds this nation sustained then have not healed and we're reopening the ones that have.

Update:

Mr. H points up another similarity.

Face it, America. You've been punk'd.

Larry C. Johnson at TomPaine.

It is now quite clear that the outing of Valerie Plame was part of a broader White House effort to mislead and manipulate U.S. public opinion as part of an orchestrated effort to take us to war. The unraveling of the Valerie Plame affair has exposed their scam - and it extends well beyond compromising the identity of a CIA officer. In short, the Bush administration organized and executed a classic "covert action" program against the citizens of the United States.

The attack on Valerie Plame Wilson was not an isolated incident. It was part of a broader pattern of manipulation and deceit. But this was not done for the welfare of U.S. national security. Instead, we find ourselves confronted by an unprecedented level of terrorist attacks and a deteriorating military situation in Iraq. At the same time, we now know that the Bush administration gladly sacrificed an undercover intelligence officer in order to keep up the pretense that the war in Iraq was all about weapons of mass destruction.

Americans have died because of the Bush deceit. The unmasking of Valerie Plame was not an odd occurrence. It was part of a pattern of deliberate manipulation and disinformation. At the end of the day, American men and women have died because of this lie. It is up to the American people to hold the Bush administration accountable for these actions.

We've known this for a while. It's good to see it out in public.

Accuracy in Media

Go see Shakey's Sis. Without one of those it must be easier to get the falafel out of his ass orally. Or put it in.

This warrants your attention...

I've had trouble concentrating this morning due to a large bearded biker gentleman and several other fellows with possible immigration issues tearing the roof off my house. Either that or maybe the bats in my belfry are just unusually active today. Anyway, I've kept active through the din by copying this. I think I've got enough to wallpaper at least one room.

Oh boy

[. . .]

Most critically, a plea bargain process has evidently been opened with Vice President Cheney's lawyer. that does not mean that an indictment is coming. but i've some critical background around the issue. [my em]

[. . .]

Sent here via ReddHedd at Jane's place. Looks like Colon Colin is trying to reclaim his honor, if it's true.

Update:

Shakes debunks the above. Thank God I put in the qualifier, huh? Heh.

Update:

White House adviser Karl Rove told the grand jury in the CIA leak case that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, may have told him that CIA operative Valerie Plame worked for the intelligence agency before her identity was revealed, a source familiar with Rove's account said yesterday.

Go see Gillard.

How it works

Since I seem to be on a clandestine operations kick this morning, I figured I'd give you an insight as to how shit really works by someone who's been there. I probably used his product when I was in (unbeknownst to either of us). While I was an end-user of intelligence, CAFKIA gathered it and explains about the 'right' and the 'need' to know.

Thirty years ago, I was in the United States Navy. I was in a corner of the Navy known as the Naval Security Group. I will not explain it any further than to say that we did stuff that required me to have a high level clearance.

[. . .]

The hard and fast rule in the intelligence community is "Need To Know." What that means is that the mere fact that I had a top-secret clearance did not mean that I could look at anything classified top secret or below. What it meant was that I was allowed access to such information as was necessary to do my job, and no more.

[. . .]

It is also important to note that simply confirming the veracity of a piece of classified information to an unauthorized individual was considered to be essentially the same as disseminating the information. So not being the first source on a bit of information is no defense if you could be considered a confirming source.

[. . .]

I could pull excerpts all day. Instead I suggest you read his aritcle in full. Informative and in depth.

And while I'm on it, it's time for this to be cleared up too.

How it went down

Dr. Cole:

Justin Raimondo has developed a source in Washington who has named for him three US citizens who were involved in cooking up the forged documents that alleged recent Iraqi purchases of Niger yellowcake uranium. (In fact, the Iraqis had never had the capacity to do anything serious with yellowcake.)

The mystery is still how the forged documents got into the hands of Rocco Martini, a former operative of Italian military intelligence. But after all that wouldn't have been so hard.

[. . .]

Planting documents is easy if it's done right. Thank the Lord the Bushites are a buncha idiots or this would never have come out. As the old man said below, these guys are like the bunch from F-Troop. Links aplenty at Juan's place.

Nah, tell 'em to just keep him...

Got this one from Grumpy Old Man via Shakey's Sis.

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Nothing is moving.
Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What happened?"

"Terrorists kidnapped President Bush and are asking for a $10 million ransom. Otherwise they are going to douse him with gasoline and set him on fire. We are going from car to car to take up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving on average?"

"About a gallon."

(Rimshot)

Burnt to a crisp or not, by the time the terrorists get as sick and tired of the Dipshit-in-Chief as we are, they'll be begging to pay us to take his ass back. Ha! Chumps!

Naughty Harry

Maureen Dowd via Uniongrrl, bless her heart.

Harriet Miers shared a little secret about herself on her application to be an associate justice: "Earlier this year, I received notice that my dues for the District of Columbia bar were delinquent and as a result, my ability to practice law in D.C. had been suspended."

Now we discover that she could be such a scatterbrain about paperwork that a little tiny thing like being able to legally practice law slipped her mind while she was serving as the lawyer for the leader of the free world?

With Karl Rove on grand jury watch and Dick Cheney snugly tucked into his underground bunker, W. and Andy Card are in control, and the West Wing ineptitude is comic.

It looks like the White House skipped the "B team" and went right to "F Troop". It is good to watch these nitwits unravel.

Heh . . .

