Link to Cheney deepens ‘leak-gate’ scandal

[Imagevision]

THE NEWS that Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff was the second possible source in the leaking of the identity of a CIA agent to Time magazine elevates the scandal to a whole new level. It is bad enough for Karl Rove to be accused of being a leaker, since he is President Bush’s chief political strategist.

But if Time’s story holds, I. Lewis Libby’s involvement represents an even more insidious abuse of power. The Bush administration is being accused of leaking the name of Valerie Plame in retribution for a New York Times op-ed article written by her husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson. Wilson wrote that he never found any evidence in a 2002 trip to Africa, contrary to claims made by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address, that Saddam Hussein was procuring uranium from Niger for nuclear weapons.

Bush would invade Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that were never found. But Libby, Cheney, and the other influential right-wing hard-liners, such as Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage, Richard Perle, and Douglas Feith, saw their dreams come true. Back in the administration of the senior President Bush, Cheney was defense secretary and Libby and Wolfowitz were two of his aides who, after the first Gulf War left Saddam in power, drafted a document advocating ‘‘preemptive’’ war against possible threats.

They said the United States should be ‘‘postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated.’’

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped...

[BrainRants]

1. drip, drip, SPLOOOOSH!

It's coming!

[shraby]

3. Can I say the dike is about ready

to burst? The drip is now an enlarging trickle, and * is trying to plug the leak with a Supreme Court nominee. T'aint going to work and he has nothing else in his bag of tricks to shut it down.

[Botany]

12. Bring on Led Zep ..... When the Leeve Breaks

"Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, you got to move."

They are all going down.

[NashVegas]

2. Can You Trim This?

DU copyright fair use rules - 4 paragraph limit.

[mandomom]

4. How many criminals in the WH are too many?

I do remember all the suspense and excitement when Novak first wrote his story about Plame, and his strong insinuation that the source was very, very, very HIGH UP in DC officialdom. I wondered then if he was speaking of Bush or Cheney. Some Sunday talkfests wondered aloud about Tenet or Cheney.

[deacon]

5. cheney was paying off chalabi--so wilsons' report was throwing a wrench

into his gearbox. This what triggered them outing plame. Wilson was screwing up how they were manipulating intelligence to get their Iraq war.

[ihelpu2see]

7. that is another part that does not get linked and should

the Chalabi story and "Curve Ball" the so called source of the WMD claims.... And Chalabi getting over $300K per Month!! I hope it is all there in the investigation but sadly I'm betting on a white wash.

[TahitiNut]

8. Chalabi provided "Curveball" - the 'source' for most of Powell's ...

... (fraudulent) "intelligence" that he presented to the U.N. Judith Miller has been tight with Chalabi ever since early 1992 when the Poppy Bush administration created and funded the INC (Iraqi National Congress). These are the same people who brought us the "babies being ripped from incubators" fraudulent testimony before Congress in 1990.

These people have been perpetrating HOAXES and FRAUDS for over 15 years!

[Booster]

18. That and I also think Mrs. Wilson's covert "company" was getting

too close to uncovering the criminal/treasonous games Cheney was playing in the Middle East with Halliburton, etc. I think Cheney had to expose her company and knew exposing her would do that. Cheney's the one who should go down the most, after Bush, of course.

[qanda]

6. Nominated, but I think you have to edit the amount of paragraphs to 4

Or this is sure to be locked.

[realFedUp]

9. all roads in this admin. lead to the Cheney gang...nt

[goforit]

10. Hmmmm..........Rove's bringing in Powell was a huge mistake.

This just does not look good for the WH.

[gratuitous]

11. "Your poll numbers are in the 70s. You can afford to lose a few points."

There could hardly be a clearer statement of the cynical, manipulative nature of this corrupt administration which loudly proclaims that it doesn't consult polls yet seems to know all the numbers all the time.

I remember when sending the country off to war was a serious and dare I say sober undertaking. For the Bushistas, it seems like it was more a calculated maneuver to quell dissent, shore up its own poll numbers, and be the peg to hang Bush's case for reelection on in 2004.

What do the fundies and the evangelicals tell themselves when a statement like Cheney's to Powell hits them right between the eyes? Does it occur to them that the means were never right or honorable, and the end achieved has been to kill a lot of people both in our military and in other countries, squander hundreds of billions of dollars from the Treasury, and gravely injure our national stature and honor around the world?

[loudsue]

25. The "fundies" will prolly never hear the statement, and if they do,

their preacher-gods will tell them what to think about it ("it's the liberal media", or some such).

We have a LONG way to go before the TRUTH will be known by all Americans equally. The neocon/fascist/mafia will see to that.

:kick::kick::kick::kick:

[0007]

13. I love it! I love it! I love it! These worthless bastards are going down.

.....and it all ties into the Downing Street Memo's.

[CatWoman]

14. you've been here long enough to know better than to violate the copyright

rules.

shame on you.

[Moderator]

15. Please snip your article to a maximum

of four paragraphs ( per DU copyright rules)

Thanks

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Ol' Sneery's gonna hafta kill SQUADRONS of little birds

to get this one out of his system.

[VegasWolf]

17. Yeah, they are capturing them now so that they can be released directly

in front of Cheney's shotgun.

[Canuckistanian]

19. Wow. I wish Scooter had forced Powell to mention Prague

That one was so easily debunked - the Czech government and intelligence even denied it happened.

[katty]

20. the Shady Bunch has brought all this upon their own heads!

Mehlman looks like he could go into cardiac arrest at any moment.
cheney doesn't give a shit, he has made his billions and figures, as in Watergate, he will get a pass (because of his poor heart and 'history of service to the WH'!@!)and will be able to live out his numbered days fly fishin'-bush, if he is somehow, someway, out before his 2nd term is up will run back to Poppy and Bar for R&R in Kennebunkport, Laura will ask for a separation and take her millions, and really start to enjoy life-without the boy underfoot.
Karl will go and reinvent himself as a Hollywood uber agent-even if he has to serve a few months in jail (yea, right).
as in Watergate and Iran Contra, they all have backup plans, so no worries there.

[Mallove Fan 71]

21. Boy, wouldn't it be nice to get a glimpse at Powell's testimony

to the Grand Jury! I still have hope that Powell stepped up and did the right thing for this country. I think he spilled some beans to Fitz.

God, I'm setting myself up for such a huge letdown. If no indictments come, I may feel worse than I did in November!

[wli]

22. these guys have been at it since Nixon

I'm sure they've got a few trillion stashed away.

[Pharaoh]

23. yup........

great shit...............

:nuke:

[electron_blue]

24. connecting all the dots

just makes the pictures so much clearer, doesn't it?

[shanti]

26. i want to see the big dick go DOWN!

ugh, he really sickens me!!! :grr:

[goforit]

27. I do believe the Public is trying this case on their own after watching

his polls plummet.

[WhiteTara]

28. good

:kick:

[Moderator]

29. Imagevision...

Per DU rules, please limit this article to 4 paragraphs.

Thank you

DU Moderator