Bolton, Downing Street, ElBaradei, and Valerie Plame: EXPLOSIVE DKos Post!

[johnfunk]

Strap yourselves in, this one's devastating:

John Bolton, Downing Street, Mohamed ElBaradei, and Valerie Plame
by HunterSun Jun 19th, 2005 at 17:46:17 PDT

One of the nagging questions of the Valerie Plame case has always been who in the White House would have even known who Valerie Plame, covert CIA operative, actually was. The identity of covert agents is strictly compartmentalized information; even in high-level briefings on the actions or intelligence gathered by those agents, the agents themselves are identified by alias or code, not by name. The reasons for this practice are obvious.

And, in the case of the White House, there was hardly a pressing need to know the identity of one Ms. Valerie Plame. It is middlingly possible that members of the Bush Administration knew Mrs. Valerie Wilson as wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson. It is less possible that more than a tight handful of persons -- if that -- would have known Valerie Plame, covert CIA operative. The highest crime in the Wilson/Plame case likely does not revolve principally around who, precisely, shopped the information about Plame's covert status to Novak and other D.C. journalists: instead, it rests with who told that political operative -- the one with a full rolodex and the skill to select presumed-friendly leak points -- that Plame was a CIA operative in the first place, and worthy of attack. Among the White House political staff, there was precisely zero need to know this information -- and if classified intelligence procedures were being followed, no opportunities to find out.

It is undisputed among all parties that Plame's covert work involved principally the gathering of intelligence related to weapons of mass destruction, which put her at an important nexus of operations in the runup to the Iraq War. At another nexus point across town, during the same period, was John Bolton.

For the rest, point your web browser here. As I said, explosive...

[Dudley_DUright]

1. Very interesting theory

I wish held the house so that we could subpoena some evidence out of the whitehouse to confirm or refute it.

[Coexist]

2. I am so glad they are talking about AlBaradei again

he tried to tell us - unfortunately, no one wanted to hear what he had to say.

[Gman]

3. Nice point to leave the cliffhanger!

Bolton

[understandinglife]

4. Recommended.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4173.htm


WE THE PEOPLE .... WILL NEVER FORGET

"... we sent our young people into harm's way without leveling with the American people." - Congresswoman Pelosi before Congress, 16 June 2005

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Impeachment of Bush and Cheney; indictment and prosecution of all members of the Bush regime who participated in the deception, should be campaign promises of any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections.

[lala_rawraw]

5. and this one

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/7/143745/9796

[H2O Man]

6. This is why

we need to oppose Bolton's nomination to serve as ambassador at the UN. It doesn't matter as much that he is cranky. It does matter that he is criminal.

[FreedomAngel82]

43. Exactly

I think this is why they aren't letting that information out about him. He was the person who did all this and this is how they are repaying him by promoting him up the PNAC ladder. It makes perfect sense. She was involved in the wmd's investigation's so they would need to get rid of her.

[supernova]

7. Interesting theory and Recommended

That it would be Bolton to out Valerie Plame. He's already been proven to be a vindictive son-of-a-bitch.

I so want that fucker unemployed. :grr:

[lala_rawraw]

8. Search DU... I think we all know, at Kos, DU, and

Everywhere where 2+2=4 that Bolton was not checking people's golfing interests and Rove would not be that aware of the inner workings of the CIA. But a plans guy, well, he knows just who is whom and I would venture that he perhaps suggested Wilson, although there is no proof of that.

[seemslikeadream]

18. Bolton Pushed Niger Yellowcake Story

March 14, 2005
JOHN BOLTON PUSHED NIGER-URANIUM FIASCO AT STATE -- Then Tried to Hide his Tracks and Staff Lied to Congress

I just received this March 1, 2005 letter written by House Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman to Representative Christopher Shays who chairs the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Security.

Waxman is basically blowing the whistle on the administration's extravagant use of "sensitive but unclassified" designations on official acts to block public access to and transparency of government policymaking.

On pages 5-7, Waxman reveals that John Bolton promulgated the Niger-Uranium fiction at the State Department despite rejection of this claim by State Department and CIA intelligence analysts.

Waxman then argues that not only did Bolton and his people then try and conceal Bolton's role in pushing the Niger-Uranium agenda by marking the material "sensitive but unclassified" and blocking it in case of a Freedom of Information Act request, the State Department actually LIED TO CONGRESS about John Bolton's role.

I think Senator Hagel might want to reconsider his support for the Bolton nomination now. . .

