Did The White House Leak The Name Of A CIA Operative ForBy Chuck BaldwinThe Covenant News ~ October 2, 2003
Syndicated columnist and CNN Co-Host, Robert Novak, is reporting that someone in the Bush administration has compromised the identity of an undercover CIA operative, and the motive appears to be political retaliation.
According to CNN, the person identified as the CIA agent is the wife of former Ambassador to Iraq, Joseph Wilson. Wilson has criticized the Bush administration for deceiving the American public by claiming Iraq had imported supplies of uranium for the purpose of using them for future military use when, in fact, no such supplies ever existed. That now someone in the White House has apparently identified Wilson's wife as a covert CIA operative smacks of blatant political revenge.
If this report turns out to be true, the Bush administration should be regarded as just as vindictive and merciless as the Clinton administration was.
We all remember the cold, calculated manner in which Clinton's people hounded and harassed those who were critical of Clinton. We remember the IRS audits of Clinton's political opponents as well as the numerous strong-arm tactics and open threats by bullies within the Clinton administration.
It now appears that President G.W. Bush's White House can be just as mean as that of Clinton's. To leak the identity of an undercover American agent not only compromises the security of the United States, it also potentially jeopardizes the lives of the named American and all those who have assisted him or her.
Wilson is accusing the White House of acting like "schoolyard bullies" in outing his wife. Just who within the White House leaked this information is yet unrevealed, but Bush's top consultant and campaign manager, Karl Rove, is suspected. Of course, the White House denies any wrongdoing.
As of this writing, President Bush has declined to appoint an independent investigation of the matter but has asked the Justice Department to look into it. This is tantamount to Clinton asking Janet Reno to investigate improprieties within his White House. As Yogi Berra said, "It's deja vu all over again."
Unfortunately, as this story develops, watch for Republicans to defend the Bush administration as rabidly as Democrats did the Clinton administration. It appears that neither liberals nor conservatives are remotely interested in truth or justice, but are only concerned with the political success of their respective parties.