Replies: 51 Comments

Comment #1: Jo said on 11/1/05 @ 7:42pm ET...

YAHOO! Will we finally see some progress on this investigation?

Comment #2: Beverly said on 11/1/05 @ 7:43pm ET...

Rep. Conyers, I am thrilled also, very thrilled. After viewing Minority Leader Reid's websites, I am unable to find an appropriate e-mail address to send him a note of encouragement. Can you or one of your staff people help in this regard?

As this issue relates to Plame, I would like to take this opportunity to suggest that we undertake some kind of initiative to ask for the resignations of Karl Rove, who should have been fired for his involvement in leaking Plame's identity to Matt Cooper, as outlined in the indictment of Libby. Mr. Bush should address this issue immediately. To have an individual in such an important position who has committed such an offense is beyond reason that he is still on W.H. payroll. Further, we shouldn't have to request that Mr. Bush address this, he should do it as a matter of recourse.

Comment #3: Ohiodem1 said on 11/1/05 @ 7:47pm ET...

We owe it to the 2028 American Servicemen and women who have died in Iraq and 15,000 who have other wounds, including at least 400 amputees to know the truth about why they were sent to Iraq, and if the need for them to be there was fraudulent, and the fraud was perpetrated by the Administration on the Congress, the American people and the world, these responsible need to be held to account by Congress, our Courts and the American people.

The action of the Minority Leader was made necessary by the inaction of the Majority Leader and Chairman Roberts.

Comment #4: Beverly said on 11/1/05 @ 7:48pm ET...

Also, Bush and Cheney should not have accepted resignation for Libby. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED. In any other White House, that would have been the procedure.

Please, everyone, send your support to Harry Reid and the Democratic Senate.
Contact by phone if you like:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid
202 224-3542

Comment #5: hpcharlie said on 11/1/05 @ 8:09pm ET...

Dear Congresman Conyers,

I am "very proud" of you and Senator Reid for having the courage to call these GOP Unethical Traitors for being Co-Conspirators in DSM and Plamegate.

Do the Democrats in the House have a similar rule that may be invoked to require full Impeachment Inquiry/Proceedings?

I'm sick of the GOP Hypocrisy and their Unethical Practices and Standards!

Thanks for all you do!

Sincerely,

Charlie C.
Dallas TX

Comment #6: Patriot said on 11/1/05 @ 9:02pm ET...

Way t' go, Mr. Reid! You deserve a standing ovation for that action today.

Comment #7: UL said on 11/1/05 @ 9:07pm ET...

Good evening Congressman Conyers,

Today was an important, perhaps even 'watershed' moment for the restoration of truth in America.

Along those lines, I'd like for you to read the following and consider how you and your colleagues can be certain that the questions are asked:

Envision the headline -- Iraq WMD Lie: Cheney & Plame Clashed at CIA HQ

When you think of all the trips Cheney is supposed to have made to CIA HQ.

When you think of how badly he, Bush and the neoconsters wanted to launch their imperialistic war on Iraq.

Think about the second, or third, or fourth trip -- he's being rebuffed; his efforts to "fix the intelligence" are being blocked.

The folk at CIA HQ are going to need to be digging deep to show Dickie boy that the facts are the facts; that they know folk have stolen stationary from the Niger Embassy in Rome; they know .... .

Cheney's freaking -- demanding as Vice President of the United States to be shown ALL the facts. Who's gathering, who's analyzing, what part of our WMD covert infrastructure is tracking all the players .... If he was applying the type of pressure people have alluded as VP of the USA, he's going to be sitting in secure room with the folk at CIA who are the undisputed experts; bona fides on the table. Who's going to be one of those experts?

The question Mr Fitzgerald wants Mr Libby to answer is -- "Did Vice President Cheney tell you that Valerie Plame/Wilson was a NOC?"

He might also have asked -- "Did Vice President Cheney tell you he had direct interactions with Valerie Plame/Wilson?" and "Were you present at any of the meeting(s) Vice President Cheney had (at CIA HQ or elsewhere) that included Valerie Plame/Wilson?"

So, here's a simple, testable hypothesis:

Several bloggers and folk have speculated as to why a "meticulous and intelligent" lawyer, i.e., Libby, would commit multiple felonies as part of a cover-up.

Perhaps it's simple - Libby knew Cheney had direct contact with Valerie Wilson at the CIA. Not tangential interaction, but direct. Perhaps Mrs Wilson was among those challenging the VP regarding any citation of the forged Niger documents.