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000370.html

Waxman letter

Concealment of a State Department Official's Role in the Niger Uranium Claim

In April 2004, the State Department used the designation "sensitive but unclassified" to conceal unclassified information about the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, in the creation of a fact sheet distributed to the United Nations that falsely claimed Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.

On December 19, 2002, the State Department issued a fact sheet entitled "Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council." (9) The fact sheet listed eight key areas in which the Bush Administration found fault with Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations on December 7, 2002. Under the heading "Nuclear Weapons," the fact sheet stated:

The Declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
Why is the Iraqi regime hiding their uranium procurement?

It was later discovered that this claim was based on fabricated documents. (10) In addition, both State Department intelligence officials and CIA officials reported that they had rejected the claim as unreliable. (11) As a result, it was unclear who within the State Department was involved in preparing the fact sheet.

On July 21, 2003, I wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking for an explanation of the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, in creating the document. (12) On September 25, 2003, the State Department responded with a definitive denial: "Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John R. Bolton, did not play a role in the creation of this document." (13)

Subsequently, however, I joined six other members of the Government Reform Committee in requesting from the State Department Inspector General a copy of an unclassified "chronology" on how the fact sheet was developed. (14) This chronology described a meeting on December 18, 2002, between Secretary Powell, Mr. Bolton, and Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs. According to this chronology, Mr. Boucher specifically asked Mr. Bolton "for help developing a response to Iraq's Dec 7 Declaration to the United Nations Security Council that could be used with the press. According to the chronology, which is phrased in the present tense, Mr. Bolton "agrees and tasks the Bureau of Nonproliferation," a subordinate office that reports directly to Mr. Bolton, to conduct the work.

This unclassified chronology also stated that on the next day, December 19, 2003, the Bureau of Nonproliferation "sends email with the fact sheet, 'Fact Sheet Iraq Declaration.doc.'" to Mr. Bolton's office (emphasis in original). A second e-mail was sent a few minutes later, and a third e-mail was sent about an hour after that. According to the chronology, each version "still includes Niger reference." Although Mr. Bolton may not have personally drafted the document, the chronology appears to indicate that

he ordered its creation and received updates on its development.

The Inspector General's chronology was marked "sensitive but unclassified." In addition, the letter transmitting the chronology stated that it "contains sensitive information, which may be protected from public release under the Freedom of Information Act" and requested that no "public release of this information" be made. (15) In fact, however, the chronology consisted of nothing more than a factual recitation of information on meetings, e-mails, and documents.

This is not a constructive reformer out to promote American interests in a dignified manner in the world's most significant multilateral institution.

There are many administration jobs that John Bolton may be completely appropriate for -- but the one that he has been nominated for is not on that list



Also - State's Bolton Says Iran "Dead Set" on Building Nuclear Weapons


State's Bolton Says Iran "Dead Set" on Building Nuclear Weapons

Iran is continuing to pursue the production and possession of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, despite being a signatory to international treaties banning them, said Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton.

In his prepared testimony before the House International Relations Committee June 24, Bolton said, "We cannot let Iran, a leading sponsor of international terrorism, acquire the most destructive weapons and the means to deliver them to Europe, most of central Asia and the Middle East, or beyond."

The under secretary presented evidence such as U.S. intelligence findings in the biannual "721 Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technologies Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advance Chemical Munitions," reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and statements by Iranian officials in order to back up his statements to the committee.

The under secretary described in detail the basis for the Bush administration's strong belief that Iran has a clandestine program to produce nuclear weapons, despite being a signatory to the Nonproliferation Treaty.
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20040630-04.html
Bolton Said to Orchestrate Unlawful Firing (Downing Street Memo Alert!!)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1523137

WoW! Bolton Stopped UN WMD Inspectors Going to Iraq!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3785495

Harry Reid Speaks Boldly on Bolton this Morning:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3866299

Was Bolton behind death of State Department official?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Is it at all possible that maybe, just possibly,... John Bolten
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[seemslikeadream]

25. So Bolton's nomination is linked to the Downing Street Minutes

donkeyotay (964 posts) Tue Jun-14-05 01:55 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. So Bolton's nomination is linked to the Downing Street Minutes
On December 19, 2002, the State Department issued a fact sheet entitled "Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council." (9) The fact sheet listed eight key areas in which the Bush Administration found fault with Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations on December 7, 2002. Under the heading "Nuclear Weapons," the fact sheet stated:

The Declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
Why is the Iraqi regime hiding their uranium procurement?

There is an excellent article by Neil Mackay from the Sunday Herald, July 13, 2003, Niger and Iraq: the war’s biggest lie?

