Why would his wife being CIA discredit Wilson at all?

[More Than A Feeling]

Ok, so Rove's story is that he was talking about Plame in order to counter Wilson's report on the Niger Uranium. Seriously, though, I have never understood how Karl Rove thought he was going to discredit the ambassador by letting everyone know that Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA agent. How exactly does this smear him in any way shape or form? If it was meant as a warning to others not to speak up, that wouldn't be very effective either. How many potential whistleblowers have wives who work for the CIA? Probably not many. In summary, too much risk for little and, as it turned out, no reward. I don't understand it at all.

[wryter2000]

1. It was supposed to make him look line a hanger-on

He only got the job because his wife had pull. He's a lightweight, not to be taken seriously.

On edit: the warning is that if you speak out, we'll come after you. Lots of people have bigger secrets than what their wives do for a living.

Some of the Swift Boat crap was even flimsier.

As to it backfiring...it's only backfired with people who care and are paying attention.

[soleft]

2. I think the strategy was to try and indicate Wilson was not qualified

for the job, he was only sent to Niger because his wife was able to pull some strings

[More Than A Feeling]

5. Oh, I see.

Still think its stupid, but I guess Rove wasn't completely out to lunch when he did it, as I had previously thought.

[noamnety]

Of course it's a warning

The message, loud and clear, is that they're willing to retaliate against whistleblowers and their families, without scruples, in whatever way suits them.

Don't have a wife in the CIA? Perhaps you have a dog we can poison. Perhaps you'll get beaten up in a dark parking lot. Whatever it takes.

[Jara sang]

3. the Republicans think that Wilson was unqualified

and that he only got the Niger gig because his wife was a CIA officer whose specialiaty was WMD. They think it was a big leftist plot to undermine Bush's reason to go to war in Iraq and to possibly throw a wrench into the Bush 2004 campaign, as Wilson was a supporter of Kerry.

[SoCalDem]

4. It wasn't to discredit him.. It was to warn anyone else who might

be thinking about talking. If they were willing to out an agent, and endanger lives for an article he wrote, what WOULD they be willing to do if someone went to congress and spilled the beans about some of the other stuff that had to be going on?

It was intimidation..

Once he complained about it, THEN they went into overdrive about the "disgruntled-former-employee" spiel...that's what they used about John Oneill (WTC), Richard Clarke,and many others..

[More Than A Feeling]

7. They sure do disgruntle a lot of employees, don't they?

;-)

[caledesi]

19. Yes, they ruined her career! duh...nt

[CoffeeCat]

6. It doesn't make any sense because it is another BIG LIE...

Another one of BushCo's lies. Gee, shall we mark this as 56,993?

Should we be outraged? Should we tell him he's full of it?

It's so hard to know what to do. These people are reptiles. They never tell the truth. They are reckless evilmongers.

You are so right, H&E---it doesn't make sense that outing Plame as CIA would discredit Wilson. It doesn't. Since when is having a successful, CIA operative as a spouse--a slam? It's not. Karl--the frickin liar---knows it's a fabrication.

He outed her as RETALIATION. He destroyed her cover. He destroyed her job. Her career. Rove hurt that entire family.

His motivation was to HARM.

I"m so sick of the lies, I can hardly bear it anymore.

[punpirate]

8. It was effective...

... Valerie Plame no longer works for the CIA now that her cover has been blown.

As for how effective it was in other ways, we'll never know. How many potential whistleblowers are out there who won't say anything for fear they'll be exposed--either by the White House or by the press?

Last, by implying that Wilson was picked for the trip to Niger by his wife, who worked for the CIA, Novak (and the White House) hoped that Novak's readers would infer that nepotism was involved (thus undermining his credentials to do the mission) and that the CIA was arranging for the husband of an insider to make the trip to protect its own ass.

Cheers.

[salin]

9. I thought that, then re-read... trying to discredit the claim that Cheney

commissioned the trip (and thus take away the "they KNEW, but used the info anyway part of the story.)

