Fixing Intelligence–Larry Interviews Val

Thank you to George and, as always, to Larry.

Valerie joined us at firedoglake for 2 hours yesterday where she was warmly welcomed and, I hope, felt a rush of support as she heads into what will likely be some choppy waters on her book tour. I dread listening to the usual suspects spewing the old, long debunked Talking Points, but as she says in this interview, she doesn’t need me to hold her hand. She has the truth.

I am waiting for my audiobook to arrive (wondering how they well communicate redacted parts), but the interview here and her testimony before Congress demonstrate what an important asset our country has lost in this agent and officer. Thanks to all Valerie’s friends and to Joe who spoke out when she could not, Valerie Plame Wilson’s betrayal by this administration now constitutes a full chapter in the volume of indictments against the criminals who have hijacked our country and our constitution. I am very grateful that they were not able to sweep this under their rug of secrecy and pray that we will learn the rest of the story as time moves on.

I didn’t know that Mrs. Wilson has such a wonderful, hardy laugh?

*****

Thank you both for the interview, and the window into Mrs. Wilson’s experience and her thinking.

You can have Ms.Rosen provide interview bytes and news excerpts in reference to public record portions of Val’s book since redacted.

The audio copy could include an interactive CD/DVD if need be…

Let the picture be fleshed out fully, shine a light on the dark.

Gee, that’s good to know. Thanks for this, Larry! Keep up the good fight, Valerie, Joe, and Larry! We’re with you.

“The firm that “coached” Blackwater CEO Eric Prince for a Congressional hearing previously represented Iraq intelligence launderer Ahmed Chalabi and is now working with AT&T to repair their image in the wake of their involvement in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program.

The communications firm BKSH, a subsidiary of public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, is run by a man with extremely close ties to the Bush Administration.

The founder and current head of BKSH is Charlie Black, whose ties with the Bush family go back to 1972, when he and Karl Rove were jockeying for control of the College Republicans in a campaign so dirty that George H.W. Bush, then head of the Republican National Committee, had to step in and sort matters out. Black then worked for Ronald Reagan’s and George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaigns from 1976 to 1992. He served as an adviser to George W. Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and is often quoted in news stories as an unofficial White House spokesman.”
-Gilly Gonzylon

Folks might like to hear Valerie’s interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air today:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15553270

includes an excerpt from the book.

also, an appearance and tour schedule

http://www.simonsays.com/content/consumer.cfm?tab=3&app=appearances&showall=search

An Open Letter To Valerie Plame Wilson

Valerie

I know you feel like you are an unlikely hero, but most true heros started out that way. They never wanted to be famous or get rich, they just stood up and did the right thing.

You could have easily retired to Sante Fe, and went back to a normal life with your family and no one would have said a thing. You and Joe have already gone beyond the call of duty to serve your county.

But now you are a true hero and inspiration to millions of Americans because you stood up in the face of withering fire and did not back down so the truth could come out.

So now it is time for the world to give you your due. Bask in it Valerie, enjoy the accolades you deserve it.

You are an inspiration and example of everything that was once good about this country.

So if you want to be a reluctant hero that is fine, but I believe your country needs you now more then ever.

So enjoy your tour, then take a rest, take a breather, but as they say “all things happen for a reason” and I for one believe your path in life has led you to this moment.

Seize the moment, answer the call.

You probably aren’t even aware of the number of people who believe already that you should run for any public office in New Mexico or anywhere for that matter. (We would welcome you in Arizona!)

Why?

Because you have shown by your honesty, integrity, graciousness, and patriotism, that you have the qualities that are so desperately needed for leadership in our country and political system today.

Only you can and have the right to decide what you and your family’s future shall be. But just remember JFK”s immortal words…

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.

Good luck and Godspeed.

That was great Larry. Kudos, George.(Cool site btw.)
What a classy lady, thanks.
Can you tell us what how many languages Ms. Wilson speaks, Larry?

8:03 pm pst

Google Hits GWB……………..7,700,000
Dick Cheney…. 1,540,000
Valerie…………….594,000
George Tenant….544,000

Not bad for our hero!!!!

Excellent interview Larry, and you managed to include most of our questions too. Thank you.

Also, good timing: My copy of Valerie’s book just arrived.

