Minneapolis Star Tribune: "... the indictment which should matter most."

[understandinglife]

Karl Rove - Real issue is the case for war

Editorial in Minneapolis Star Tribune

July 13, 2005

<clip>

This is a classic Rove technique: undercut a critic by planting the notion that he was off to Africa on a lark arranged by his wife. Rove's history as a rough political player is well-documented. But this wasn't about a political campaign; this was about a serious question of national security and the justification for a difficult war.

It is instructive to remember that the investigation into who revealed Plame's identity was initiated by Tenet, not by administration critics. Remember also that Wilson was correct; ultimately the White House had to retract Bush's State of the Union statement on the Niger connection.

In addition to discrediting critics of the Niger connection, the Bush administration, through the actions of John Bolton -- now nominee to be U.N. ambassador -- sought to intimidate intelligence analysts who objected to conclusions about Iraq's WMD, and to get a U.N. chemical weapons official fired so he wouldn't be able to send inspectors back to Iraq, where they might disprove more of the case for war.

In the scheme of things, whether Rove revealed Plame's identity, deliberately or not, matters less than actions by Rove, Bolton, Cheney and others to phony up a case for war that has gone badly, has cost thousands of lives plus hundreds of billions of dollars, and has, a majority of Americans now believe, left the United States less safe from terrorism rather than more.

That's the indictment which should matter most.

More at the link:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5505382.html



What more need be said. The Star Tribune Editorial Board just banged a grandslam, score tied, in the bottom of the ninth, two-outs, 7th game of the world series.

WATCH IT; SPREAD IT http://www.bushflash.com/right.html

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - How ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists their cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization and the environment in the name of "America."

[alittlelark]

1. I think we'll be seeing many more articles like this in the days to come..

.... and it makes me sooooo hopeful!!!!

[understandinglife]

50. Schorr: "the effort to delude America into thinking it faced a threat ....

Rove leak is just part of larger scandal

By Daniel Schorr

July 14, 2005

WASHINGTON – Let me remind you that the underlying issue in the Karl Rove controversy is not a leak, but a war and how America was misled into that war.

<clip>

people that the president was at least mistaken, at most telling an untruth. Finally Wilson directly challenged the administration with a July 6, 2003 New York Times op-ed headlined, "What I didn't find in Africa," and making clear his belief that the president deliberately manipulated intelligence in order to justify an invasion.

One can imagine the fury in the White House.

<clip>

The role of Rove and associates added up to a small incident in a very large scandal - the effort to delude America into thinking it faced a threat dire enough to justify a war.

Link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0715/p09s02-cods.html

In_deed, those stories are going to flow .........


Peace.

www.missionnotaccmoplished.us

[Cha]

2. That's a Great Editorial!

Love it, Love it, Love it!

[TahitiNut]

13. It sure took long enough for the 'media' to wrap the obvious up with a bow

That editorial sums it up almost perfectly - failing only to reach the bottom line: the White House contains war criminals, people who've committed a massive crime against humanity, with over 100,000 victims.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. The major corporate owners of the mainstream press have apparently....

...just recently decided that Herr Busch and his NoeCon buddies have to be removed from power. IMHO, they have just now unleashed the press on this story and others that will be coming down the pike.

[FredStembottom]

33. It only takes a handful of men......

to bottle up the the Captive Media - thanks to all the consolidation. I have been musing for about 4 years on the interesting fact that it ALSO only takes a handful of men to UNLEASH the Captive Media.

And I have felt that crossing some line with these men could turn the entire news system back "on" in an instant.

The WH was really playing with fire with the Rathergate memo and Newsweek forced grovelling.

Now look! The Captive Media turned "on" in an instant!

[understandinglife]

39. "The Captive Media turned "on" in an instant!" In_deed. Check CNN ...

CIA officer's husband calls for Rove dismissal

July 14, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson called on President Bush on Thursday to fire deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, saying Bush's top-level aide engaged in an "abuse of power" by discussing Wilson's wife's job at the CIA with a reporter.

