Where the Plame story is headed?

[whometense]

I know this is OT for this group, but I still want to discuss this with you guys.

Brand new story by Larisa on Raw Story: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/HowSenate_Intelligence_chairman_fixed_intelligence_and_diverted_blame_fromWhite_House__0811.html

Senate Intelligence chairman quietly 'fixed' intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush issued an order to the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, and his cabinet members that severely curtailed intelligence oversight by restricting classified information to just eight members of Congress.

<snip>

But what was said to be an effort to protect the United States became a tool by which the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Pat Roberts (R-KS) ensured there was no serious investigation into how the administration fixed the intelligence that took the United States to war in Iraq or the fabricated documents used as evidence to do so.

<snip>

On July 11, 2003, faced with public pressure to investigate the Niger forgeries, Roberts blames the CIA and defends the White House.

“Sen. Rockefeller and I are committed to continue our close examination of all of the issues surrounding the Niger documents,” the Kansas senator declares. “So far, I am very disturbed by what appears to be extremely sloppy handling of the issue from the outset by the CIA.”

More astonishing is that CIA spokesman William Harlow stated that the agency had not obtained the Niger documents until “after the President’s State of the Union speech and after the congressional briefings, and therefore had been unable to evaluate them.”

The more you know...the sicker you feel.

[whometense]

1. Part Two

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Through_leaks_and_smears_Senate_chairman_protects_White_House_to_blame_CI_0811.html

Through leaks and smears, Senate chairman protects White House to blame CIA, Democrats

Niger forgeries and WMDS – Roberts fingers CIA
<snip>
Fixing the fix: Leaks and blame games
<snip>
First, blame the CIA
<snip>
Second, blame the Democrats
<snip>
Finally, blame Wilson and close the books
<snip>
Now, blame Fitzgerald

[TayTay]

2. This is yet another example of Rethug bastardry

It's the Rovian tactic of blaming the accuser and pinning your sins on your opponent. This is what the Rethugs learned from KKKarl. Problem is, it's not working anymore. The American people are finally seeing through the lies and the approval ratings are going down. The lies are being revealed and the cover up tactics are not working.

Good for Larisa for writing this article. We should get together some sort of overall document or web page that traces the truth vs the Rethug lies and the douche-bags who have made them. That would be a nice cheat-sheet.

[whometense]

3. Truly,

the extent of this story's reach is stunning. It goes absolutely everywhere. What wouldn't you give to be able to read Fitzgerald's files?

It's so complex, and it involves the complicity of so many government players - including Tenet, Bolton, Feith, all the White House thugs - including Cheney. I can't see any way you look at this story and think Cheney wasn't masterminding it from his secure bunker. All those visits over to the CIA? Scooter Libby didn't think this up himself. And then there's Judy Miller (if you missed them, read Arianna's posts on Judy over the past week or so here).

Who knows what kind of indictments Fitzgerald will have the evidence to file? I think it's up to us online folk to keep the noise loud enough that the media can't ignore what's happening.

[whometense]

4. Another tentacle

of the same story.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=11020

Why AIPAC Indictment Is Bad News for Rove

I'm on vacation, but I couldn't resist posting the below on my davidcorn.com site, where I routinely obsess over the Karl Rove scandal.

Last week, the Justice Department issued a new indictment of Lawrence Franklin, the Pentagon official accused of passing secrets to officials of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying outfit. The indictment is bad news for the Bush White House and Karl Rove.

That's not only because the Franklin case is embarrassing for the administration, the Pentagon, and their neocon allies. (Franklin worked with Douglas Feith, who until recently was a senior Pentagon official close to the neocons.) The Franklin indictment is a sign that Rove and any other White House aide involved in the Plame/CIA leak might be vulnerable to prosecution under the Espionage Act...