Did they out Plame because SHE knew too much?
dKos diarist clammyc reminds us of some important context to the Iran war drumming:
What if it wasn't an accident? What if they outed her not (or not just) to get at her husband, but to get at her?
Think about the demonstrated disdain of Bush and Cheney for any and all intel that contradicted their preordained conclusions about Iraq. Then think about the neocon arrogance that then, as now, targeted Iran as next on their regime change to-do list.
In that context, Valerie Plame's knowledge of what was really going on in the WMD arena did not make her an asset -- it made her a very dangerous woman. When Joe Wilson went public with the truth about the way the Administration cooked the books on Iraq, the Administration must have been concerned that Valerie Plame would do the same when they turned their guns toward Iran.
What if they wanted us to think that their purpose was to smack Joe Wilson, but only as a smokescreen for their next Crusade? Maybe I'm overly impressed with Karl Rove's legendary ability to think five moves ahead, but he loves these kinds of two-birds-one-stone stunts.
Tin foil hat, anyone?
Update: ReaderFurGaia points out that I am not the first to ask if the junta was indeed aiming at Plame more than her husband. Back in October, Justin Raimondo suggested that Plame may have been working on the Niger forgeries, and they wanted to stop her. I am not placing a bet on any of these possibilities; they could all be true, all false, or anywhere in between. My point in raising the possibility, as with my Armageddon piece, is to make sure we don't dismiss seemingly outside-the-box ideas just because they seem too horrible or too immoral. Nothing is too immoral or too horrible for these guys.
With all this talk about how dangerous Iran is and how they are THIS CLOSE to getting nook-you-lur weapons and must be stopped, let's not forget that Valerie Plame and her colleagues were tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran.Clammyc makes an important point. But does she/he draw the right conclusion? He/She seems to take the fact that the the Plame outing cost us a major intelligence asset in a high risk area as evidence of Administration incompetence. But I have an even darker take on the whole thing.
What if it wasn't an accident? What if they outed her not (or not just) to get at her husband, but to get at her?
Think about the demonstrated disdain of Bush and Cheney for any and all intel that contradicted their preordained conclusions about Iraq. Then think about the neocon arrogance that then, as now, targeted Iran as next on their regime change to-do list.
In that context, Valerie Plame's knowledge of what was really going on in the WMD arena did not make her an asset -- it made her a very dangerous woman. When Joe Wilson went public with the truth about the way the Administration cooked the books on Iraq, the Administration must have been concerned that Valerie Plame would do the same when they turned their guns toward Iran.
What if they wanted us to think that their purpose was to smack Joe Wilson, but only as a smokescreen for their next Crusade? Maybe I'm overly impressed with Karl Rove's legendary ability to think five moves ahead, but he loves these kinds of two-birds-one-stone stunts.
Tin foil hat, anyone?
Update: ReaderFurGaia points out that I am not the first to ask if the junta was indeed aiming at Plame more than her husband. Back in October, Justin Raimondo suggested that Plame may have been working on the Niger forgeries, and they wanted to stop her. I am not placing a bet on any of these possibilities; they could all be true, all false, or anywhere in between. My point in raising the possibility, as with my Armageddon piece, is to make sure we don't dismiss seemingly outside-the-box ideas just because they seem too horrible or too immoral. Nothing is too immoral or too horrible for these guys.
posted by bluememe at 4/06/2006
10 Comments:
Sorry man. I like walking with you, but I ain't going that far.
It's not because I'm lazy. Here's why:
1.) I don't see Rove thinking that far ahead in this case. He's more about protecting Bush and spinning things.
2.) Rove isn't the type of guy to decide whom to conquer next. He helps facilitate it.
3.) I don't think Iran was in the picture yet at the time we are talking about. Everything was about Iraq (according to Richard Clarke and others). Iraq was easy - their military was already destroyed. Iran will be tough. I heard a Chomsky lecture about this idea. We could only go after a weak enemy.
Also, I prefer S/he. Try it and see how it feels.
Mr. Blue Meme-
I think there is some possibility that what you are speculating here is true. But keep in mind that you, as are we, often SPECULATING about all of this. What to say, what to say? Why won't Valerie (or Joe) talk??? Even an anonymous leak from her old department to Sy Hersch would satisfy me...
Hmmm... I think with this gang of thieves, we always have to ask ourselves "what's in it for me or my rich friends?" So give me some of that and I might be more inclined to go there.
Damn it, Mr. Blue... I don't know what to think here... Just thinking brain-to-keyboard here. Sorry if I'm rambling.