<clip>

Wilson, in an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC's "Today" show, said he thinks the White House's posture in this controversy represents a continuing "cover-up of the web of lies that underpin the justification for going to war in Iraq."

<clip>

"My wife's name is Mrs. Joseph Wilson," he replied. "It is Mrs. Valerie Wilson. He named her. He identified her," Wilson said. "So that argument doesn't stand the smell test ... What I do know is that Mr. Rove is talking to the press and he is saying things like my wife is fair game. That's an outrage. That's an abuse of power."

<clip>

"The president has said repeatedly, "I am a man of my word,' " Wilson added. "He should stand up and prove that his word is his bond and fire Karl Rove."

More at the link:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/14/cia.leaks.ap/
And it's in the short list of stories on the CNN homepage:
http://www.cnn.com/

Currently, Ambassador Wilson's comments are already being covered by Reuters, AP, CBS News, Faux, MSNBC, ....


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Cha]

30. The corporatemedia is leaving that

up to thinking people right now.

It would be incredible if they Ever spelled it out for the masses!

[writes2000]

3. The argument is so compelling

It amazes when I see Republicans actually trying to defend what Rove did. And I believe Americans will be uncomfortable with this administration taking a swipe at a man's wife...especially when she is a CIA agent.

[understandinglife]

4. A Huffington: "then ol’ Karl is in even bigger trouble than we thought."

Today’s Pile of Steaming Turd Blossom

by Arianna Huffington

July 13, 2005

Sportscasters love to say that a good offense is the best defense. But, as we’re seeing, in politics, an offensive offense can be a lousy defense. I mean, if Karl Rove’s future -- both political and legal -- depends on the offensive that the White House and its smear machine are frantically mounting, then ol’ Karl is in even bigger trouble than we thought.

Their method seems to be a shock-and-awe operation where they bombard us with any and every defense they can, hoping that something sticks. So far, nothing has.

<clip>

You know when Republican start issuing calls for people to “cool the rhetoric” and “focus on the business of the people,” that they’re in full panic mode.

<clip>

For a complete list of every White House and GOP mouthpiece lie about Rove and Wilson, see this great compilation by eriposte at Left Coaster:

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/004870.php

More at the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/arianna-huffington/todayas-pile-of-steamin_4136.html

Thought it serendipitous that Ms Huffington began her smashing blog with "sportscaster," since I hardly ever use 'sports analogies' but did so in the OP.

Am I hearing some cheering; yes, in_deed.

America is going to win this one.

Bu$h and his dominionist-financed neoconsters are going to realize that what they have treated as a game is NOT.

And, the penalty is way worse than losing; it's long-term jail time.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[electropop]

25. The CIA plays for keeps.

Rove will be lucky if he only goes to jail. :toast:

[XemaSab]

43. Word.

n/t

[oasis]

5. Exactamundo. (n/t)

[understandinglife]

6. Historical note. As of 2300 PDT, 13 July 2005, Google's #1 Top Story

Bush declines to comment on Rove
CNN International - 2 hours ago

With Karl Rove in the background, President Bush answers a reporter's question after a Cabinet meeting. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seated just a few feet from the man who has emerged as a central figure in the CIA ...

Cooper Details Rove Conversations About Plame FOX News

Bush Says He Will Withhold Judgment on Rove Inquiry New York Times

Washington Post - Guardian Unlimited - Los Angeles Times - Slate - all 2,247 related »

http://news.google.com/news?lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-34,GGLD:en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&ned=us

From blue suits to orange jump suits, team "Neoconsters" is going to be wearing a different uniform, for a long time.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[EFerrari]

11. Baloney!

Baloney Sandwiches. Baloney Salad. Baloney Casserole. Baloney roll ups.

How fitting.

[XemaSab]

44. Bush:

"I decline to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me."

Bet the old 5th amendment is looking pretty good now, buddy?

[EFerrari]

7. Doesn't the Star know we're in the middle of an ongoing investigation

and that it's serious and ongoing?

:)

[fooj]

8. And that they'll be happy to answer any questions...

after the investigation is complete? :rofl:

Peace.

[EFerrari]

10. Hey, this is serious. And ,ongoing.

:rofl:

[fooj]

9. Recommend and kick!

Peace.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. "...a war that has gone badly..." Had it worked, there'd be NO questions

As it is, there are precious few.

This brings to mind Robert McNamara's musing in "The Fog of War" when Curtis LeMay pointed out that if we'd lost the war, they'd have been prosecuted for war crimes for the firebombing of Tokyo and other fun little excursions. McNamara's take on this was to wonder why it would only happen if we'd lost.

Might makes right.

The human being is as primitive as it ever has been; it's held in check by laws and conventions, but the failings are still there.

Far too many people would have looked the other way had we been greeted with flowers upon giving Saddam the heave-ho, and many look the other way to this day.

[WillyT]

14. Recommended And Kicked !!!

Great editorial!!! Thanks for posting that!

:kick:

[hiley]

15. it is all about war , power

and greed.

[brettdale]

16. kick

kick

[BamaBecky]

17. KICK

[Time for change]

18. Definitely true

Making a phony case for war is more important than breaching national security by outing a CIA agent for political purposes -- if we are to compare degrees of evil.

I think that it is also important to remember IMO, in all the clamor for Bush to fire Rove, that the impression should not be given that firing Rove alone will solve very much. This issue is much deeper and broader than Rove, and I am a little bit afraid that if we put too much emphasis on Rove, the Administration may be able to escape this one by sacrificing him.

[understandinglife]

38. Agreed. But, I think Fitzgerald has more than Rove in his sights, And...

.... just read what Ambassador Wilson has shared today with Raw Story:

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Interview_Ambassador_Wilson_husband_of_outed_CIA_agent_sees_larger_Administration_ro_0713.html

DUer "Walt Starr" has a nice list:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4100472&mesg_id=4100472


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Time for change]

47. Yes, I believe so too

I just get a little nervous about all the clamor for Rove's head. I'm just a little afraid that some may think that's enough.

[dalloway]

19. I nominate the Star Tribune as DU'er favorite paper--they

have impressed me over and over and over again this year, and this piece is just right on.


Great job, Star Tribune! Keep up the terrific work!

Recommended for greatest also.

[KitchenWitch]

22. The Star Tribune is my home paper!

And I am mostly proud of it....Much better than the St Paul Pioneer Press (AKA the St Paul Repuglican Press).

[Oreo]

23. Amen

Except for the wicked witch of the twin cities Katherine Kersten who they're obviously floating to make the wingnuts happy. They're doing a great job. I can only hope more papers and eventually tv news takes there lead.

[KitchenWitch]

24. Katherine Kersten is the reason I am not totally happy with them

Kersten, Michele Bachmann, Mark Kennedy, Norm (I suck *'s dick) Coleman and their ilk really need to pull their heads out of their asses.

[FiveGoodMen]

45. Count me in, too.

The Strib's better than other any MSM I can think of. (And it's my home paper, too.)

[Glenda]

29. I 2nd the nomination! Btw, home come there are no recent

cartoons from Steve Sack on their editorial page? http://www.startribune.com/images/26/ Is he on vacation?

[understandinglife]

34. Here's a cool one from Oliphant!

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[EFerrari]

20. mornng kick

[frictionlessO]

21. Star Tribune is just the bomb diggity!!

Seriously that is a paper that is on democracys side!

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. You said it!!!

[understandinglife]

27. "truth and competence are virtues easily shed by the Bush administration"

The real Rove scandal: If you can't shoot the messenger, take aim at his wife.

by Robert Scheer

<clip>

It's ironic that the expertise of this couple should be turned against them by a White House that has demonstrated nothing but incompetence in dealing with the WMD issue. But clearly truth and competence are virtues easily shed by the Bush administration in the pursuit of political advantage, even when this partisan game jeopardizes national security.