A key aspect of this hypothesis is that TO THIS DAY, Mrs. Wilson would likely be prohibited by the "need to know" caveat, from discussing any such interactions with Cheney -- with anyone -- including her husband.

Ambassador Wilson would have no "need to know" regarding the activities of Mrs. Wilson's CIA division, particularly, any actions she may have had with the VP and his representatives (which would have included Libby and Hannah and others).

Amb. Wilson has been explicit that after Mrs. Wilson introduced him at CIA HQ she left the room and had no further dealings with his trip to Niger.

Thus, Mrs. Wilson would not have been able to prevent Amb. Wilson from publishing his Op-Ed by using the one piece of information that might have given him pause -- that she was a principal in the efforts of the CIA (all of which were classified) to keep the President from using the Niger reference in his October 7, 2002, speech in Cincinnati, and all subsequent efforts to prevent that information from being used to justify a war on Iraq.

Just an hypothesis -- but a testable one.

All Mr. Fitzgerald has to do, if he hasn't already, is ask Mrs. Wilson the question(s). And, he has both the security clearances and "need to know."

I'm proposing that the test of my hypothesis is quite simple -- Mr Fitzgerald asks both Vice President Cheney and Mrs Wilson if they had met with each other and discussed Iraqi WMD prior to July, 2003. He may have asked that question. I happen to think it is central and should be asked if it already hasn't been.

I'd sure like to hear some reporters asking all these questions -- to Mr Fitzgerald, to the Vice President, to Mr Libby and to Mrs Wilson, just to get them out there. No expectation they would be answered, but to get them into the record and into the heads of all our fellow citizens.

It is not the least bit far fetched that Vice President Cheney and Mrs Wilson crossed each other's path on the Iraqi WMD issue. Did they?

We all need to know.

Peace, and thank you for your continued leadership.
UL

Comment #8: Jay Lechnyr said on 11/1/05 @ 9:42pm ET...

Do you really think this was progress? The democrats in the Senate can demand all they want. But without enough seats to make a majority, all the demands in the world will not "force" the issue. There are only two ways you will get a proper investigation. Either enough republicans are removed via ballot box or via feet first. (the latter is not recommended)
I highly recommend someone close to, or inside, the Senate and the House of Representatives keep a running file on every case of obstructed justice. Every democrat should be quietly adding documentation to these files. That way, when the republicans are no longer a majority, the Dems will have everything they need to pick up the investigations immediately.

Keep raising a public stink, even when you know you will get nowhere. That is one of the ways to get into power. The real progress will happen when the Dems come back to power. That's when you can start nailing these f#$%ing B@#$@&ds to the wall. When that happens, I hope nobody plans to stop with mere individuals. Corporations are in on this too. Something I would like to see is a no wartime profiteering law and the return of the billions of profiteering off of this one.

With over 2000 dead and many billions wasted, we're gonna need really big wall.

http://www.iraqwall.org/gallery.html

Comment #9: cali said on 11/1/05 @ 9:48pm ET...

Congressman Conyers,
Looks like your honesty and courage is catching. The most important part of today, which I hope will be repeated over and over again is what Sen. Rockefeller said. I have told many people about this and they are simply shocked and in disbelief that this was a long time plan of many in this administration. Too many people are NOT aware of this letter or of pnac. Thank you for starting this rebirth of the Democratic party.
Senator Rockefeller said
ROCKEFELLER: It was clear to all of us in this room who were watching that, and to many others, that they had made up their mind that they were going to go to war. And I believe to this day, and I always have and I’ve said so publicly many times in regretting my vote, that there was a
predetermination, even going back to 1998 in a letter to Bill Clinton, saying, "The time for diplomacy has ended and now is the time for the use of military force."

Comment #10: noguns said on 11/1/05 @ 10:12pm ET...

the exciting part for me, is that ... this is really all the Democrats have to do ... is start talking to the American People ... the Citizens ...

like over and over and over ... Rockefeller and Reid need to stay on point with "We the People" .... you know,the way the repubs keep repeating their lies ... over and over ..., the Democrates need to repeat these "TRUTH'S over and over and over ....

and there is so much to say ...
because, we all know ... that if we don't get the voting machines banned from every community in the entire country ... there will be no win in 2006 ...
do we have to "prove" that to ourselves ...
NOT...

so all that is needed is Honest Leadership ...
Kennedy and ...
Kucinich are calling for the same thing ..
Rep. Conyers ... why can't you all begin talking with a united voice ...
over and over and over ...

it would build the momentum we need and lift the conversation to the next level and "We the People" alongside our elected officials would / could then make a decision of what our next step should be ...
i know that this is actually
what is beginning to happen ... just me trying to open "the blossoming flower of our process, without ripping any of the petals"

noguns sheehan, santa cruz, ca.