<<<snip>>>
The IAEA says it sought evidence about the Niger connection from Britain and America immediately after the US issued a state department factsheet on December 19, 2002, headed 'Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council'. In it, under the heading 'Nuclear Weapons', it reads: 'The declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger. Why is the Iraqi regime hiding their uranium procurement?' But the IAEA, despite repeatedly begging the UK and US for access to papers, wasn't given any documents until February 2003 -- six weeks later.

The article also has this:

The fact that the documents were forged matters less than the purpose to which they were put. On September 24, 2002, Blair's dossier Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government said: 'There is intelligence that Iraq has sought the supply of significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Iraq has no active civil nuclear power programme of nuclear power plants and, therefore, has no legitimate reason to acquire uranium.'

On January 28, 2003, Bush, in his State of the Union address, said: 'The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.' Bush didn't stop there -- later, there was talk of 'mushroom clouds' unless Saddam was taken out.

It was the International Atomic Energy Agency which rumbled the documents as forgeries -- a task that their experts were able to complete in just a matter of hours. Here are just four examples of how easy it was to work out the documents were, as one intelligence source said, 'total bullshit':
· In a letter from the President of Niger a reference is made to the constitution of May 12, 1965 -- but the constitution is dated August 9, 1999;
· Another letter purports to be signed by Niger's foreign minister, but bears the signature of Allele Elhadj Habibou, the minister between 1988-89;
· An obsolete letterhead is used, including the wrong symbol for the presidency, and references to state bodies such as the Supreme Military Council and the Council for National Reconciliation are incompatible with the letter's date;
· It wasn't until just before the war began that Mohamed El Baradei, IAEA director-general, told the UN Security Council on March 7 that his team and 'outside experts', had worked out that ' these documents ... are in fact not authentic'. <<<end>>>

(Although the article states the UK and US were informed 2 weeks before El Baradei's address to UN)

Frist & McCain Raise Ante on Bolton Cloture Vote (TWN)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1547952#1548295


New Bolton scandal re: NSA intercept - it's STILL not over yet....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3796591
Was Bolton behind death of State Department official?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3525714

[Karenina]

32. Piquing the public's curiosity

[goclark]

35. Bring the NeoCons DOWN with Downing Street and the Truth!

Great graphic!

[Karenina]

41. I found it on

http://www.rogerart.com

[al bupp]

33. A Typical Post from You, Dream

That will take me a while to work through all the threads you have woven together. Well-done.

Cheers

[seemslikeadream]

37. Did Bolton do Dick Cheney's biding to suppress info by outing Plame

Hey there al bupp here's one more to look at

Did Bolton do Dick Cheney's biding to suppress info by outing Plame
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3655510







:hi:

[FreedomAngel82]

44. Don't forget

Cheney went over there a LOT to have the "intelligence fixed around the policies." So it makes perfect sense.

[kentuck]

9. If true, could the Senate be any more asleep ?

If Bolton was the one that ratted on Plame, Bush would be aware of that. And there is talk that he will do a recess appt of him to be UN Ambassador? What does that say?

[maryallen]

19. Complicit seems more appropriate than "asleep."

"Asleep" assumes that they did not know what they were doing.
They did .... most of them, anyway ...

[kentuck]

24. Complicit does sound better....

I agree.. :)

[WillyT]

10. Bolton Outed Plame !!! - Bolton Outed Plame !!! - Bolton Outed Plame !!!

Fuck the proof. Let these fascist fucks prove it ain't true.

At least they'd have to come up with the documents then!

:mad::nuke::grr:

[understandinglife]

17. Good strategy. Good meme! == Blast it.

and, here's some potentially useful context, as you do:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3885693



http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4173.htm


WE THE PEOPLE .... WILL NEVER FORGET

"... we sent our young people into harm's way without leveling with the American people." - Congresswoman Pelosi before Congress, 16 June 2005

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Impeachment of Bush and Cheney; indictment and prosecution of all members of the Bush regime who participated in the deception, should be campaign promises of any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections.

[kittenpants]

34. good point...

show us who DID out Plame if they say it's not Bolton. In cases of Nat'l Security (this IS treason after all) don't we have to assume a suspect is guilty unless they prove otherwise? At least that's the way Bush & co preach it.

[sam sarrha]

11. they outed her because she was sure to find out that there were NO WMD's

they didnt want that to happen..

[longship]

12. Whoa!

The suggested Bolton/Plame connection is intriguing. I'd love to be able to see the unexpurgated version of those Bolton documents the Senate Democrats are requesting and the WH is so adamantly trying to withhold. Oh, if only the Senate or House Dems could convene a hearing with subpeona power.

