Welcome to DouglasDeBono.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author Douglas De Bono

Welcome to DouglasDeBono.Com, the Cyberspace Home of
author Douglas De Bono.

Covert War

Once upon a time, The Vice President asked the CIA to determine whether or not Saddam Hussein was purchasing yellow cake uranium from Niger. So the CIA came up with the brilliant plan to send Joe Wilson to check on the story.

The problem is that Joe Wilson is not a WMD expert. He probably couldn’t tell the difference between yellow cake uranium and corn bread. As most of us know, Joe Wilson is married to Valeria Plame a former covert agent. However, when Joe went in search of yellow cake, Valeria worked in the CIA’s counter-proliferation unit. She wrangled the Niger trip for Joe.

According to Joe Wilson’s July 6, 2005 New York Times opinion piece, he spent a week visiting Niger officials in the company of the American ambassador. Think about it:

“Are you smuggling uranium to Saddam?” asks Joe.

“Not I,” replies official after official.

Golly, gee what do you expect them to say? “Oh yeah, we’ve been transferring banned products to Iraq as fast as we can and the money is really good.”

As far as I can tell, Joe did not really go beyond official channels. I’m glad we sent the CIA to investigate. Give me a break. This appears to be little more than a ten day trip at tax payer expense to produce a worthless report.

Former prosecutor Joe DiGenova suggests that if Valeria Plame was a covert CIA agent, they certainly went about keeping her identity a secret. Consider the following:

1.The CIA did not provide a legend for Valeria Plame to use when encountering family and friends.
2.Valerie Plame arranged for her husband, Joe Wilson, to make the trip to Niger.
3.Valerie was working at a job at the CIA.

Maybe she could have hung a sign around her neck that said: SPY.

So what’s going on?

1.Did the CIA attempt to suborn the administration over a policy dispute?
2.Was the administration justified in discrediting Joe Wilson when he attacked them over WMDs in Iraq?
3.Did the CIA set up Rove and Libby with the intent of derailing the administration prior to the 2004 presidential election?

I don’t know the answers, but none of this passes the smell test. And if America’s premier intelligence agency is dabbling in domestic politics, it should be slapped down and reorganized. Based on the CIA’s sorry record to date, the idea that it is providing a president with timely and accurate intelligence is laughable.