Lies, Distortions, and the Press

When you read a headline that says "Libby Says Bush OK'd Leaks, Filing Alleges" you might immediately assume the article is talking about the whole Valerie Plame fiasco. If you thought so, as I did, you would be wrong.

That's the picture that emerges from court papers filed by the prosecutor in the CIA leak case against Libby, who is depicted as doing the bidding of President Bush and Cheney in striking back at administration critic Joseph Wilson.

Striking back at Joe Wilson? How can that be related like it's a fact? We'll get to more of that in bit...

On Thursday, disclosure of official authorization for Libby's leaks to reporters brought strong criticism from administration political foes, but little likelihood that their demands for explanations will be met.

Demand for explanations? I'll explain the whole thing in a bit...

In July 2003, Wilson's accusation that the Bush administration had twisted prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat "was viewed in the office of vice president as a direct attack on the credibility of the vice president, and the president," Fitzgerald's court papers stated.

Part of the counterattack was a July 8, 2003, meeting with New York Times reporter Judith Miller at which Libby discussed the contents of a then-classified CIA report that seemed to undercut what Wilson was saying in public.

Do you see what's going on here? The part of this story completely omitted is the part about Joe Wilson "striking back" at himself. He went to Niger to see if Iraq was trying to get uranium yellowcake. He found out that they were, and reported such to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Then he went to the New York Times and wrote an article that contradicted his own report to the committee and claimed that Bush had twisted intelligence and made the whole Niger-connection thing up!

So Bush and Cheney, after it was revealed that Wilson had written his bogus editorial, decided to leak portions of the National Intelligence Estimate in an effort that the American people know the truth about the Iraq-Niger connection. Is that wrong?

After Wilson began attacking the administration, Cheney had a conversation with Libby, expressing concerns on whether a CIA- sponsored trip to the African nation of Niger by Wilson "was legitimate or whether it was in effect a junket set up by Mr. Wilson's wife," Fitzgerald wrote. The suggestion that Plame sent her husband on the Africa trip has gotten widespread circulation among White House loyalists.

This statement is a complete non-sequitur. How else would a no-name like Joe "Hey, my wife works for the CIA" Wilson get a job investigating Iraqi actions in Niger for the CIA? Any other plausible ideas? The man has no, absolutely no intelligence, investigative, or espionage training.

Wilson said he had concluded on his trip that it was highly doubtful Niger had sold uranium yellowcake to Iraq.

This statement is highly dubious. By "Wilson said" they must mean his NY Times editorial and not his report to the Senate Intelligence Committee - an important distinction to make.

In any case, Bush and Cheney declassified portions of the NIE to catch Wilson in his own lie (the President can't leak classified information - when he gives classified info it has summarily been declassified). There was no wrongdoing, no shadiness, just a washed-up former diplomat on a CIA trip because of his wife that turns out to be an anti-Bush crackpot dedicated to tossing out lies and half-truths in order to make the administration look bad. If you take 5 seconds to look it up even the AP can't cover the truth of the story.