Listened to Larry’s interview and also watched you on Olberman tonight. Thank you, Val, for your credible representation of us as objective, dispassionate, non-political professionals whose only interest is acquiring and reporting the most accurate intelligence that we can to the nation’s leadership. As difficult as this experience has been for you and your family, perhaps the greater good that will come out of it is a compelling exposure to the American people, indeed, to the world, of what a real professional intelligence officer looks and sounds like. Your unsought position to speak out and honestly represent what we are all about may well be a political setback to the “intelligence officer” politicians currently administering the IC. Perhaps some of those young Americans who see you will be inspired to become the intelligence leaders of tomorrow who will restore the community in general, and our Agency in particular, to the vision that we shared when we took the oath of office twenty plus years ago. Best regards.

Around noon on July 4th I was on the highway listening to NPR and they had Robert Novak on to discuss Bush’s pardon of Libby. He was asked about the meeting with Armitage. After Armitage volunteered that apparently Joe Wilson’s wife worked at CIA, Novak’s reaction was ‘That’s news to me’, quote unquote. If Novak didn’t know she was NOC, no one else did either, he’s too much of an insider. By the way, all I ever heard those folks saying was ‘Everyone knew’. I don’t recall a single one of them say ‘I knew’.

It wasn’t a pardon, so your facts seem to be wrong, we can surmise you’ve misquoted Armitage also?

Armitage was the first confirmation of record, taking heat off a Cheney staffer who was present at the time, he was not the first disclosure.

Someone else made the disclosure, Armitage mistakenly confirmed.

Karl Rove said to others “I heard that also…” and he had no authority to hear or confirm it.

mike and mr. m,

first mike,
Robert Novak is a principle in the outing of Val Plame. His comments should be held in relation to his need to change the story, and at the same time, we cannot simply discount his story because he has a history of leaks and yellowjournalism. What is clear is he outed a CIA agent and all facts since indicate Val was covert, and even now he says she was not. At what point will people who believe Toensing, Novak, and Boring Yorke, and listen to BushEggHead (what exactly do you mean by torture) Michael Hayden, Fitz, Plame, and others who should know better say she was.

That being said…his account of Armitage has changed several times if you keep track. I won’t take up the blog here doing so, but if you need footnotes over the last few years, they are available and easily confirmed. I record FoxNews daily and he has repeatedly visited the main shows or been on the air during the day when Libby was on trial to repeat his story. But depending on the political need to be close, or far from the story’s center….he moves.

To your points….
1. Yes Novak was asked about a meeting…but is that nearly as important as:
a. Armitage suddenly wanting to talk to him after never taking an interview with Novak? (confirmed by Novak)
b. How, if Armitage had sudden need to talk to Novak, did Val Plame simply fall across Armitage’s lips. How did that just happen to happen? Sounds pretty coincidental to have a sudden need mixed with such a dynamic event as….outing the chief of the counter-proliferation department in charge of overseeing the traffic of WMD to the region we are now bogged down in blood, and we now see….NO WMD.
(why did they blind us?)

2. you don’t have to say…quote unquote…when you are “quoting”. but more important:
IT IS COMPLETELY ILLOGICAL to conclude that if Novak didn’t know she was a NOC, “no one else did either”
Are you suggesting Novak has supreme knowledge of the intelligence community? Wouldn’t that freak you out to know this scumbag knows more than Libby, Armitage, Cheney, etc?

so then I think…
maybe you got confused and meant…Armitage didn’t know she was a NOC, then no one else did?…is that possible?
Even if that is possible, it is still not logical to conclude other people did not understand that she was NOC or even simply covert, or…what about…

don’t they have a responsibility to know more when they find she works with the CIA? It doesn’t take me long to think…does this have consequence..who is she and so forth. Well…they did know who she was, and the CIA knew who she was, and they had a responsibility and duty to protect that information.

Yes, I understand that “all” you “ever heard” was that “everyone knew”. This was done on purpose friend to confuse the issue and yet evidence presented by the ordained authority in the case, says otherwise.

I can write this down.
Mikefromtexas shags sheep with tasers like all MikesinTexas.

Now…there..we can read it…is it true?

Yes, they did not say, “i knew” and Reagan couldn’t recall, and Libby didn’t leak. Don’t wait long.

To Mr. M.

If I’m correct, Libby was the first leak to Miller, their regular megaphone for their Iraq lead-up. She simply hadn’t printed her scoop. He met with her 3 times, and it was after this that Armitage spoke to Novak.
This is according to both the public record at usdoj.gov and the timeline compliled and locally confirmed by emptywheel at thenexthurrah in “Anatomy of Deceipt” (an inexpensive and great compilation of footnotes and focused timeline).

Whispers…thats the game.

The art of war is fought with deception. When perceived as big and it is a disadvantage, appear small. when perceived as in the know, and it is a disadvantage, play dumb. these guys are boring at their game, too bad the stakes are so tragic.

Condi should have taken more heat, Novak talked to people across a range of positions at the time.

The NSA had heightened urgency following the 9-11 wake. To fumble something to this great an extent suggests complete complicity on their part.

Novak was not the first leak for people really looking, but he was the first official disclosure. He really did a favor in some ways, had he not, the back channel information still would have gotten out(and it was, as the Libby trial later determined).

Had Novak not gotten heavy headed, no DoJ recusal or Independent Counsel could have been established on any kind of expedient timeline, it was challenged enough to last beyond ‘04 at least.

Valerie is probably restricted from discussing the AQ Khan leak, but it’s a certainty she was watching that. Do we know if the FISA end run helped disclose this? The judge so empowered resigned himself, he should face Committee subpoena.

What orders went out in violation of FISA at the time regarding Brewster Jennings or Valerie Wilson when she was outed? Has the VP already shredded that, and is Cheney really that dumb? The spooks know, people came across a world of info on Iran/Contra when someone reminded folks that the shredders in use had scanner eyes that could reprint what got got chopped.

Porter Goss knew her from the CIA and he was in House INTEL Committee, ranking member? He was on CNN Crossfire for the week Novak made the disclosure, almost to the minute. He was at the meeting she introduced Joe, for his meeting before key Principals, was he not?

Chris, you mention Armitage speaking to Novak, but then note that her name didn’t come up out of thin blue air. Someone had to initiate the conversation, Novak never said Armitage brought her name up, only that he verified where she worked.

That’s an elegant distinction he tightropes.

If I’m not mistaken the VP’s person in charge of notes dealing with Addington probably comes to mind there. Perhaps another person, a female on the VPOTUS staff at the time… in company of the conversation or excerpts of it recounted by others in the form of inadvertent confirmation.

Larry and Valerie, thank you for the great interview. It definitely gave me some insight. And like Valerie, a light went off in my head too when Powell gave his little slide presentation to the UN. I almost fainted when I saw that picture of Curveball…..errrr Zarqawi.

Thanks to all for the interview, and to Mrs. Wilson in particular for your courage, integrity, and grace in all of this. She and her husband are a example to all U.S. citizens of what practicing patriotism is all about.
With few exceptions, I find the comments here serious and informed on one hand, but measured and somewhat self constrained on the other. The retired members of the IC, represented herein, seem to have the notion that their past allegiance to the ‘company’ equates in some fashion to a present allegiance to their Country. As a peer, allow me to disabuse anyone who practices this conflated view, of the folly of such sophomoric behavior. We are not in violation of our fiduciary responsibilities to our Country, fellow citizens, and peers when we ‘report’ facts that assist in the improvement of the IC and it’s service to the nation. The violation is in NOT engaging in such reporting. Every retired member of the IC, especially those who have worked in “operations” billets, has a duty to report any knowledge they have regarding the politicization of their work product, rather it is done within the IC by analysts or administrators, or by any other ‘outside’ entity that has access to it. What sad fealty is it that causes such a perverse form of loyalty? Does such ‘blind faith’ subservience not perpetuate that which we all abhor in other cultures, past and present?

In thinking about the discussed issues, a thought occurred, which I don’t presume to be original. What if a willful executive branch leak had compromised a military special operations mission, placing the special operations team and its mission in jeopardy? Would there have been similar efforts to make the betrayal seem insignificant or even innocent? I doubt it. Can we say that the outing of Valerie Plame was less serious? I don’t think so.

The assault of lies against Valerie is on. This guy Gerard Baker at the TimesOnline UK is absolute scum.
Feel free to set the record straight…
Where is Chris Vosburg?

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2724745.ece?Submitted=true

Larry,

Went to the book signing in Manhattan the other night and heard the chat and got my book personalized. Told Ms. Plame-Wilson I was a frequent reader here. She said what a great friend you’ve been to her.

Off on a long plane ride today, will settle down with Fair Game and give it a read.

I’ll see her at tonight’s signing. Thanks for going.
LJ

Larry and Val,

Thanks for a terrific interview. Val I look forward to you coming to New England. Do you have a schedule for anyplaces besides Hartford or Boston (too much traffic and parking nighmares in those cities)?

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