From Joaquin Guerra via the Alternate Brain Mailbag

Strong constitutions

Badtux:

The new Constitution passed with 120% of the vote! Graveyards all over Iraq turned out in record numbers, especially in the province of Ninevah, a majority-Sunni province which, nevertheless, voted 78% in favor of the new Constitution, thanks to a heavy turnout from the majority-Kurdish cemetaries in the city of Mosul.

[. . .]

Just like Ohio and Florida.

What to do

Hesiod has some ideas for the WH Press Corpse:

[. . .]

"Will the President pardon any of the indicted members of his administraion?"

They should hammer Scott McLellan with that question, and every single Bush official who goes on Sunday talk shows, and even Bush himsefl when they get tehir precious few opportunities.

They should never let up until they get a straight "Yes," or "No" answer. It ha sto be definitive. No caveats, or escape hatches.

And, every single member of the Democratic party, and we bloggers, must ask this question every single day OF the news media. Force them to ask the question.

The Democrats show demand that Bush say whether he'd going to pardon anyone every time they go on a talk show, or are interviewed. Period. [my em]

[. . .]

Kommen Sie hier, Wurml*

Heh.

[. . .]

Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney's office to discredit the agent's husband. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war. [my em]

[. . .]

It's amazing how quickly the cowards float to the surface. Can you say impeachment? I thought you could.

*Come here my little worm. Hat tip: Maru

Bush Knew

New York Daily News

An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.

A second well-placed source said some recently published reports implying Rove had deceived Bush about his involvement in the Wilson counterattack were incorrect and were leaked by White House aides trying to protect the President.

"Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way," the source said.

Talking Points Memo (and here)

Obviously, we have many more questions than answers here. But if President Bush knew about Rove's role from the beginning, then all of these interviews and grand jury appearances and the almost inevitable contradictions between them become real trouble for the White House.

And one more question. For almost two years, Scott McClellan insisted that neither Karl Rove nor Scooter Libby had anything to do with the leaks. He knew because he asked them, he said. He was very categorical.

Now it seems that at least with reference to Rove, the president knew McClellan's statements weren't true. And yet he allowed McClellan to make them. Come to think of it, I guess this one really isn't even a question. It speaks for itself, doesn't it?

But when you read further down into the piece you see that what got the president angry wasn't the leak; it was that they got caught.

Get a rope. I think a little old-fashioned Texas justice is appropriate here. Hell, get a mile of rope and cut it in lengths.

Just one question.

What did the President know and when did he know it?

A parting thought

Before I head to the shop. Now that Saddam's trial has begun, how many revelations will come to light about the U.S. involvement in the Iran/Iraq War? We irresponsibly gave WMDs to Saddam and he used them against the Iranians. Personally, I don't believe anything that does come out will make it to the ears of the American citizenry.

Alternate titles

Pauly comes up with alternate titles for Judy Miller's forthcoming (presumably, probably) book. Heh.

How did we get here?

Steve Gillard has a wonderful essay:

[. . .]

Corruption is not something which happens overnight. It takes time, like water wearing on a rock. The Bush Administration of 2001 is not the Administration of 2005. This doesn't mean the seeds of corruption were not there, but they took time to develop.

[. . .]

Why would Rove and company smear a former ambassador? Because, even after two years, they had no conception that the gulf between Texas statehouse politics could come to harm them. The corrupt pundit class, frightened into compliance by the Beltway Sniper, who scared them a lot more than 9/11, was willing to go along.

[. . .]

The problem here is that Valerie Plame was the rarest of the rare, a non-official cover agent of the CIA. No one knows how many there are, but the guess is that they would not fill too many tables at a dinner. Training one is more expensive than training a fighter pilot or Delta Force trooper. Revealing her name to anyone without a security clearance was a crime. Even while employed at CIA headquarters, people had no idea she was a NOC. Apologists like Bob Somersby and Richard Cohen just don't get it. This was a crime and one with serious consequences.

No need to belabor the point, but I'll put it this way: one of Special Operation Command's mission is to pull agents from dangerous situations. Pulling a NOC is the most dangerous of all. No one knows how many missions had to be run to clean up the mess created by this bit of spitework.

But why would they do it, then cover it up. Surely they understood what had happened?

[. . .]

As one who's pulled several Agency butts out of the fire, I have to agree. The Plame outing put literally hundreds of lives at risk; not just the spies, but the lives of those who have to go in and extract them. I lost friends in the failed hostage rescue in Iran and I had friends who had to get some of our covert operatives out of Russia during the height of the Cold War. I've pulled folks from 'unfriendly Asian nations' myself. It can get hairy as a motherfucker, something the idiots who live inside the Beltway can't begin to comprehend.

[. . .]

Once corruption enters the process, people assume everyone is corrupt. That everyone is as craven and venal as they are. That they work from the same motives. They never got that Wilson and his wife were real patriots, people who had risked their lives for the US and what it stood for. That they were deeply offended by this crap.

[. . .]

Were I Joe Wilson and someone did to my wife what they did to his, they'd pray for Fitzgerald to indict them; jail would be far more preferable than what my deranged mind could cook up for them. [Keep in mind, her life will never be truly hers. She's probably brought down some people who will want retribution. She will live the rest of her life with a target on her back, thanks to these assholes. - F.] I admire Joe for his restraint in allowing the process to work itself out. He's a far better man than I.

Lower still

My pal David of 42:

Here in thrown-election Ohio, where I've been sentenced for the rest of the week, Preznit Flabjabbit's job-approval rating is now 37%... [my em]

Ha-ha!