Things are beginning to unravel.

[whalerider55]

16. could be

but things won't unravel until we get the gavel.

2006- the year of the subpoena

bring it on...

whalerider

[punpirate]

13. I would say that...

... evidence of this would be explosive. Otherwise, it's an interesting and provocative theory.

Nor does this mention Bolton's face-to-face threats of Jose Bustani and his eventually successful effort to have Bustani removed from the chemical weapons non-proliferation team--precisely because Bustani had proposed sending his team into Iraq to firm up what evidence was available. That would seem to back up the assertion that Bolton was acting in a counter-intelligence capacity.

For the neo-cons, the Undersecretary of State for Weapons Non-Proliferation is a real pivot position--that was Wolfowitz's first big job in government during the Ford administration.

[AX10]

14. I'll recomend it!

[cthrumatrix]

40. and kick it

[sellitman]

15. This is more amazing than a Robert Ludlum novel.

Jason Bourne is a bore next to this stuff.

[jazzjunkysue]

20. Bolton is the 5th name on the PNAC memo to clinton asking for an

invasion of iraq in 97. Not exactly hard to connect the dots and know that the reason the white house won't release his request is that it proves he was the hitman for the whistleblowers on WMD's and Niger yellow cake.

Otherwise, they would give up on him and nominate someone else to get the job filled. They want their neocon imperialist brother in arms, or nothing else. And they're not going to release his information.

He's as dirty as they come, and that's why everyone lines up firmly for or against him. Look at his supporters and you've got the current neocon membership list.

[mirrera]

21. Biden says we need Bolton info "on Principal"

I saw Biden being interviewed today and he said Democrats are going to "take a stand" over Bolton, on principal. He said it is unacceptable to be told that the info they are asking for is not relevant. What I want to know is WHY he didn't use the air time to say what this info was that the Dems are asking for. He made it sound like if the Republicans would just turn over the requested papers the Democrats would give Bolton an up or down vote. Nowhere in his response was there even a HINT that the info might be damaging enough to cause a total (whisper-extraordinary circumstance) FILLI-compromise-BUSTER. All these missed opportunities...but the crux is he said he is seeking the nomination for president. I heard it, and the crease in his balls got deeper...(reference to Randi Rhodes great line about him straddling the fence)


www.nobullshirt.com

[Algomas]

27. Bi Bi Biden...

All the pukes have to do is throw him a token bone and Bolten will be confirmed.

Their and his corruption is disgusting.

[me b zola]

22. recommended

:wow:



I agree with the person up-thread...Bolton outed Plame!....Let them prove otherwise!

[TacticalPeek]

23. Kick.

Kick it up!

[slybacon9]

26. Kerploooow!

[brettdale]

28. kick

kick

[ngGale]

29. This is some great information...

it all makes perfect sense. Along with the article published today about policy change in the State Department since Bolton left. Looks like Bolton was hampering all non-proliferation negotiations. For me, Bolton = nukes and any effort to find a peaceful resolution in the world. Plame, I'm not sure about because of the timeline, but she was following A.Q. Kahn's WMD trail. They didn't want anybody in the way of their right-wing agenda. In fact, it looks like they destroyed our WMD task force. All the knowledge, why?

[annabanana]

30. Is treason still punishable by death?

(just asking)

[cascadiance]

42. I would think so....

Rosenberg these folks!

[ozymandius]

31. Does diplomatic immunity extend to non-foreign ambassadors? n/t

[Mandate My Ass]

36. Greg Thielman said Bolton shut him out

Previously only senior analysts such as himself saw raw intelligence, after which they vetted it and redacted the names of covert operatiaves. Bolton not only blocked Thielman from attending meetings where intel was being discussed, but he went over his head and got raw intel which would have included names he was not authorized to see.

This theory makes a lot of sense and there is significant evidence to back it up.

[Jack Rabbit]

38. Am I missing something? This looks like speculation.

Wilson has said there aren't that many people who could have outed Ms. Plame. He has suggested Rove, Cheney. Libby and some others close to Cheney; I don't think he's ever mentioned Bolton.

This is a little beyond Bolton's modus operandi. Bolton is known to have bullied intelligence analysts in an attempt to get them to say what he wanted to hear rather than what the known facts justified saying. Cheney and Libby are believed to have done the same thing, specifically about intelligence concerning Iraq's weapons capabilities. The problem with this defense of Bolton is that the Plame outing is unique and not in the usual modus operandi of Cheney, Libby or anybody else, either.