I wonder if we should be worrying about the politics of this less than the REALITY of your "Armageddon" piece, though.
I am trying to figure out how to communicate that idea without being seen as a total tinfoil-hat guy. I saw the Iraq venture extremely accurately two years before it actually happened and most people thought that I was absolutely nuts for thinking that Bush would take us there.
So, in the grand scheme of things, is it really important that we work to PROVE that the CROOK Dubya and the CROOK Cheney really are crooks? Because we will not be listenend to anyway before we at least have a majority in at least one house of congress. Right?
Right now, my opinion is that we need to stop the impending doom that will come of our bombing Iran's "nukular" facilities, followed by their sinking the fifth fleet, followed by us nuking them into oblivion. No?
But yes, I have always thought that they went after Joe Wilson for more than just him... They wanted to destroy Valerie because she and Joe are not cronies. They were likely vocal (internally) against the PNAC agenda and Cheney couldn't stand it.
I've probably rambled on too long here. And I've had a couple- or rather more than a few- beers...
Love ya Mr. Blue Meme.
"I don't think Iran was in the picture yet at the time we are talking about."
Oh really? What information were the Israelis feeding to Larry Franklin? What office did Larry Franklin work in? Who was he meeting with in Rome? What was the Office of Special Plans tasked to do among other things? To think that the Bush Administration didn't have Iran on their radar when they had Iraq on their radar before Bush was even appointed, smacks of pure ignorance.
I think it is more likely the Bush administration outted Plame to help Iran, not prepare to attack Iran. The Bush administration wants Israel and Iran to fight. They want to arm both sides. War profiteers always do.
The "junket to Niger" idea seemed really lame anyway. Who would want a junket to Niger? I always thought Plame and outfit was the real target. But I have a different conspiracy theory.
Maybe Plame's group was getting close to the source: Some gangster cabal (say xyzzy) had actually procured nukes and hid them in various cities in US and around the world. They could send a message to our rulers indicating what they had done, and where they could find some samples. Thereafter the xyzzy cabal would be in the cat-bird seat and could blackmail our dear rulers.
They could order the govt to "stand down" during 9-11 or there goes Memphis. They could order the invasion of Iraq...or Iran. They could get the govt to back off certain illegal drug traffic.
The xyzzy cabal could pretty much rule the world.
I always thought that an intelligent government with nukes would easily see this as a perfect strategy. In particular, such a strategy would render "star wars" technology and anti-missile technology useless. Clearly nukes could be smuggled into the country easily and distributed (for instance by operatives working for moving companies).
I agree with your idea we should be more suspicious. Didn't Novak publish two articles?
The first one ID'd Valerie Plame and a second one a week later outed the Brewster Jennings cover company, I think. I always have thought that suspicious, especially since as a journalist I have to say that nothing about either Novak story was newsworthy. It was sensational and purient interest, a la supermarket tabloids.
Novak has been a GOP-paid "journalist" since the '70s when he and Judy Miller were the two regular conservative pundits for, I think, CNN.
I think the dots of the picture you paint are pretty far apart. You could be right about much of it, but I need more evidence.
One thing I disagree with: I do NOT think KKKarl is smart enough to play the chess game 5 moves ahead. There is nothing intelligent about the man. He is merely evil beyond any moral person's ability to defend. He's the ultimate con man, that's all.
And the idea of a trip to Niger being a junket, even if Wilson did enjoy a cup of mint tea there, is indeed ROTFLMFAO funny.
I think you are closte to the point but a little off. I personally beleive that she was attacked because she was uncovering the truth about Iran's nuclear ambitions - energy only. And our wingnut adminitstration was already planning on Iran - stipultated in PNAC. They new if she continued that they'd never have the credibility to go into Iran, so they outed her.
I think you are close to the point but a little off. I personally beleive that she was targeted because she was uncovering the truth about Iran's nuclear ambitions - energy only. Our wingnut adminitstration was already planning on Iran - stipultated in PNAC. They new if she continued that they'd never have the credibility to go into Iran, so they outed her.
Good Afternoon Blue Meme
Discoved you and your post via the link from Raw Story ...
Certainly entirely plausible theory ... They outted Plame for more reasons then just dissing Wilson (and Cheney's disdain for the CIA not necessarily playing ball with him) ...
As to the Neocons, check out the poll we ran on The Garlic last week
http://puregarlic.blogspot.com/2006/04/garlic-poll-results.html
Will be adding you to my daily reading
Peace
JTD
I think Plame was on to the AQ Khan/Asher Karni network aka Iran contra II.
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