Letting The White House Walk? -- Robert Parry

[Whoa_Nelly]

This article brings up more questions than answers in the aftereffect of the Libby indictment.

I found this article to be more than a little thought-provoking and disturbing. Hopefully, Parry is only jumping the gun, and Fitzgerald will be even more thorough in further grand jury investigation regarding the outing of Valerie Plame.

The article is very well worth taking the time to read.


http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/102905.html

Letting the White House Walk?
By Robert Parry
October 30, 2005


As an outsider to Washington, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appears to have misunderstood the finer points of how national security classifications work when a secret is as discrete – and sensitive – as the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

In his five-count indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis Libby, prosecutor Fitzgerald leaves the false impression that it was all right for White House officials with security clearances to be discussing the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, a counter-proliferation official under deep cover.

Under the rules of classification, however, to see such secrets an official must not only have a top-secret clearance but also special code-word clearance that grants access to a specific compartment governed by strict need-to-know requirements.

In both the Libby indictment and a hour-long press conference on Oct. 28, Fitzgerald showed no indication he understood how extraordinary it was for White House officials to be bandying about the name of a covert CIA officer based on the flimsy rationale that she was married to an ex-diplomat who had been sent on a fact-finding trip to Niger.

Much more to read that really begs many questions:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/102905.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Same kind of stuff turned up during the early days of Watergate.

Nothing will happen, this won't go anywhere, Nixon can't be touched, blah, blah, blah. My feeling -- certainly considering Watergate, to which there are many, many similarities -- is that the fat lady is just warming up, and her aria will be long and loud. Wait.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Parry brings up very good points for discussion

I think Parry is pointing out that there has to be more done by Fitzgerald, and that simply indicting Libby on perjury and obstruction is to a great degree ignoring the abuse of outing Plame in the drumbeat to war in Iraq. He also states that Fitzgerald claims he has completed the bulk of the investigation, and the prosecutor would "...not venture into a fuller narrative about the Bush administration’s justifications for war." (from article)

The outing of Plame was retribution for Wilson exposing the 16-word lie n the 2003 SoTU address by Bush. The disclosure of classified information re: an NOC, no matter what, is a dangerous action to take, and a federal offense. Cheney a la Bushco/PNAC/WHIG took our nation over the precipice of keeping it safe.

I am not totally ga-ga over Fitzgerald's investigation. While I do have respect for him in that he maintained confidentiality re: GJ deliberations throughout this investigation, I don't hold high hopes beyond nailing Rove for an indictment similar to Libby's, that this will be the ultimate tumble of the house of cards for the evil people currently at the helm of our country.

[banana republican]

2. Patience Grasshopper.

Me thinks that fitz knows more than he is letting on.....

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. All this article does is make me question Robert Parry's understanding...

...of what's going on behind the scenes.

Don't get me wrong, I rarely disagree with anything that he writes, but IMHO this is just plain wrong.