Bolton's only known connection with manipulation of pre-war facts and intelligence is his successful effort to fire Jose Bustani, the head of a global arms-control agency in 2002. Bustani wanted to put weapons inspectors in Iraq to verify whether or not Saddam possessed banned weapons. This, as Bolton and other high-level regime officials almost certainly knew, would have undercut the false case war that they were making. Indeed, when Saddam allowed inspectors back into Iraq in late 2002 and proceeded to find nothing, the case for war lost, at least temporarily, significant diplomatic support. Bush eventually went to war without a proper enabling resolution from the UN Security Council.

This is enough to get Bolton charged with war crimes, but it isn't related to the Plame case.

[DemoTex]

39. Intriguing synchronicities indeed.

Sounds like this boiler is about to blow! Bu$h must have Flem Snopes in charge of safety valves.

[seemslikeadream]

45. Reid says Bolton recess nomination being tested in the courts

as we speak

just heard on CNN

[cthrumatrix]

46. kick for truth

[seemslikeadream]

47. Market Betting Against Bolton Confirmation

The Bolton market at TradeSports.com is dropping dramatically. The chances of Bolton now getting through as Ambassador to the United Nations are measured by the market at 45% chance of confirmation.

This is amazing as he was considered quite likely, 95% likely at the end of May, and then hovered around 90% through early June -- after which it has been plummeting since.

We are winning.
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/

[seemslikeadream]

48. How Long Must the Senate Be in Recess Before a President May Make a Recess

And this excerpt from a Congressional Research Service document is worth reading again:

How Long Must the Senate Be in Recess Before a President May Make a Recess Appointment?
The Constitution does not specify the length of time that the Senate must be in recess before the President may make a recess appointment. Over the last century, as shorter recesses have become more commonplace, Attorneys General and Offices of Legal Counsel have offered differing views on this issue. Most recently, in 1993, a Department of Justice brief implied that the President may make a recess appointment during a recess of more than three days.

Appointments made during short recesses (less than 30 days), however, have sometimes aroused controversy, and they may involve a political cost for the President. Controversy has been particularly acute in instances where Senators perceive that the President is using the recess appointment process to circumvent the confirmation process for a nominee who is opposed in the Senate. Although President Theodore Roosevelt once made recess appointments during an intersession recess of less than one day, the shortest length of a recess during which appointments have been made during the past 20 years was 10 days.


More shortly on the talking points those opposing Bolton and cloture on his nomination are distributing. . .
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/

[jaysunb]

49. Where the Hell is Fitzgerld !!??

It can't possible take two years to get to the bottom of this....if he's really trying :evilgrin:

[David Zephyr]

50. Fitzgerald has been "missing" longer than the white teenager in Aruba.

What a crock.

[seemslikeadream]

51. Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case

Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case
<<SNIP>>

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000964594
Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case
Judith Miller

By Joe Strupp

Published: June 20, 2005 11:20 AM ET

NEW YORK Journalists Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller may find out as soon as this week whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear their appeal of a contempt ruling for refusing to disclose who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to them--a decision that could send them to jail before the end of the month.

The high court is set to consider the reporters' requests for certiorari on Thursday, along with hundreds of other appeal cases, according to Attorney Floyd Abrams, who is representing Miller. He said the justices will discuss the case at their Thursday conference, which essentially ends the court's current session, and likely make their decision known next Monday.

"The usual practice would be that they decide at the conference, unless they decide to put it off and decide in the fall," Abrams said today. "These decisions are usually announced on the following Monday." But, given the interest in this case, a decision could be announced any time after it is made, Abrams said.

....

In the event that the court decides during the current session not to take the case, Cooper and Miller would not be hauled off to jail that same day. Abram said at least one more hearing would likely be held before Judge Hogan, who offered the initial contempt ruling, prior to any jailing. He said that could be done within days of the high court's decision.
<</SNIP>>

[jaysunb]

52. Yes, but these two slimes are

not or at least were not the target . Their role seems to be decoys.

I have several alerts out for anything about Fitzgerald, and his name has not been mentioned in the msm for over 5 months....go figure.

[robertpaulsen]

53. It's all part of the fascist PNAC oilgarchy (not a misspelling)

Read my signature for the truth of how deep the tentacles extend. A whole bunch of us on DU spent last summer researching this, and I think thoroughly explored beyond the tip of the iceberg on this criminal cabal.

[WillyT]

54. Kick !!!

:kick: