Dick Cheney's Covert Action

[dweller]

by Larry C. Johnson

Face it, America. You’ve been punk'd.

It is now quite clear that the outing of Valerie Plame was part of a broader White House effort to mislead and manipulate U.S.
public opinion as part of an orchestrated effort to take us to war. The unraveling of the Valerie Plame affair has exposed their
scam—and it extends well beyond compromising the identity of a CIA officer. In short, the Bush administration organized and
executed a classic “covert action” program against the citizens of the United States.

Covert action refers to behind-the-scenes efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies to plant stories, manipulate information and shape
public opinion. In other words, you write stories that reporters will publish as their own, you create media events that tout a
particular theme, and you demonize your opponent. Traditionally, this activity was directed against foreign governments. For
example, the U.S. used covert action extensively in Greece in the 1960s to help fend off communists. Covert action also played a
major role in rallying world support for the Afghanistan mujahideen following the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Revelations during the past week about the Plame affair make it clear that the Bush administration used covert action against its
own citizens. Consider, for example, the charge that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. The key event in this
disinformation campaign was the intelligence manufactured by the Italians. The Italian intelligence service, SISME, provided the
CIA with three separate intelligence reports that Iraq had reached an agreement with Niger to buy 500 tons of yellowcake
uranium (October 15, 2001; February 5, 2002; and March 25, 2002). The second report, from February, was the subsequent basis
for a DIA analysis, which led Vice President Cheney to ask the CIA for more information on the matter. That request led to the
CIA asking Ambassador Joe Wilson to go check out the story in Niger.

We learned last May that in the summer of 2002, the Bush administration told our British allies that they would "fix the facts"
around the intelligence. In other words, the United States sought to manufacture a case that Iraq was trying to build a nuclear
capability. Note, not only did bogus intelligence reports and fabricated documents surface, but senior administration
officials—Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Cheney—went to great lengths to try to convince Americans that the United
States would soon face the wrath of Iraqi attacks. Remember the smoking mushroom cloud?

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051019/dick_cheneys_covert_action.php

dp

[rodeodance]

1. for gawds sake-these revelations did not occure 'during the past week"

......Revelations during the past week about the Plame affair make it clear that the Bush administration used covert action against its
own citizens. Consider, for example, the charge that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. The key event in this
disinformation campaign was the intelligence manufactured by the Italians. The Italian intelligence service, SISME, provided the
CIA with three separate intelligence reports that Iraq had reached an agreement with Niger to buy 500 tons of yellowcake
uranium (October 15, 2001; February 5, 2002; and March 25, 2002). The second report, from February, was the subsequent basis
for a DIA analysis, which led Vice President Cheney to ask the CIA for more information on the matter. That request led to the
CIA asking Ambassador Joe Wilson to go check out the story in Niger.

[Old and In the Way]

2. "the intelligence manufactured by the Italians."

Do the Italians normally manufacture evidence in African countries to frame ME countries? What was Italy's stake in doing this?

Hopefully, we'll peel back this layer and see who the real fabricators were. If it comes back to Ledeen, then we'll have these bastards on criminal fraud to mislead this country into war. I can imagine that the "evidence" was fabbed and planted by the Cheney administration and then Dick "found" the info in a CIA cable....big surprise, gee, we should check it out. What I don't understand is why they didn't suggest an administration lackey who would have confirmed its authenticity. Why let an outsider with integrity blow your centerpiece for going to war with Iraq? Stupidity? Plausible, I guess.

[indepat]

3. "Covert action program" against the citizens of the United States sums

up this administration's actions holistically from day-one IMHO: and most of the Congress, MSM, and we the people have eaten it up and clamored for more.