This is the most important issue raised by the Plame scandal. It has been unfortunately obscured by the secondary debate in the case: whether reporters should ever reveal their sources. Yet what the emerging Rove scandal demonstrates is the ease with which a wily top White House official can subvert the Bill of Rights' protection of the free press to serve the tawdriest of political ends.

More at the link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rscheer12jul12,1,6678127.column?coll=la-utilities-columnone&track=mostemailedlink

Most excellent. "National Security" and "Bill of Rights" as core issues.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[central scrutinizer]

31. thanks for posting these great Turdgate editorials!!!

They cut straight through to the real issues - that political advantage is more important to these criminals than national security, maintaining power through a bogus war is more important than the lives of innocent people.

[TahitiNut]

32. "Turdgate" + "Watergate" - "gate" == Diarrhea

:evilgrin:

[understandinglife]

36. James Moore: "held accountable ... which is never a happy time for Karl"

Thought you might enjoy these, as well.

From the 'heart of Texas':

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4091848


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

48. Margaret Carlson: The outing of a coward

The outing of a coward

Margaret Carlson

July 14, 2005

On TV recently, I called Matt Cooper's then-unknown source a thug, someone watching from a privileged perch in the White House as Cooper went through hell in the Valerie Plame case.

Now that I know the source was Karl Rove, I would like to revise and extend my remarks. Rove is not a thug, he is a coward. He could have come clean long ago, saved millions in taxpayers' dollars and spared everyone a lot of agony. Instead, we've had a two-year investigation to find out what President Bush could have learned by walking across the hall.

<clip>

Cooper's nightmare may be over, but Bush's is not. Rove, with his reputation as a brass-knuckled political strategist, is the guy Bush turns to deep-six the smoking gun. What will he do now that Rove is the smoking gun?

<clip>

The one good thing to come out of all this is that journalists have been reminded to say "no" to those cowards trying to get revenge or dish dirt without putting their names on it. Our promise of confidentiality should be given for information that corrects an injustice, not perpetrates one.

More at the link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carlson14jul14,0,3539273.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[troubleinwinter]

28. Kick!

[joanne]

35. Minneapolis Star Tribune is the BEST paper in America

And not afraid of this criminal administration.



:toast:

[hiley]

37. the accusation is "totally ridiculous."

Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry
CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media

By Mike Allen and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page A01

snip---

Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had just revealed that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account touched off a political fracas over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.

Sources familiar with the conversations said the leakers were seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility. They alleged that Wilson, who was not a CIA employee, was selected for the Niger mission partly because his wife had recommended him. Wilson said in an interview yesterday that a reporter had told him that the leaker said, "The real issue is Wilson and his wife."

A source said reporters quoted a leaker as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game."

The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls.
It is rare for one Bush administration official to turn on another. Asked about the motive for describing the leaks, the senior official said the leaks were "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility."

snip----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A11208-2003Sep27¬Found=true

Washington Abuzz Over a New Kind of Scandal *
By Doyle McManus and Bob Drogin, Times Staff Writers - LA Times
October 1, 2003
snip---
Frank Anderson, a CIA officer overseas for nearly 27 years, said he could not understand why an administration official would deliberately disclose the name of an undercover operative.

"It's outside my ethical construct," he said. "I haven't got the slightest idea what they were thinking, except it was just dirty pool."

R. James Woolsey, a former director of central intelligence, said the disclosure of the name of a CIA case agent, as intelligence officers who recruit and handle spies overseas are known, could cause considerable harm.

"Someone can backtrack and people can go check who a now-known case officer met with, knew, etc., in previous years and probably suspect them of being recruited" by the CIA, he said. "So in a country that's hostile or quasi-hostile or dictatorial, people could get killed for having associated with an American intelligence officer. That's the most serious worry."

But David Manners, a former CIA case agent in the Middle East, said such concerns were probably unnecessary. "If the implication is she ran clandestine operations around the world using her true name, then the real story is: What kind of crazy operation was she running? Because if you're operating clandestinely under your true name, you're a fool."

snip---
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:gVYUR_ClthgJ:www.fairopinions.com/news/index.asp%3Fid%3D189856+%22Fleischer+has+denied+being+the+leaker%22&hl=en&client=firefox-a

[tk2kewl]

40. .

[understandinglife]

42. "Bush's 'brain' leaked: Did Bush know?"

Bush's 'brain' leaked: Did Bush know?

by By Jim Lobe

July 15, 2005 (Asia Times OnLine)

WASHINGTON - Battered by sagging poll numbers, new doubts in the aftermath of the London bombings about the effectiveness of its "war on terror" and no let-up in the bad news out of Iraq, the White House has found itself this week embroiled in yet another controversy, one that threatens the credibility, if not the tenure, of the man widely known as President George W Bush's "brain".



<clip>

While her decision has been hailed by many in the media as an act of integrity and courage, others have noted that, in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, Miller, who is considered close to neo-conservative hawks in and out of the administration, was the most consistent purveyor in the elite media of stories about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD), based on the accounts of sources provided by the Iraqi National Congress and the Pentagon.

Given her close association with the war hawks, her WMD expertise, and the fact that she never wrote about Wilson or his wife, some writers, notably William Jackson Jr of the trade publication, Editor & Publisher, have raised the question of whether she may have been a source for, as well as a witness to, disclosure of Plame's identity.

Another prominent neo-conservative, Clifford May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, boasted two years ago that he was told by two "former government officials" of Plame's identity before Novak published his column. May worked as a reporter for the New York Times for 10 years before becoming communications director for the Republican National Committee, a post where he knew Rove quite well.

More at the link:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GG15Aa01.html

So, a quick Google search and we find "Dear Mr Fitzgerald":

If the Justice Department wants to know who leaked Valerie Plame's identity, all they have to do is talk to a longtime Republican operative named Clifford May.

by By Jim Lobe, AlterNet. Posted February 17, 2004.

<clip>

Moreover, the information was not given to him under any formal agreement of confidentiality, the likes of which exists between a reporter and his source. According to Mr. May's original account, the remarks were "offhand" and freely volunteered, without any injunctions about their disclosure.

Mr. May and his organization have long expressed great concern about the threats posed by terrorism and nuclear proliferation -- indeed that has been FDD's very raison d'etre. And although he insists that Plame was not working undercover at the time of Novak's column, he has personally expressed outrage at any attempt to "out" an active covert agent. Given his protestations, he really ought to volunteer to reveal his sources to you.

But rather than wait for him to fulfill his civic duty, I suggest you give Mr. May a call. I suspect that a nice, long chat with Mr. May will make it a lot easier to obtain those White House waivers -- that is, if you still need them.

<clip>

Here's the link:
http://www.alternet.org/story/17874

One can only wonder how long it took Jim Lobe to extract his tongue from the inside wall of his cheek :evilgrin:

And, while, as this dKos Timeline notes (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/31/122222/689), neoonster operative May may have been trying to provide cover for Novak, more likely he was trying to provide cover for several folk within the White House.

Wonder if Mr Fitzgerald questioned him?


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[hiley]

46. UL that is the best picture ! LOL!

Wonder if Mr Fitzgerald questioned him?

wonder..

[understandinglife]

49. Useful Rove, Plame (Wilson) background documents:

http://www.perrspectives.com/resources/documents.htm#plame


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Hatalles]

51. PNAC-Clarke-Bolton-Downing Street-Plame-Etc.-Etc.

All the dots line up yet the average joe is blind to it -- illegal war!

[hiley]

52. Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Officer

New York Times

July 15, 2005
Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Officer
By DAVID JOHNSTON and RICHARD W. STEVENSON

WASHINGTON, July 14 - Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser, spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak as he was preparing an article in July 2003 that identified a C.I.A. officer who was undercover, someone who has been officially briefed on the matter said.
Mr. Rove has told investigators that he learned from the columnist the name of the C.I.A. officer, who was referred to by her maiden name, Valerie Plame, and the circumstances in which her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, traveled to Africa to investigate possible uranium sales to Iraq, the person said.
After hearing Mr. Novak's account, the person who has been briefed on the matter said, Mr. Rove told the columnist: "I heard that, too."

The previously undisclosed telephone conversation, which took place on July 8, 2003, was initiated by Mr. Novak, the person who has been briefed on the matter said.

snip---
The person who provided the information about Mr. Rove's conversation with Mr. Novak declined to be identified, citing requests by Mr. Fitzgerald that no one discuss the case. The person discussed the matter in the belief that Mr. Rove was truthful in saying that he had not disclosed Ms. Wilson's identity.

On Oct. 1, 2003, Mr. Novak wrote another column in which he described calling two officials who were his sources for the earlier column. The first source, whose identity has not been revealed, provided the outlines of the story and was described by Mr. Novak as "no partisan gunslinger." Mr. Novak wrote that when he called a second official for confirmation, the source said, "Oh, you know about it."

That second source was Mr. Rove, the person briefed on the matter said. Mr. Rove's account to investigators about what he told Mr. Novak was similar in its message although the White House adviser's recollection of the exact words was slightly different. Asked by investigators how he knew enough to leave Mr. Novak with the impression that his information was accurate, Mr. Rove said he had heard parts of the story from other journalists but had not heard Ms. Wilson's name.

snip---
People who know Mr. Bush said it was unlikely, if not unthinkable, that he would seek Mr. Rove's departure barring a criminal indictment.



http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/politics/15rove.html?pagewanted=print

[DemonFighterLives]

58. The Person

Is this the new Deep Throat?
Anonymously said by the person who wishes to remain anonymous.

:9

[Tigress DEM]

53. As part of the new DU Activist assignment... My Letter to the Strib

I took a different tact also. I am looking at this from an angle of if we want the press to keep up the heat we have to stand up for them when they do the rigt thing.

BY the Way - during the weekend of Sept 24-26 HOBBIT TRAVEL has a GREAT Deal flying Round Trip from Minneapolis to DC - $88 plus taxes and fees ... $148.80 (not quite double, but close...)

I have MY tickets.. so if anyone wants to "be there in spirit" let me know and I'll put you on a banner. Screen Name is fine. It will be a DU SHOUT OUT to the WORLD!



****


RE: Journalism Still Has It!

I loved the way the press on Monday July 11th doggedly asked Scott McClellan the questions I wanted to ask about Karl Rove! It's a pity Scott hid out and wouldn't answer, but at least the press is showing some grit. "Hurray!"

Perfection is a long way off, but when the press is forced to become a squawk box for the administration we ALL lose.

I think it's ridiculous that:

1) The reporter who actually outed Valerie Plame(Robert Novak) hasn't gotten any heat from the courts.

2) The reporter (Judith Miller) who didn't even write an article but whose testimony could partially establish a pattern of wrong doing by those attempting to leak the story is in jail for not revealing her sources.

3) The reporter (Matt Cooper) who nailed the administration to the wall for their LIES was outed by his bosses. Still he was prepared to go to jail if Karl Rove hadn't "rescued" him.

Matt Cooper wrote the TRUTH - as evidenced by the Downing Street Minutes and the fact that the US was BOMBING Iraq months before even asking to go to war. That came out in General Tommy Franks book before anyone had a chance to see the British legal advisor’s report. Distributed with the Downing Street Minutes - the report said the US was bombing illegally at that time, many months before Congress was even asked.

"Going" to war was literally a "done deed" many months old prior to the Downing Street Minutes.

Matt didn't lie. Joe Wilson didn't lie.

Karl Rove did. Scott McClellan did.

Unless Bush fires Rove, he's a liar.

Novak may be telling the truth as it seemed to him at the time... but it's just "convenient" enough to qualify for a "weasel" to me.

Novak openly admits that he was asked by a CIA official to NOT mention her name, but somehow he just felt he "had" to do it.

As a trained investigative reporter how was it that he couldn't connect the dots and realize that exposing someone who had worked under cover in the CIA would endanger her life? Any 8 year old kid who watches cop shows knows you don't blow someone's cover.

Last words: If WE THE PEOPLE want Media to be the Fourth Estate, WE need to STAND Behind them and Speak UP for Shield laws. We must also pursue prosecution for wrongful deaths to those in the Media just doing their job getting at the truth and holding it up for our review.

63 journalists* and media assistants** have been killed in the line of duty since the start of the war in Iraq 3 years ago.

It took TWENTY YEARS to kill that many reporters in Vietnam. TWENTY YEARS.

How many reporters will die because of Iraq in the NEXT TWENTY YEARS if WE THE PEOPLE are too cowardly to PUT A STOP TO IT? September 24-26, Washington DC, BE THERE. Let YOUR VOICE be HEARD.

*(47) **(16)






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

Source Material

*(47) **(16) http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3 >

Novak's Response
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame#Exposure_of_Plame_by_Robert_Novak

<snip>
At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name. I used it in the sixth paragraph of my column because it looked like the missing explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the CIA for its mission."

<snip>
In other interviews Novak confirmed that his sources warned him not to mention Plame. His motivation to disregard the warnings is suggested by this comment in "The CIA Leak:" "I was curious why a high-ranking official in President Bill Clinton's National Security Council (NSC) was given this assignment." Just four days before he revealed Plame's name Novak wrote, "Bush's Enemy Within." Therein Novak excoriates the Bush Administration's appointment of Frances Fragos Townsend to an important national security post explaining she could later betray Bush because two of her former superiors were liberal democrats and she had served in the US Attorney's office in Manhattan. According to Novak this office was "notoriously liberal laden."

(In Novak's own words - his outing of Valerie was purely based on political reasons, an apparent attitude that to be liberal is enough to make one betray others.)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1660300_2,00.html

<snip>
Elizabeth Wilmshurst, one of the Foreign Office lawyers who wrote the report, resigned in March 2003 in protest at the decision to go to war without a UN resolution specifically authorising military force.

Further intensification of the bombing, known in the Pentagon as the Blue Plan, began at the end of August, 2002, following a meeting of the US National Security Council at the White House that month.

General Tommy Franks, the allied commander, recalled in his autobiography, American Soldier, that during this meeting he rejected a call from Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, to cut the bombing patrols because he wanted to use them to make Iraq’s defences “as weak as possible”.

[hiley]

54. great

post ..

[DemonFighterLives]

56. Great Letter!

I am so happy that the Star Tribune has chosen to be a voice of the people.
I'm going to write to them as well.

Cspan had Joe Wilson with Schumer on before the amendment votes. They looked great. Old Noam Coleman had to come out to suck all the oxygen out of the truthfullness. This fella needs a letter too.

Great Thread Here Understanding Life
The last article you posted was just covered on Cspn. Bryan Lamb read a few articles where an anonymous source was used. "The Person Who Was Briefed" etc, etc.

This whole mess was started by the White House stovepiping of fraudulent intelligence. The documents from Niger were forgeries and the Pres.* went ahead and used the 16 words in the state of the union to push for war. Dirty corruption runs deep with these folks.
:nuke:

[understandinglife]

60. Thank you for this excellent post!

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[anarchy1999]

55. What was it Jon Stewart said just in the lost couple of days about

PROMOTION! You Fail miserably and up you go. I'm beginning to believe the man (as in boy king, George, "the emporer with no clothes") has a real bad "Daddy" complex.

[indigo32]

57. I do love

the Star Trib editorial board.

[DemonFighterLives]

59. My letter to the Tribune

I wish to thank the Star Tribune for a great editorial regarding the push for war with manufactured intelligence.

The whole thing with Rove outing Valerie Plame is mostly a cover story for the lead up to war on foreign soil.

The Tribune is fast becoming America's paper. With our rights in question and cowering in fear, we still wish to get the truth. Most of the newspapers just print stuff released by the government. Thank you again for you courage and making your mark for Democracy.

Sincerely,
DemonFighterLives

:dem: