Required Reading: The CIA's Black Ops Against The American Government

Momentum is building.

Jed Babbin notes that not only was Joe Wilson "unspeakably unqualified" for the Niger mission, not only did he tell everyone he interviewed he was a representative of the United States Government (which seems intended to make sure no one told him anything the US Government wouldn't like to hear), not only wasn't he signed to a confidentiality agreement, which seems by design, so that he would take his non-findings about his non-secret-mission public in an election year, but that the CIA's criminal referral to the Justice Department is possibly a felony, if the CIA had reason to know no crime was committed. (Which no crime was, of course).

The American people need this matter investigated forthwith, and not -- God help us -- by yet another special counsel. The Senate Intelligence Committee should, immediately, investigate and cause the following questions to be answered publicly as soon as possible:

1) What precisely does the CIA criminal referral that started the Fitzgerald investigation say? It should be declassified and published;

2) Who approved the criminal referral and why?

3) Was Pavitt the person who approved the Wilson mission? Who else approved the mission and how it was to be performed?

4) Why did they choose Wilson instead of someone qualified?

5) Why wasn't Wilson required to sign a confidentiality agreement?

6) Were his various op-eds vetted at CIA?

7) Who else, beside Vallely and his wife, knew Plame was a CIA employee, when did they know it and from whom?

8) Who was Bob Novak's source? Was it Wilson? Pavitt? Someone else at CIA?

There are hundreds of other questions that should be answered publicly. Let's get ol' Joe in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, under oath and with the television cameras on. Let's see if he does as well as George Galloway did in front of Norm Coleman's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. I have no doubt he'll fail to rise to even that standard.

Just because a lot of people are saying similar things doesn't mean we're right. But it does increase the odds we'll get some traction on this with government officials who can, maybe, tell us if we're right.

posted by Ace at 02:18 PM

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