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COLUMN NINETY-SIX, SEPTEMBER 1, 2003
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)

FORKED TONGUED, MEAN-
SPIRITED, UNPATRIOTIC BUSHIES THROW CIA AGENT TO WOLVES

[The Bushies refuse to release those 28 blank pages of the Congressional September 11th report under the pretext that said publication would endanger secret sources of American intelligence operations, but the Bushies didn't mind illegally naming the wife of Ambassador Wilson as a CIA operative, thereby endangering her and her secret sources.

That's the way the mean-spirited and vindictive Bushies punished the Ambassador, who, they feel, hurt them by revealing that our fearless counterfeit President had knowingly spoken an untruth in his last State of the Union address when he falsely told about Saddam Hussein shopping for uranium yellow cake in the tiny African country of Niger, supposedly so the Iraqis could nuke the good, old U.S. of A.

Of course, by now, everyone in America---except this country's dumbfuck Yahoos---should be well aware that every time our Boy Emperor opens his mouth, we hear nothing but lies.---THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST]

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Subject: Iraq Uranium Imbroglio
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:41:28 -0700
From: "Peter Coyote" wdprod@earthlink.net 
Organization: Wild Dog Productions, Inc.
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com 

From my cousin who heads a group of retired Intelligence agents. --PC

THE IRAQ URANIUM IMBROGLIO (Cont'd) -- Two CIA memoranda to the National Security Council in October 2002 stated that reports of Iraq's purchase of 500 tons of uranium in Niger relied on weak evidence, and assumed Iraq was pursuing an acquisition that was arguably of questionable value because Iraq already had uranium supplies. 

As a result of the disclosure of these two classified memoranda that CIA sent to the NSC, the Deputy National Security Advisor, Stephen J. Hadley, stepped forward to take the blame for the infamous "sixteen words" in the President's speech about an alleged Iraqi uranium purchase. Hadley told reporters that while he received the memoranda in October, he had no memory of the warning three months later when the issue came up again for the State of the Union address. This is perhaps understandable, given the flood of information with which these staffs have to deal. It leaves open the question of why the CIA position conveyed to the NSC in October was not repeated as succinctly the next January, although the general political atmosphere-- in which it was unrewarding and even unpatriotic to dissent, given the fact of the planned Iraq invasion---may well have played a role. The reputation of the National Security Advisor herself is now shadowed. The game of musical chairs as to who might walk the plank in CIA or the NSC is still unfolding. 

The game is also being played at another level, closer to the stereotype of "down and dirty politics." The undercover role of the wife of retired Ambassador Joseph Wilson was blown by publishing her cover name in a conservative newspaper, reportedly at the instigation of two "senior administration officials." She was identified as working for the CIA in an undercover capacity on weapons of mass destruction issues---at least she was undercover until last week, when she was publicly identified by columnist Robert Novak. Why was this done? Ambassador Wilson had reportedly been asked earlier to check on the veracity of the Iraqi "yellow cake" uranium contract documentation with officials in Niger, and found that they denied any such letters or activity. As the controversy on the issue continued, he eventually went public. 

In response to the release of his wife's name and activity to the press, Wilson said that it was an attempt to intimidate others like him from talking about administration intelligence utilization. "It's a shot across the bow...that if you talk, we'll take your family and drag them through the mud as well." It may be noted that the alleged "senior administration officials" who named her, if their description of her employment was accurate, may well have violated the law. It also endangered her person and possibly the lives of her contacts in foreign countries. "If what the two senior administration officials said is true," Wilson said, "they will have compromised an entire career of networks, relationships and operations." What's more, it would mean that "this White House has taken an asset out of the weapons of mass destruction fight, not to mention putting at risk any contacts she might have had where the services are hostile." 

The Washington game goes on, frequently down and dirty, mean and petty. But strategists in both political parties now believe that the lifespan of the WMD criticism furor may well be limited, largely depending on whether the occupation of Iraq goes well or poorly. That still could go either way. The next six months will tell. (Jonkers) (Newsday 23 July 03 //T. Phelps & K. Royce) (Yahoo AFP 22 July 03) (NYTimes 22 July //D. Sanger and J. Miller) (WashPost 23 July 03, p.1 //W. Pincus & D. Milbank)
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia223383072jul22,0,1332639.story  ##

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