Comment #11: ljm said on 11/1/05 @ 10:36pm ET...

It was very exciting to see that Sen. Reid decided to make the point that we have government by the people and for the people. Sen. Frist seems to have a problem with that, but it was a good day for America. Maybe we'll finally find out who forged those Niger documents and I hope the people from England named in the DSMs will come testify before the Senate. All we want is the truth or at least enough of the truth to see what happened beyond a reasonable doubt, which given all we have already, shouldn't be too much more. Keep banging away at them Mr. Conyers.

Comment #12: Bill_o_Carolina said on 11/1/05 @ 10:50pm ET...

Those voting machines have brought this corrupt Administration upon us all. These machines must be banned!

Comment #13: tahoebasha1 said on 11/1/05 @ 11:27pm ET...

#4 - Ohiodem1

I share and have shared your thoughts, concerns and fears for so long -- I view it all in the same light as you do! How much more can we "cry" for our young soldiers, the innoncent Iraqis, our continued depravation to our own people, destruction to the environment, to the safety of wildlife and all animals at stake, to our education of our young, our concerns for the elderly, and to the havoc we reap, generally, on the international community, and on and on and on?

When, pray tell, will Americans WAKE UP and realize that this country, its constitution and all that we stand for is on the verge of being "scapped?"

Comment #14: tahoebasha1 said on 11/1/05 @ 11:29pm ET...

Re: #13 above.

"scrapped" -- not "scapped" -- sorry!

Comment #15: hpcharlie said on 11/1/05 @ 11:40pm ET...

Further Proof of GOP Abuse and Treason:

Dear Congressman Conyers, I had no idea that this very practice is taking place right here in Dallas TX with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's local office!
THIS IS TRULY UNAMERICAN AND UNPATRIOTIC!

Can a "Legal Suit" be brought against her?

Charlie C.
Dallas TX

Here's Friday's lunchtime demonstration I was sharing
with you. Kay Bailey Hutchison has refused to meet
with a group of her constituents who want her to
support a schedule for us to pull out of Iraq. The
group is primarily composed of veterans and families
of active duty people, but others who have different
objections to the war are also welcome.

I don't know if KBH ordered it done, but people have
been arrested for trying to peacefully deliver letters
to her office. See below for more details.

I plan to go this Friday at noon. Her office address
is 10440 N. Central Expressway, close to Central and
Meadow
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=10440+N.+Central+Expressway&csz=75231&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
, but I believe people will be gathering in the
Circuit City parking, due to the arrests and
ticketing. The phone # for KBH is 2-361-3500, should
you need it.

Following is a thread, in case you want more history
on the Dallas version of Crawford's standoff. Talk to
you later.

