Houston Chronicle: Wilson "probably" wrong, "no one can judge" Rove

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/3277201

In recent weeks Americans have learned that Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, told Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper that the wife of administration critic and former Ambassador Joseph Wilson worked for the CIA. Rove confirmed that information for columnist Robert Novak, the first to make the agent's name and occupation public. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, also was one of Cooper's sources on the story. However, no one can judge on this information alone whether Rove or Libby broke the law. Where it had been alleged that Rove orchestrated the CIA agent's outing to get back at Ambassador Wilson, it now appears that reporters contacted Rove. This fact is not exonerating, but it supports the White House line that the administration was not out to punish Wilson and his wife. Rove's defenders maintain he was just trying to dispute Wilson's unproved assertion that Iraq had not tried to acquire uranium from Niger.

Indeed, the White House's claims of innocence would be stronger today had it not been for repeated and false denials of Rove's and Libby's involvement. The rumor mill had the two aides pegged right from the start. Rove's gambit that he didn't know Valerie Wilson's name is misleading and irrelevant. Her name and marital status were not secrets; it was her occupation that was classified, and that was what Rove pointed out to Cooper and confirmed for Novak.

In his article, Joseph Wilson said he had been sent to Niger by the CIA at Vice President Cheney's request. He hadn't. Cheney had tasked the CIA for more information on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. Valerie Wilson, a WMD expert, suggested that her husband, with experience in Iraq and Africa, might make some useful inquiries in Niger. The mystery is why the administration thought that Valerie Wilson's involvement undercut Joseph Wilson's credibility. An unpaid trip to Niger is not what most people would regard as a plum assignment, no matter who suggests it.

In the end, both Joseph Wilson and the administration were mistaken about Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions. Contrary to Wilson's assertion, Iraq probably did try to buy uranium from Africa. Contrary to the administration's suspicions, Saddam had no uranium, no active nuclear arms program, no means of turning uranium into a weapon and no weapon of mass destruction of any kind.

[acmejack]

1. Guess I know one of the recipients of my letters today.

The Chronicle should just drop the pretense and change their name to The Texas GOP Talking Point Daily.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. Yeah, how irresponsible is it for a journalist to say...

"Contrary to Wilson's assertion, Iraq probably did try to buy uranium from Africa."

"PROBABLY?"

:grr:

[bushisanidiot]

3. Is the "houston chronicle" the new "Talon news"?

and is jeff gannon on their payroll?

[blm]

20. Call them...POUND ON THEM with their culpability in pushing the cover up.

.

[blondeatlast]

4. Edit--self-deleted. nt

[cosmik debris]

5. So Wilson was wrong???

Then why did the White House withdraw the famous 16 words???

Wilson was right and the Houston Chronicle is a steaming pile of shit that I can smell 200 miles away in Waco!

[Vogon_Glory]

6. For The Houston Chronicle's Next Editorials...

For their next Houston Chronicle editorials, the editors can say that both Aldrich Ames and Bob Hansen were innocent of any wrongdoing and that Sam Bass and John Wesley Hardin were actually Buddhist monks who practiced non-violence all of their days.

[rateyes]

7. Let's see, isn't there an ex-president named BUSH living

in Houston? And, isn't Houston in Tom Delay's congressional district? And, isn't there a radical RW judge named Pressler in Houston? And, wasn't the Astro's ballpark before it became "Minute Maid Park" called "ENRON Field." And, isn't Kenny Boy Lay from Houston? And, isn't the Houston Chronicle from Houston? Nuff said.

[mandomom]

8. Who called whom? Who cares?

This is a ridiculous notion of exoneration for Rove.

Rove was/is the "it" guy, the "go to" dude. He never had/has to call any reporter to leak a story. They all call him with baited breath. All he has to do is wait for the message, return the call and then drop an "oh, by the way, I wouldn't put too much stock in this...". You get the drift, and so does America, both in the coastal heartlands and in the midwest heartlands. (Kind of like a trouble-making future mother-in-law: Oh, I'm so glad my son met you. By the way, did you know that he still loves his ex-girlfriend?")

Rove plants the seeds, the press fertilizes; he watches the budding progress nipping buds as needed and when it suits his political purposes, he either picks the flower and shows it off, or he tills it under the ground and pretends he knew nothing of it. It makes no difference how he gets to the garden plot.

[rateyes]

11. Zactly!!

[blm]

9. Houston DUers, please CALL the editorial page manager and SET HIM STRAIGHT

He has so many facts wrong, it's ridiculous. Rove did NOT learn about Plame from a reporter. He learned about her from a TOP SECRET REPORT on Air Force One that was shared with Bush's staff......THEY knew and told Rove.

No way did Rove learn it from a "reporter" he can't remember. How gullible can the Chronicle editor be?

More from LBN...Bloomberg:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/economy/usgovernment.html

Rove, Libby Accounts on Plame Differ With Reporters' (Update1)

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Two top White House aides have given accounts to a special prosecutor about how reporters first told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to people familiar with the case.

Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of Central Intelligence Agency operative Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, one person said. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn't tell Libby of Plame's identity, the person said.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated columnist Robert Novak, according to a person familiar with the matter. Novak, who was first to report Plame's name and connection to Wilson, has given a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor, the person said.

These discrepancies may be important because Fitzgerald is investigating whether Libby, Rove or other administration officials made false statements during the course of the investigation. The Plame case has its genesis in whether anyone violated a 1982 law making it illegal to knowingly reveal the name of a covert intelligence agent. <snip>

[rateyes]

10. Actually,

Rove (supposedly) wasn't on AF1 when the document was there. Doesn't matter though. He knew it was Top Secret info, and shared it anyway--that's the crime.

[mandomom]

12. Right. How about this theory?

Memo to Powell; Fleischer sees it and calls Rove; Rove talks to Novak (does not matter who called whom) and plants info; Rove denies "seeing" the memo or hearing of it because literally Fleisher knows better than to say to Rove "this is from a top secret memo dated ___ signed by ___ to ___ for the purpose of ____. Kind of like you can't be arrested for cocaine possession because you only call it crack.

[blondeatlast]

13. Target market journalism. If the lies are pretty, print it.

Even if this is an editorial, it stinks up the wazoo.

John Dean says that even if Rove was contacted by reporters (doubtful), that actually strengthens the conspiracy claims.

[rumpel]

14. This reporter needs to research some related laws before penning such

misguided crap

[Village Idiot]

15. What a PIECE OF SHIT.

Just an AWFUL PACK OF LIES. And I don't see a bi-line anywhere...who the FUCK WROTE IT???

Anyhow - I feel compelled to post the link to Joeseph Wilson's rebuttal, just so that DUers can see for themselves what an AWFUL PIECE OF LIEING SHIT this Houston Chronicle article is:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/13/93855/0369

First conclusion: "The plan to send the former ambassador to Niger was suggested by the former ambassador's wife, a CIA employee."

In fact, on July 13 of this year, David Ensor, the CNN correspondent, did call the CIA for a statement of its position and reported that a senior CIA official confirmed my account that Valerie did not propose me for the trip:
"'She did not propose me', he said--others at the CIA did so. A senior CIA official said that is his understanding too.'"

[blm]

19. That's why you need to call the editorial page managing editor.

It wouldn't be there if he didn't have the input or wrote it himself.

[Guckert]

16. My letter to Huston Chronicle.

My red highlights don't come up in here, but i am sure you are smart enough to figure out where they are....

-------------------------------------------------------------

In your July 22, 2005, Editorial UNANSWERED QUESTIONS, Americans know too few facts to indict Karl Rove. That's for the prosecutor and grand jury to decide, You claimed that “In his article, Joseph Wilson said he had been sent to Niger by the CIA at Vice President Cheney's request.” I do realize reading comprehension is not a strong point of the GOP or their paid shills, so I highlighted the pertinent areas. There are only three paragraphs that mention anything similar to the bile that you are vomiting for the GOP. You may see a theme here. First, he says, “I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report.” Later he goes on with, “ … and a specific answer from the agency to the office of the vice president.” Finally he states. “The vice president's office asked a serious question.” This certainly sounds consistent with what Joe Wilson has been saying all along, unlike Karl Rove and Scooter Libby’s stories that keep changing daily as new facts of their crime comes to light. If you are going to title an opinion piece that refers to facts, don’t you think the piece should have some basis in fact, and not GOP fabrications? Maybe you could do a piece on how great the lemon chicken with two fruits and rice pilaf is for Rove and Libby while they are enjoying the spectacular view in Guantanamo.

[kentuck]

17. This comment:

"Contrary to Wilson's assertion, Iraq probably did try to buy uranium from Africa. "

Probably? Probably! Contrary? Probably contrary?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

18. Yeah, that's the classic Bush justification

"He didn't have WMDs...but he WANTED 'em"

"He was an EVIL DOER...if he didn't have WMDs, we was workin' on GETTIN' 'em..."

"Mushroom cloud, mushroom cloud, mushroom cloud...PROBABLY."

:toast:

[Stil]

21. So rove is guilty?

"and that was what Rove pointed out to Cooper and confirmed for Novak." And even the person who wrote this said rove was the leak.

Then "Cheney had tasked the CIA for more information on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction." So it was like Wilson said it was on the request of the vp. And Valerie was just voluntering for the assignment. Only rovpublicans could twist that to condemn someone.

[ChiciB1]

22. Last Night On The Al Franken Show It Was Reported

that the State Department KNEW that the story was false even before Wilson went there!!!

I think it was a former CIA agent named Larry Johnston who made the comment. He also went on to say that the "outing" of Plame IS an act of treason, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Franken is fuming about the RNC web site that keeps telling outright LIES about how Wilson said it was Cheney who sent him. He called them and they said they stand by their story and WON'T change it. Even though he has read the actual comments by Wilson numerous times. Wilson NEVER said Cheney sent him, nor did he say that it was his wife that sent him.

ALL LIES!! And Mehlman is a Lying Liar!!!!