Larry Johnson: The So-called "Lies" of Joseph Wilson

[understandinglife]

The So-called "Lies" of Joe Wilson

by Larry C. Johnson

October 19, 2005

The smears keep on coming. The airwaves have been filled with folks like like Joe DiGenova, his wacky wife, Victoria Toensing, and Andrea Mitchell insisting that, "Joe Wilson lied" about who sent him to Iraq and what he discovered. Well, let's play he said, she said and pinpoint the real liar.

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Wrong again Andrea! (How can someone get so much so wrong and still be considered a serious journalist?) According to the July 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee report, Vice President Cheney asked his CIA briefer for an update on the Niger issue he had asked about in early February (which triggered Joe Wilson's trip to Niger). As a result of Cheney's request in early March, two CIA officers debriefed Ambassador Wilson on the results of his trip, wrote up the report, and disseminated the report on 8 March (p. 42 of the Senate report). Now, we're asked to believe that the CIA briefer never got back to Cheney? If you believe that call me, I have a bridge in Baghdad to sell you.

So boys and girls, what have we learned? Well if there is a liar it is not Joe Wilson. He told the truth. It is people like Andrea Mitchell, Joseph DiGenova, Victoria Toensing who are having trouble with the truth of the matter.

Much more debunking at the link:

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/10/the_socalled_li.html

Along with the extensive Right-Wing Myths About the Leak Investigation posted at Think Progress:

http://www.thinkprogress.org/leak-rebuttal

Mr Johnson's debunking of the "lies" of Ambassador Wilson are likely to come in handy, frequently, in the next days and months as you inform family, friends, co-workers and under-educated freepers (are there any other kind) of the facts.


Peace.

[rodeodance]

1. lets all blast to the media-one and all-let them know we are onto them.

.....Mr Johnson's debunking of the "lies" of Ambassador Wilson are likely to come in handy, frequently, in the next days and months as you inform family, friends, co-workers and under-educated freepers (are there any other kind) of the facts.

[H2O Man]

2. Yep.

The attacks on Fitzgerald are also getting underway.

[DemReadingDU]

3. Recommended for truth!

and Larry Johnson who gets the facts out there!

[rodeodance]

4. nominated

[Burried News]

5. Good - let the Media tie itself to Andrea Mitchell. And when the Duck

drowns they can all get sucked in.

[cantstandbush]

6. DiGeneva and Victoria should never be allowed to appear without a

spokesperson for the opposition there to refute their lies. CNN and MSNBC ought to be challenged immediately when they do this. Iman was despicable this morning.

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Larry Johnson is the man!

I really dig him... and you know why? Because freepers hate his guts! LOL.

[hiley]

8. Recommend

and sending out, Andrea go home or find a new job please your not a journalist!

[hiley]

9. Dick Cheney's Covert Action by Larry Johnson

Dick Cheney's Covert Action
Larry C. Johnson
October 19, 2005

Face it, America. You’ve been punk'd.

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.

Covert action refers to behind-the-scenes efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies to plant stories, manipulate information and shape public opinion. In other words, you write stories that reporters will publish as their own, you create media events that tout a particular theme, and you demonize your opponent. Traditionally, this activity was directed against foreign governments. For example, the U.S. used covert action extensively in Greece in the 1960s to help fend off communists. Covert action also played a major role in rallying world support for the Afghanistan mujahideen following the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Revelations during the past week about the Plame affair make it clear that the Bush administration used covert action against its own citizens. Consider, for example, the charge that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. The key event in this disinformation campaign was the intelligence manufactured by the Italians. The Italian intelligence service, SISME, provided the CIA with three separate intelligence reports that Iraq had reached an agreement with Niger to buy 500 tons of yellowcake uranium (October 15, 2001; February 5, 2002; and March 25, 2002). The second report, from February, was the subsequent basis for a DIA analysis, which led Vice President Cheney to ask the CIA for more information on the matter. That request led to the CIA asking Ambassador Joe Wilson to go check out the story in Niger.

snip---

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051019/dick_cheneys_covert_action.php

[Jane Austin]

10. Larry Johnson gets it!

He says "The airwaves have been filled with folks like like Joe DiGenova, his wacky wife, Victoria Toensing . . . ."

If they are going to call Wilson "that fool" and "this idiot" as Mary Matalin and Toensing have done, then our side needs to return the favor.

"Wacky wife" indeed. I love it!

[understandinglife]

11. AP: Rove, Libby Discussed Reporter Info

AP: Rove, Libby Discussed Reporter Info

By JOHN SOLOMON
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 19, 2005; 8:16 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Top White House aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby discussed their contacts with reporters about an undercover CIA officer in the days before her identity was published, the first known intersection between two central figures in the criminal leak investigation.

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The Rove-Libby contacts were confirmed to The Associated Press by people directly familiar with testimony the two witnesses gave before the grand jury. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the proceedings.

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More at the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101902036_pf.html

This little tidbit is a wrecking ball to use on any reich-wing talking point you may encounter.


Peace.