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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 13, 2005 Source leak is a potential crime worth uncovering By Hal Davis Ashland In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, Ambassador Joseph Wilson made numerous public statements refuting the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam Hussein had been attempting to obtain “yellow cake uranium” from Niger. In July 2003, in an “apparent” act of retaliation, or warning to other dissenters to the Bush administration’s “justifications” for invading Iraq, an article by columnist Rober Novak exposed Ambassador Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame’s, occupation as a CIA “operative.” Robert Novak’s July 14, 2003, column presented the back-story on Wilson’s mission and contained the following sentences: “Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson’s wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate” the allegation. The sources for Novak’s assertion about Wilson’s wife appear to be “two senior administration officials.” If so, a pair of top Bush officials told a reporter the name of a CIA operative who apparently has worked under what’s known as “nonofficial cover” and who had the dicey and difficult mission of tracking parties trying to buy or sell weapons of mass destruction or WMD material. This intentional leak is not only a possible breach of national security; it is a potential violation of law. Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, it is a crime, a serious felony, for anyone who has access to classified information to disclose intentionally information identifying a covert agent. The punishment for such an offense is a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison. So where’s the investigation? Remember Filegate — and the Republican charge that the Clinton White House was using privileged information against its political foes? In this instance, it appears possible — perhaps likely — that Bush administration officials gathered material on Wilson and his family and then revealed classified information to lash out at him, and in doing so compromised the same national security that they claimed to be defending by invading Iraq! Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Justice Department launched its allegedly “official probe” on Sept. 26, 2003, but neglected to direct the White House to preserve critical evidence until the evening of Sept. 29. Then, when the White House counsel (Alberto Gonzales, now the current Attorney General!), asked if he could wait until the next day to inform the staff of the need to preserve documents, the Justice Department allowed it. It has now been more than 18 months, and for all intent and purposes, this investigation has evaporated. The Bush administration condemned Saddam Hussein for among other things, his “contempt for the rule of law.” President Bush recently clearly antagonized Russian President Putin by publicly “lecturing” him on the importance of “the rule of law” in Russian society. What about the rule of law in American society? Why is the Bush administration not aggressively pursuing truth and justice in this very apparent felonious breach of our national security? And possibly the most important question: Why isn’t the press, the “Fourth Estate,” aggressively pursuing and reporting on the truth in this matter? I know there are “a few” editors and reporters who are honorable and committed, but I’m not sure how long they can survive, or even how much courage they now have to execute their responsibility to the public! To resurrect a now infamous expression, but this time as it relates to the American public: “Are you with us, or against us?” We will take your thorough coverage, or non-coverage, of the Valerie Plame investigation as an answer to that question. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams