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> http://www.counterpunch.org/morris07272005.html > > July 27, 2005, CounterPunch > Condoleezza Rice > is at the Center > of the Plame Scandal > > The Source Beyond Rove > By ROGER MORRIS > Former NSC staffer > "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." > <snip> > The chronology will no doubt continue to expand in the days and > weeks ahead. > There may well be a ticking time-bomb in the Grand Jury > investigation of the > Plame leak that goes beyond anything we now envision. In earlier > findings in > cases of reporters refusing to testify, DC Circuit Judge, David > Tatel, a > distinguished jurist known for his devotion to civil liberties and > especially press > freedoms, had stoutly maintained a federal privilege for the media, > shielding > it from being compelled to testify except under the most exceptional > conditions. But in then later joining his colleagues in ordering > Cooper and the New York > Times' Judith Miller to testify, Tatel reviewed extensive secret > information > from the prosecutor, devoted eight blacked-out pages of his > judgment to the > material, and concluded that the privilege he had upheld throughout > his career > as a lawyer and judge had to give way before "the gravity of the > suspected > crime." No other element of the scandal bodes so ill for the Bush > regime. > There is also the intriguing relationship between John Bolton, the > regime's > stymied appointee to the UN, and Judith Miller, the New York Times > correspondent sent to jail for contempt in refusing to divulge her > sources on Plame even > for a story she never wrote. Bolton's close relationship to Miller, > in which > many suspect the right-wing lobbyist handed the reporter much of > the fraudulent > accounts of Iraqi weaponry that ended up on the front page of the > Times, may > well have encompassed as well the passing of information from the > INR memo on > Plame, which Bolton saw before Powell or even Rice. > Then, too, as the Progressive Review's Sam Smith and Counterpunch's > Alexander > Cockburn have pointed out from their lonely perch of substance and > perspective atop what's left of American journalism, there is, in > the end, much less to > the whole story than meets the eye. In their too obvious relish of > celebrity, > Wilson and Plame as heroes are as dubious as the Niger letters. The > CIA, and > the Presidents who used it as a private mafia, account for a more than > half-century history far more catastrophic than a legion of seedy > Roves and Libbys or > even multiple Bush regimes. Relentlessly corrupt, inept, > anachronistic, if > ever an institution deserved to be "outed" and prosecuted in its > numbers, it is > our vastly bloodstained intelligence agency. But as so often in > politics, we > are left with the lesser, still needed reckoning at hand. > And in that, of course, the larger issue beyond Plame is the Bush > regime's > Big Lie behind the invasion of Iraq, in which the phantom Nigerien > yellowcake > was an important malignant element. No government since World War > II has more > blatantly invented the pretext for waging a war of aggression. The > Rove and > Libby collusion only begins to peel away the layers of the crime. > Rice is the next > skein to be pulled. > Her manifest failures in the fateful months before 9/11 in meeting the > principal responsibilities of the National Security Advisor-the > sheer incompetence > and shallowness that left so much intelligence uncoordinated, so > much neglected > or misunderstood-should have been enough to have run her from > public office > long ago, of course, were it not for her hold on this tragically > flawed > president, and her deplorable immunity amid the chronic political > cowardice of both > the Democrats and the media. > Now, however, [Rice's] role in the Plame scandal cannot be ignored or > excused. She alone among senior officials was knowing and > complicitous at every > successive stage of the great half-baked yellow cake fraud. She > alone was the White > House peer-and in national security matters the superior-to Rove > and Libby, > who never could have acted without her collusion in peddling > Plame's identity. > She as much as anyone had a stake in smearing Wilson by any and all > means at > hand. If Rove and Libby are to be held criminally or at least > politically > accountable for a breach of national security, our "mushroom cloud" > secretary of > state should certainly be in the dock with them. > > -------------------------------1122609159 > Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > <HTML><HEAD> > <META charset=3DUS-ASCII http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/ > html; cha= > rset=3DUS-ASCII"> > <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD> > <BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND- > COLOR: #fffff= > f"> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1><A href=3D"http:// > www.counterpunch.org/mor= > ris07272005.html">http://www.counterpunch.org/morris07272005.html</ > A></FONT>= > </P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1></FONT> </P><FONT > face=3DVerdana size= > =3D-1> > <P align=3Dleft margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"Ligh= > tgoldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2pt;f= > ont-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><B><F= > ONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D+1>July 27, 2005, </FONT></ > B><STRONG><FO= > NT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D4>CounterPunch</FONT></STRONG></P> > <H1 align=3Dcenter margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"L= > ightgoldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2p= > t;font-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><F= > ONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><U>Condoleezza R</U></FONT><FONT > face=3D"Times=20= > New Roman" size=3D+2><FONT size=3D6><U>ice</U></FONT> </FONT></H1> > <H1 align=3Dcenter margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"L= > ightgoldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2p= > t;font-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><F= > ONT face=3D"Times New Roman">is at the Center </FONT></H1> > <H1 align=3Dcenter margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"L= > ightgoldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2p= > t;font-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><F= > ONT face=3D"Times New Roman">of the Plame Scandal</FONT></H1> > <DIV align=3Dcenter margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"= > Lightgoldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2= > pt;font-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><= > FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> > <H1 align=3D3D margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"Light= > goldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2pt;fo= > nt-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? > justify?><FONT=20= > face=3D"Times New Roman" color=3D#990000 size=3D+2>The Source > Beyond Rove</F= > ONT></H1> > <P align=3D3D margin-left: 40%; margin-right: 5%;background- > color:=3D"Lightg= > oldenrodyellow;" margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 1em; border: > groove=3D"2pt;fon= > t-family:" palatino linotype, New Century Schoolbook,serif? justify? > ><FONT f= > ace=3D"Times New Roman" color=3D#000000 size=3D+2>By ROGER > MORRIS<BR></FONT>= > <B><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" color=3D#990000>Former NSC > staffer</FONT><= > /B></P> > <BLOCKQUOTE> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>"We don't want the smoking gun to > be a mus= > hroom cloud."</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE> > <P><FONT face=3DArial><snip></FONT></P> > <P>The chronology will no doubt continue to expand in the days and > weeks ahe= > ad. There may well be a ticking time-bomb in the Grand Jury > investigation of= > the Plame leak that goes beyond anything we now envision. In > earlier findin= > gs in cases of reporters refusing to testify, DC Circuit Judge, > David Tatel,= > a distinguished jurist known for his devotion to civil liberties > and especi= > ally press freedoms, had stoutly maintained a federal privilege for > the medi= > a, shielding it from being compelled to testify except under the > most except= > ional conditions. But in then later joining his colleagues in > ordering Coope= > r and the<I> New York Times'</I> Judith Miller to testify, Tatel > reviewed ex= > tensive secret information from the prosecutor, devoted eight > blacked-out pa= > ges of his judgment to the material, and concluded that the > privilege he had= > upheld throughout his career as a lawyer and judge had to give way > before "= > the gravity of the suspected crime." No other element of the > scandal b= > odes so ill for the Bush regime.</FONT></P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>There is also the intriguing > relationship=20= > between John Bolton, the regime's stymied appointee to the UN, and > Judith Mi= > ller, the<I> New York Times</I> correspondent sent to jail for > contempt in r= > efusing to divulge her sources on Plame even for a story she never > wrote. Bo= > lton's close relationship to Miller, in which many suspect the > right-wing lo= > bbyist handed the reporter much of the fraudulent accounts of Iraqi > weaponry= > that ended up on the front page of the<I> Times</I>, may well have > encompas= > sed as well the passing of information from the INR memo on Plame, > which Bol= > ton saw before Powell or even Rice.</FONT></P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>Then, too, as the<I> Progressive > Review's<= > /I> Sam Smith and<I> Counterpunch's</I> Alexander Cockburn have > pointed out=20= > from their lonely perch of substance and perspective atop what's > left of Ame= > rican journalism, there is, in the end, much less to the whole > story than me= > ets the eye. In their too obvious relish of celebrity, Wilson and > Plame as h= > eroes are as dubious as the Niger letters. The CIA, and the > Presidents who u= > sed it as a private mafia, account for a more than half-century > history far=20= > more catastrophic than a legion of seedy Roves and Libbys or even > multiple B= > ush regimes. Relentlessly corrupt, inept, anachronistic, if ever an > institut= > ion deserved to be "outed" and prosecuted in its numbers, it is our > vastly b= > loodstained intelligence agency. But as so often in politics, we > are left wi= > th the lesser, still needed reckoning at hand.</FONT></P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>And in that, of course, the > larger issue b= > eyond Plame is the Bush regime's Big Lie behind the invasion of > Iraq, in whi= > ch the phantom Nigerien yellowcake was an important malignant > element. No go= > vernment since World War II has more blatantly invented the pretext > for wagi= > ng a war of aggression. The Rove and Libby collusion only begins to > peel awa= > y the layers of the crime. Rice is the next skein to be pulled.</ > FONT></P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>Her manifest failures in the > fateful month= > s before 9/11 in meeting the principal responsibilities of the > National Secu= > rity Advisor-the sheer incompetence and shallowness that left so > much intell= > igence uncoordinated, so much neglected or misunderstood-should > have been en= > ough to have run her from public office long ago, of course, were > it not for= > her hold on this tragically flawed president, and her deplorable > immunity a= > mid the chronic political cowardice of both the Democrats and the > media.</FO= > NT></P> > <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D-1>Now, however, <STRONG>[Rice's] > role in the= > Plame scandal cannot be ignored or excused. She alone among senior > official= > s was knowing and complicitous at every successive stage of the > great half-b= > aked yellow cake fraud. She alone was the White House peer-and in > national s= > ecurity matters the superior-to Rove and Libby, who never could > have acted w= > ithout her collusion in peddling Plame's identity. She as much as > anyone had= > a stake in smearing Wilson by any and all means at hand. If Rove > and Libby=20= > are to be held criminally or at least politically accountable for a > breach o= > f national security, our "mushroom cloud" secretary of state should > certainl= > y be in the dock with them.</STRONG></FONT></P></BODY></HTML> > > -------------------------------1122609159-- > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hu180lb/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705372463:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122621342/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. 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