Bigger rovian paid off was the implied threat to others who might be tempted to 'leak' or blow whistles. Ala - if we did this to this guy Wilson - imagine what we can and will do to you.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. I think what they REALLY were doing

was getting Plame out of the WMD investigation. She was getting close to/or already knew some info they didn't want out. Slamming Wilson was just a bonus. A twofer. JMCPO.

[Old and In the Way]

14. A pre-emptive strike?

The plan to invade Iraq was certainly in motion by that time. Coud be not what she knew, but what she might find out. Think about all that money and the RDX that's gone missing....wonder if Ms. Plame might have been a problem for them?

Looking at it another way....they fabricated the Niger Yellowcake story. So if they were interested in corroborating it, why not send a toady, like Bolton, to confirm it? Why send someone who would be objective and honest to expose the fraud? Why would Cheney request someone to go check the story instead of telling Tenet to send _______?

Outing Plame as an act of political revenge is certainly believable ...but was that the real motive?

[NVMojo]

21. I believe their main target was HER!

She knows alot!

[DaveinMD]

11. it was a message

to anyone that speaks out against the administration that retribution would be swift and sweet.

[joemurphy]

12. I've had the same question. Some thoughts:

Lots of people, including journalists and bloggers have speculated about the rationale for the leaks and Plame's outing. Here are some possible motives for it:

1. The Nepotism Defamation - Perhaps Rove felt that Wilson's article was the result of a lackey husband being sent on a politically motivated mission by a well-connected but anti-Administration wife, without CIA approval. Under this scenario leaking Wilson and his wife's existence to the Press would serve to persuade the public that Wilson and his wife were actually anti-Bush administration intermeddlers off on their own private crusade, without CIA support, to undercut the Administration's noble reasons for going to war. By impugning their motives, the report looks biased and/or wrong.

2. Retribution - Rove simply wanted to get back at Wilson, to show him that no one impugns the Bush Administration and gets away with it. Under this theory, Wilson's wife's career is ruined and Wilson is thus punished because Wilson had the temerity to antagonize the Bush Administration.

3. A Slap at the CIA - Under this scenario, Rove et al. were aware that the CIA had many detractors that were genuinely irritated at White House/Pentagon manipulation of intelligence. Hence by outing Plame, the White House was sending a warning to CIA dissidents that further leaks wouldn't be tolerated and that the CIA should toe the administration line in the future.

4. All of the above

Any others?

[leftofthedial]

13. at the time, there was a struggle between part of the CIA

and the bushturds

over culpability for 9-11 and other issues. the bushturds were making the CIA scapegoats for their negligence/complicity in 9-11.

By outing Plame, they were implicitly saying that Wilson's revelation of bushturd lies was just the CIA trying to make the bushturds look bad, that is, politically motivated.

[sam sarrha]

15. It WASN'T To DISCREDIT Wilson, it was to PROTECT Chaney's TREASON....LINK>>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php??az=view_all&address=103x66773

Chaney had been profiteering on the WMD's and allowed a Nuclear Walmart to continue to spread Nuke technology to North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Libia and other middle eastern countries.. that is why we have that problem today and Chaney was profiteering on it

he had to stop the investigation.. the idea wilson was involved in any way is diss-information, do divert the attention from Chaney

[kentuck]

16. Were they trying to "discredit" him or trying to get revenge...?

for his betrayal, when they were attempting to get the world to support their lies for the war?

[etherealtruth]

17. I vote revenge eom

[H2O Man]

18. Attack the messanger.

The discussion was temporarily changed: republicans were hooting about Wilson DRINKING MINT TEA at one point, as if that made any difference. Except you can't trust MEN who drink tea, right?

Then it was his wife working there. The point was to get a democrat to say that Wilson was entirely qualified, not merely because he was an ambassador in Africa for years, but because as someone in that position, he had done other jobs for CI. Then they would have tried to make it a tit-for-tat, even-steven exposure. But no one on the Wilson side bit.

The other factor that should always be considered is that, as Joe Klein wrote in TIME, Plame was in the middle of an important investigation into the potential sale of WMD components. Once she was exposed, that investigation was derailed.

[Disturbed]

20. V. Plame's boss quit.

Soon after Tenet resigned. Hmmm....

I read that she still works with CIA in another capacity, of coures her covert operation was destroyed.