Connected At The Roots? (Miller a member of Office of Special Plans?)

[No Exit]

Connected at the Roots? Judith Miller, “Scooter” Libby, and the June Notes

by Gary Leupp


http://www.opednews.com

On May 6, 2003, just days after President Bush had triumphantly declared the Iraq invasion based on lies “Mission Accomplished,” Nicholas Kristof published an article in the New York Times revealing that a key lie -- the now-infamous allegation that Saddam’s Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from Niger that highlighted Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech -- had been debunked almost a year before by a former U.S. ambassador after traveling to Niger to investigate. On June 12, Walter Pincus in the Washington Post followed up with more details. The former ambassador in question, Joseph Wilson, was a source for both articles, but Wilson himself didn’t go public until he published his op-ed piece in the New York Times on July 6.

On July 8 Vice President Cheney’s chief deputy and key neocon, Lewis “Scooter” Libby met with the NYT’s Judith Miller and apparently discussed Wilson with her. On July 14 Robert Novak in his syndicated column announced that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative and might have had some say in his being chosen for the mission. “Two senior administration officials,” Novak wrote, “told me Wilson’s wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate” what Novak called “the Italian report.”

(Recall that Bush attributed the report to British intelligence, and that some have suggested the neocon and Office of Special Plans operative Michael Ledeen, with many Italian ties, is a likely source of the original forgery.)

(snip)

Given that the Bush administration has more or less acknowledged that the “War on Terrorism” requires the planting of disinformation to obtain U.S. goals; that the administration has been caught red-handed subsidizing journalists promoting its version of reality; that the neocons speak matter-of-factly about “perception management” to abet their goals; that the Office of Special Plans (involving Cheney, Wolfowitz, Libby,
Luti, Feith, Shulsky, Wurmser, Hadley, etc.) manufactured lies to
support war; and that Miller proved herself to be a shameless purveyor of pure disinformation, for which the NYT has itself after a fashion apologized -- is it not probable that Miller was an intimate partner in the OSP program all along?

(snip)

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gary_leu_051012_connected_at_the_roo.htm

[cry baby]

1. Now that you mention it, this admin has used the media brilliantly.

Why not include a reporter in the OSP? It makes perfect sense. Thanks for posting the article, it's very interesting.

[joemurphy]

2. Miller may not have been formally in the OSP, but she might

as well have been. She put to print everything they gave her.

This brings up a good point. Plamegate is all about multiple reporters being spoonfed an agreed on leak by one official. The reporter then doublechecks the information with another official in on the leak scheme and the article then gets printed. Judy Miller seems to have been a ready instrument for this sort of thing. And as "Miss Run Amok" at the NYT, with the ability to "do whatever she wanted" and with little or no editorial supervision, we get a compliant press acquiescing in the myth that Saddam was a real danger to the country and pushing a misinformed public into supporting a disastrous and stupid war.

Add Jeff Gannon being planted at White House Press interviews to lob softball questions at Scott McClellan.

Add Armstrong Williams being paid to do newslike infomercials.

Add all of the above to the plethora of so-called cable news "journalists" that are really nothing of the kind -- who do no investigative reporting and don't even pretend to be fair or even-handed and you get the horrific media situation in this country.

The American Press needs to clean house big-time. Because the Press has become so politicized, it really isn't held in much esteem anymore. It's just another part of the problem.

[No Exit]

4. Well said... and now someone's trying to muzzle reporting on AIPAC

JPost.com » International » Article


Oct. 15, 2005 23:52 | Updated Oct. 16, 2005 15:37
'AIPAC case hampers freedom of press'
By NATHAN GUTTMAN
WASHINGTON


"An organization for journalists' rights is attempting to file a brief in the AIPAC case, claiming that the case can be used in the future to target reporters and would hamper their ability to get information from sources.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an advocacy group working for free press and providing legal assistance to journalists, has written to judge T.S. Ellis of the US District court in Virginia, in request to file a “amicus brief” in the case of two former AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) lobbyists accused of communicating classified information.

In its request, the group claims that the broad use of the espionage law against the lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman would have negative consequences for journalism.

“While the government certainly has a legitimate interest in keeping national security information out of the wrong hands, an overly aggressive approach that interferes with the flow of information to the public and its ability to hold its government accountable can undermine the democratic principles we all seek to defend,” the letter said.

The committee goes on to claim that if the espionage law is used against lobbyists, it is also possible that the prosecution will use it against journalists that are trying to get information from government sources as part of their daily work."

(snip)

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1129113923591&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[kitty1]

3. Interesting that the code word "aspens"' has sp in there.. special plans?

just a big coincidence likely that the OSP has those 2 letters as well. (Special Plans) But you never know....

[Zen Democrat]

5. That's always a possibility.

I also posit another angle for the "aspens" analogy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5072593&mesg_id=5072593