> Could we ask her new office boss to meet outside in
front of the media? I really want to air the issue of
getting trespass warnings while trying to go see our
senator in front of the press.
>
> It is wrong that we should have to make appointments
just to see our senator but it does sound like Marion
may be successful in arranging a meeting for herself.
Could we attempt to get a pre- arranged group meeting
with the senator. We could do a whats our beef
directly to the senator. Even if we had to prepare a
list of beefs and have one or two spokes persons. If
we can just all have a physical presence with the
senator. If she refuses this option, then we really
have some good dirt on her.
>
> I have been thinking about the future of Camp Casey
Dallas. We have three Fridays left...
>
> First, we are demanding a town hall meeting, a forum
where citizens can bring all their different beefs to
the senator; so I propose that we call next week's
camp What's Your Beef?, expand our issues beyond
Cindy's questions and the issue of access and call for
people to bring whatever beefs they have. I was
thinking of a prize for the most creative sign. If we
can all agree that it is not illegal to approach your
senator, and thus within the DPC code of ethics, we
can award them the right to be the first to step onto
the property and be given criminal trespass warnings!
>
> The next week, what do you all think of reaching out
to the youth, with the theme Hell No, We Won't Go!
(Well, nowhere in this letter did I promise an
original idea!). We can outreach to Trish Dodd's,
Farid's and other student groups, and to Peaceful
Vocations. I have a pledge of non-violence which
includes a promise never to bear weapons against
humans which they could sign and either take or mail
to the senator.
>
> How about A Die-In the final week? We could call on
guerilla theater groups to help us, and sprawl across
our tents, splattered with fake blood, and present
quite a spectacle for passing motorists and press.
>
> Being of a generous mind, I will assume that you
were all arrested yesterday, and haven't been released
yet, and that's why noone wrote what happened
yesterday! Will the first of you to be released please
let me know what happened yesterday and today?
>
> It's been confusing! The first week, two of us who
try to walk to our senator's office are given
warnings, then the same two are granted a meeting with
the senator's district manager. During this meeting,
she says there is no problem with individuals and
small groups coming up, then four days later, Mary
Sheffenhagen is arrested for trying to walk into the
building to see the senator. At the time, there was no
demonstration going on. The next day, Sherry
Bollenbacher, a member of another group who is
demonstrating outside the senator's office, asks to go
up, and is told that building management doesn't want
anybody in. A while later, the building manager says
the senator's office told them Sherry could be
escorted in. This was after the senator's district
manager told us that her office had no say over who
the building mgmt. chose to exclude. (No buck passing
here! No sir!) About fifteen or twenty minutes after
Sherry is escorted up, around 8 protesters are given
>
> So what's going to happen next? Dare we guess? I
know that Camp Casey Dallas will be pitching its tents
outside the senator's building at high noon tomorrow.
I know that we are asking people to bring letters we
will try to deliver to her office, and I know that we
are going to demand that the senator make herself
accountable by holding a town hall meeting. Aside from
that who knows!
>
> The issues have expanded beyond Cindy's three
questions, which we still want answered, to the issue
of a US senator who erects a wall of police between
herself and her constituent. So bring your signs and
bring your tents. Bring your letters and bring lots of
friends! I don't know what will happen, but I know it
won't be boring!
>
> We will be in the Circuit City parking lot at Meadow
and Central Expressway on Friday at high noon.
>
> Yesterday, I went to Kay Bailey Hutchison's office,
to hand deliver a letter reminding her of the
questions that Cindy Sheehan had asked and to tell
them that we would be back Friday to find out when
they wish to meet with Cindy, or one of her
representatives One of her staff met me at the door.
She was very courteous, until I told her that I was
there representing the Camp Casey Dallas Coalition,
and delivered the letter. Then, I could see her
courtesy become glacial. She hates us. She hates what
we think, and she hates the fact that we won't just go
away. She hates the fact that we are publicizing the
fact that the government is trying to avoid the
families of those killed in Iraq and other wars of US
aggression. She hates the fact that these families
have the assumption to even try to question those who
make policy.
>
> Tomorrow, we will be back. We are asking those of
you near Dallas to please try to find a way to join
us. We want her, and the senator to know that not only
are we here, we're here in big numbers. Please join us
at Circuit City, just north of Meadow on Central
Expressway at high noon tomorrow!
>
> Just like Bush, Senator Hutchison thought she could
ignore us, and we would go away. But, she can't run
and she can't hide! Senator, WE WON'T GO AWAY!
>
> Friends and Heroes of Mine,
>
> A few weeks ago, Cindy Sheehan and her mothers sent
a letter to every US senator and every US
representative asking four questions. They were
"President Bush has said that brave Americans like my
son Casey have died for a 'noble cause'. What is that
'noble cause'? How many more lives are we as a country
willing to sacrifice in Iraq? How many are you
personally willing to sacrifice? What are you
specifically doing to bring our sons and daughters
home from this needless war?". At the websites
www.meetwithcindy.org and www.meetwiththemothers.org,
we are given a list of the senators and
representatives who have agreed to meet and those who
have not. Having established a Camp Casey on the
doorstep of the president, Cindy and her mothers have
asked that Camp Caseys be established at the
doorsteps of senators and representatives who have not
set dates for a
>
> Among those who have failed to set a meeting date is
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. Despite the
fact that Cindy and the other mothers are grieving
mothers whose children have been killed in the service
ofthe American military, Senator Hutchison will not
deign to meet with them. She has not even given these
grieving mothers the courtesy of a refusal. She is
trying the same strategy the president tried; ignore
them and they'll go away, but this strategy didn't
work for him. We didn't go away; In our tens of
thousands from every state in the nation, we came to
Crawford. In our hundreds of thousands, we came to
Washington.
>
> And, it won't work for Senator Hutchison. At high
noon, this Friday, October 7, in celebration of Joe
Hill's birthday, we will establish Camp Casey Dallas
on the doorstep of Senator Hutchison's Dallas office,
10440 N. Central Expressway.
>
> We suggest that you park at the park to the east of
Central Expressway on Meadow Rd., and walk to Central
Expressway, then north up the access road on the east
side of the expressway, to the Circuit City parking
lot, where we will meet. You should see our tents!



__
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com

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Comment #16: nomad said on 11/2/05 @ 12:49am ET...

Hit'em hard, Harry!

#8, Jay Lechnyr,

Yes, this could be progress. The Democrats have been sitting aside and gotten nowhere. This is some definite action - and we need to keep it up. There may be a numerical majority of Repugs, but this is an ideal opening to make an aggressive move. The GOP is becoming more unpopular, and there are signs of division in the party ("divide and conquer"). I just saw CSpan coverage of Jay Inslee (my congressman - yay, Jay!) comment that there ARE a few Republicans that are getting worried and are becoming more supportive to the Dem viewpoint. The President has been hit with one problem after another and is reportedly on edge and snapping at everyone. Who knows how close he is to imploding? Who knows how stable he ever was in the first place? And the whole progressive side of the country has been frustrated at the spinelessness of many of the Democrats. Maybe, there IS hope. People are so sick of seeing all the money going to the rich and the oil companies, while losing our rights and a decent living. And we've never had a President that so ignores us! Anyone who takes up the cause of "We the People" has a mob behind them. NOW THEY NEED TO KEEP IT UP - ON EVERYTHING!
The GOP may have more numbers and people in power, but if there's a stampede of the rest of us . . . ?

Comment #17: jmatthan said on 11/2/05 @ 1:17am ET...

Congressman John Conyers Jr has been doing for years what the Democratic Senators were too weak-kneeded to do. I now hope they make up for lost time in the interest of the world. It is obvious that they are looking at the their own falling ratings and now feel "compelled" to do something. I hope some of them will have some spine to stand beside one of the greatest Congressman of all time - your goodself, Congressman Conyers Jr.

Comment #18: Gerry Hiles said on 11/2/05 @ 1:51am ET...

Good on yer John.

Us Aussies tend to call everyone by their first names, so I hope you don't mind that I call you John and basically don't stand by any formality ... like calling Dubya "Mr President", or especially "Sir".

So go for it John and burst the little bubble ... the sick comedian who tries to imitate some entirely fictional "world dictator".

Hitler was not fictional, but Charlie Chaplin poked fun at him for imagining that he could rule the world.

Maybe the best way to bring all pompous pricks down is by poking fun at them ... stirring them up to make ever-more ludicrous claims; such as that "progress" is being made in Iraq.

Well once Hitler's bubble burst in the face of the pricks of reality, he killed himself ... instead of continuing to foment the killing of millions of other people.

Get at the weak points of Dubya and the cabal ... then they will hoist theyselves on their own petard.

Fitzgerald appears to be doing exactly that, i.e. Libby is the weak link.

Comment #19: number6 said on 11/2/05 @ 2:11am ET...

Here's an interesting theory on how Cheney could be impeached...

The Starr Standard

Anyone with a legal background want to comment?

Comment #20: Rusty said on 11/2/05 @ 3:15am ET...

Fristy, Fristy, tried to stonewall,
Fristy, Fristy, had a bad fall,
All the king's wingnuts on their way to the Pen,
Couldn't put Fristy back together again.

Comment #21: chabuka said on 11/2/05 @ 7:28am ET...

I am so proud of Harry Reid and the Dems who stood with him..it was glorious, absolutely fabulous..addicted now, i just want more, more, more !!

Comment #22: Nolip said on 11/2/05 @ 8:23am ET...

The problem with Frist and the rest of the Republican cabal is that they've dragged this country through the gutter for so long they can't find the sewer cover leading out of this mess...Reid et al will show Frist the way!

“"The resort to this, this, this stunt - this political stunt - this scare tactic, is really deeply disappointing," he told reporters . But "if they want to get in the gutter, I guess that's what they'll do.""

Democrats Force Senate Into Closed Session Over Iraq Data

Comment #23: okcitykid said on 11/2/05 @ 9:09am ET...

The Dems are always earning a bad rep for standing down when they should be standing up. I understand that they are a minority, but they're all we got. We the people depend on them to be stronger.

What happened yesterday was a good step forward, I hope it will be a continueing trend.

Comment #24: wayne said on 11/2/05 @ 10:09am ET...

JC, If you get the chance check this out...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0511/S00016.htm

http://www.gilead.com/wt/sec/pr_933190157/

http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Filings.asp?As=S&Name=donaldhrumsfeld&Page=All

The problem I have is that why does the guy running the pentagon who I believe I could be wrong runs the CDC (I thought it was part of the army). Why won't this company allow others to manufacture it's treatment for the hyped 'bird flu'? The site that it has a difficult manufacturing process. Do I look like I was born yesterday?

Comment #25: Jo said on 11/2/05 @ 10:35am ET...

MSNBC question of the day concerns this event.
MSNBC.com

Comment #26: LeslieB said on 11/2/05 @ 10:37am ET...

It was thrilling that Senator Reid did that yesterday! I plan to call or email Senators Reid, Durbin and Rockefeller to voice my support of their actions. We needed answers yesterday. And it was great to see the Democrats fighting, when we often don't hear about it in the news. REALLY GREAT!

Comment #27: Patriot said on 11/2/05 @ 11:07am ET...

"At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest." Scooter Libby's book

I can't even comment on it... mere words are not sufficient.

Comment #28: Gerry Hiles said on 11/2/05 @ 1:43pm ET...

re#27

OMG

Like most blokes, I'm a bit of a perv, but Libby is f** sick and, from snippets I have seen here and there, so is the whole neocon crowd.

All that aside, it is great to see things happening and to be participating in a blog that's part of making things happen.

Yoos mob is a great lot of people and have confirmed my belief that there is good in America, despite Dubya's and others best efforts to portray you all as ugly, vicious, corrupt, sadistic, greedy, unprincipled and so on.

Comment #29: number6 said on 11/2/05 @ 2:18pm ET...

Much like not finding WMDs became a joke for Bush, outing a CIA officer is also...

At a roundtable with Latin American journalists, Bush proved that no matter how bad things get, it's important to keep your sense of humor:

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/george-w-bush/index.php#president-bush-does-the-macarena-134712

Q Mr. President, in Argentina, you will have a bilateral meeting with President Kirchner.
THE PRESIDENT: Si.
Q What I want to know -- sources of the government told me that they would ask you about more cooperation on support for Argentina, you know, in the IMF fund --
THE PRESIDENT: IMF.
Q Exactly.
THE PRESIDENT: Please don't tell me that the government leaks secrets about conversations to the --
Q Well, I have my sources in the government.
THE PRESIDENT: You do? Okay, well I'm not going to ask you who they are, of course. (Laughter.)
Q No, please.
THE PRESIDENT: Inside joke here, for my team.

Comment #30: Vyan said on 11/2/05 @ 2:20pm ET...

This article from the American Conservative properly connects the dots and shows that the Libby coverup goes right back to the Forged Niger Documents - indicating that they were funnelled through the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans and then on to Dick Cheney without going through the CIA. (As I recall from the Senate Intelligence Report, it was an analyst in the State Deptments INR who first noted that the documents may have been forged and then had to fax his copies to the CIA for confimation)

Forging the Case for War
Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?

by Philip Giraldi

From the beginning, there has been little doubt in the intelligence community that the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame was part of a bigger story. That she was exposed in an attempt to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, is clear, but the drive to demonize Wilson cannot reasonably be attributed only to revenge. Rather, her identification likely grew out of an attempt to cover up the forging of documents alleging that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger.

What took place and why will not be known with any certainty until the details of the Fitzgerald investigation are revealed. (As we go to press, Fitzgerald has made no public statement.) But recent revelations in the Italian press, most notably in the pages of La Repubblica, along with information already on the public record, suggest a plausible scenario for the evolution of Plamegate.

Information developed by Italian investigators indicates that the documents were produced in Italy with the connivance of the Italian intelligence service. It also reveals that the introduction of the documents into the American intelligence stream was facilitated by Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans (OSP), a parallel intelligence center set up in the Pentagon to develop alternative sources of information in support of war against Iraq.

The first suggestion that Iraq was seeking yellowcake uranium to construct a nuclear weapon came on Oct. 15, 2001, shortly after 9/11, when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his newly appointed chief of the Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (SISMI), Nicolo Pollari, made an official visit to Washington. Berlusconi was eager to make a good impression and signaled his willingness to support the American effort to implicate Saddam Hussein in 9/11. Pollari, in his position for less than three weeks, was likewise keen to establish himself with his American counterparts and was under pressure from Berlusconi to present the U.S. with information that would be vital to the rapidly accelerating War on Terror. Well aware of the Bush administration’s obsession with Iraq, Pollari used his meeting with top CIA officials to provide a SISMI dossier indicating that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Niger. The same intelligence was passed simultaneously to Britain’s MI-6.

But the Italian information was inconclusive and old, some of it dating from the 1980s. The British, the CIA, and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research analyzed the intelligence and declared that it was “lacking in detail” and “very limited” in scope.

Enter Michael Ledeen, the Office of Special Plans’ man in Rome. Ledeen was paid $30,000 by the Italian Ministry of the Interior in 1978 for a report on terrorism and was well known to senior SISMI officials. Italian sources indicate that Pollari was eager to engage with the Pentagon hardliners, knowing they were at odds with the CIA and the State Department officials who had slighted him. He turned to Ledeen, who quickly established himself as the liaison between SISMI and Feith’s OSP, where he was a consultant. Ledeen, who had personal access to the National Security Council’s Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley and was also a confidant of Vice President Cheney, was well placed to circumvent the obstruction coming from the CIA and State.

The timing, August 2002, was also propitious as the administration was intensifying its efforts to make the case for war. In the same month, the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) was set up to market the war by providing information to friends in the media. It has subsequently been alleged that false information generated by Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress was given to Judith Miller and other journalists through WHIG.

On Sept. 9, 2002, Ledeen set up a secret meeting between Pollari and Deputy National Security Adviser Hadley. Two weeks before the meeting, a group of documents had been offered to journalist Elisabetta Burba of the Italian magazine Panorama for $10,000, but the demand for money was soon dropped and the papers were handed over. The man offering the documents was Rocco Martino, a former SISMI officer who delivered the first WMD dossier to London in October 2002. That Martino quickly dropped his request for money suggests that the approach was a set-up primarily intended to surface the documents.

Panorama, perhaps not coincidentally, is owned by Prime Minister Berlusconi. On Oct. 9, the documents were taken from the magazine to the U.S. Embassy, where they were apparently expected. Instead of going to the CIA Station, which would have been the normal procedure, they were sent straight to Washington where they bypassed the agency’s analysts and went directly to the NSC and the Vice President’s Office.

On Jan. 28, 2003, over the objections of the CIA and State, the famous 16 words about Niger’s uranium were used in President Bush’s State of the Union address justifying an attack on Iraq: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” Both the British and American governments had actually obtained the report from the Italians, who had asked that they not be identified as the source. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency also looked at the documents shortly after Bush spoke and pronounced them crude forgeries.

President Bush soon stopped referring to the Niger uranium, but Vice President Cheney continued to insist that Iraq was seeking nuclear weapons.


The question remains: who forged the documents? The available evidence suggests that two candidates had access and motive: SISMI and the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans.
In January 2001, there was a break-in at the Niger Embassy in Rome. Documents were stolen but no valuables. The break-in was subsequently connected to, among others, Rocco Martino, who later provided the dossier to Panorama. Italian investigators now believe that Martino, with SISMI acquiescence, originally created a Niger dossier in an attempt to sell it to the French, who were managing the uranium concession in Niger and were concerned about unauthorized mining. Martino has since admitted to the Financial Times that both the Italian and American governments were behind the eventual forgery of the full Niger dossier as part of a disinformation operation. The authentic documents that were stolen were bunched with the Niger uranium forgeries, using authentic letterhead and Niger Embassy stamps. By mixing the papers, the stolen documents were intended to establish the authenticity of the forgeries.
More...

http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_11_07/feature.html

Comment #31: Jo said on 11/2/05 @ 2:43pm ET...

#27 Even I'm shocked.
Why are so many Republicans writing sicko-erotic literature?
Anyway, Here is something I found on the information clearinghouse site. It kind of goes with todays sicko theme:

"As he marched the nation to war, Bush presented himself as a Christian man of peace who saw war only as a last resort. But in a remarkable though little noted disclosure, Time magazine reported that in March 2002 – a full year before the invasion – Bush outlined his real thinking to three U.S. senators, “F*ck Saddam,” Bush said. “We’re taking him out.”

Time actually didn’t report the quote exactly that way. Apparently not to offend readers who admire Bush’s moral clarity, Time printed the quote as “F--- Saddam. We’re taking him out.”

Bush offered his pithy judgment after sticking his head in the door of a White House meeting between National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and three senators who had been discussing strategies for dealing with Iraq through the United Nations. The senators laughed uncomfortably at Bush’s remark, Time reported. [Time story posted March 23, 2003]

It now is clear that Bush never intended to avoid a war in Iraq, a conflict which has so far claimed the lives of at least 85 American soldiers and possibly thousands of Iraqis."

Hmmmmmm....

Comment #32: gcm said on 11/2/05 @ 2:48pm ET...

Yesterday's CNN poll: Do you think Sen. Reid's call for a secret session of the Senate was politically motivated or motivated by a concern for the national interest?
Politically motivated 16% 1534 votes
Motivated by concern 84% 8235 votes

I guess there is no hope for 16% of those they polled.

Comment #33: alizaryn said on 11/2/05 @ 8:20pm ET...

Looks like some of our leaders are beginning to learn how to stand up from you Representative Conyers!

Comment #34: Bill_o_Carolina said on 11/2/05 @ 10:44pm ET...

Thank you Mr. Reid and Mr. Conyers!
How many others now will stand up?

Comment #35: Gerry Hiles said on 11/3/05 @ 8:22am ET...

I found something at "Thomas Paine's Corner" which I think might help things along, though I do not understand sufficient about the US system to be sure.

Anyhow:

TIME TO EXTERMINATE THE RATS
House Resolution 505

From After Downing Street

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/whig

This piece of legislation is the clearest way for Congress to demand a serious investigation of the Plame leak and the war lies that preceded it.

This privileged Resolution of Inquiry, introduced by Dennis Kucinich, has a lifespan of 14 legislative days, ending on or about November 9 with a vote in the House International Relations Committee. It is crucial that we build support before that date through a long list of cosponsors.

H Res 505 would require the White House to turn over all white papers, minutes, notes, emails or other communications kept by the White House Iraq Group (WHIG). The WHIG, comprised of the President's and Vice President's top aides, was central to the White House's effort to sell Congress, the media, and the public a war on fraudulent grounds.

Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation is not looking into the broader picture of the war lies that Joe Wilson challenged. It is up to Congress to do so.

A majority of Americans, according to ABC News / Washington Post, believe Bush lied about the reasons for war. By 55% to 41%, according to ABC News / Washington Post, Americans believe the Libby case is not an isolated incident, but part of wider problems "with ethical wrongdoing" in the White House.

The International Relations Committee, on September 14, came within one vote of passing a Resolution of Inquiry into the Downing Street Memo (H. Res. 375). For H Res 505 to pass will require one or two more Yes votes.
posted by Jason Miller at 11:10 AM 0 comments

Comment #36: number6 said on 11/3/05 @ 12:12pm ET...

Off topic notice, but since there is not a Supreme Court Nominee thread...

Judge Alito ruled in favor of a company in which he owned stock.

Comment #37: gcm said on 11/3/05 @ 2:19pm ET...

#6 thanks for the find. What else would you expect from the White House? It's an automatic, conditioned response... Attack anyone who questions your integrity or in most cases involving the Whore House, lack thereof.

Comment #38: Vyan said on 11/3/05 @ 3:57pm ET...

Here's a thought,

While Congress is trying to examine the twisting of intelligence information - someone should go back and re-examine the Constitutionality of HJ 141 (The Iraq War Resolution) and answer the question - how could Congress delegate it's exclusive authority to declare War to the President under the "Presidential Determination" (Sec 3(b) clause of the Resolution?

Perhaps the ACLU or other anti-War Organizations should look into this in the same manner that their sued Donald Rumsfeld, they should sue the President for overstepping his authority under the War Power Cause of the Constitution(Article I, Section 8).

Vyan

Comment #39: aspiemom said on 11/3/05 @ 4:53pm ET...

http://www.cafepress.com/googlepnac

"Can you please help spread this meme?
"Project for a New American Century" is the think tank that created US government neocons. Get people Googling PNAC, and they will find out that this neocon agenda is hardly what they voted for, indeed is dangerous to American life and to the world. Write it, say it - and now WEAR this meme.
Prices are marked very low; most profits will go to Crawford Peace House, Texas."

Comment #40: gcm said on 11/3/05 @ 6:26pm ET...

Re #39: Isn't this what Sandra was talking about but she was banned for doing so? You see when you start looking at PNAC you have to start looking at what other alphabet soup organizations these idiots belong to and are aligned with, particularly that forbidden concept of Zionism, and that seems to be a problem with Admin and certain posters on this blog. Like I said before in another thread, Sandra was right and you know it.

Comment #41: Nolip said on 11/3/05 @ 7:21pm ET...

Libby case leaves Rove in legal limbo
By Caroline Daniel in Washington
Published: November 3 2005 21:51 Last updated: November 3 2005 23:04

Karl Rove, the president’s chief political strategist, may have felt relief last week when he avoided an indictment from Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, and instead had a walk-on role under the legal pseudonym “Official A” in the indictment of his colleague, Lewis “Scooter” Libby.


But Mr Fitzgerald’s record as attorney in Chicago – when he has cited “Official A” in other court filings – is ominous. Official As usually get indicted.

Mr Rove’s role in the CIA leak case emerged obliquely in last week’s indictment of Mr Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, who appeared in court on Thursday.

The filing says Mr Libby “spoke to a senior official in the White House (Official A) who advised Libby of a conversation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which [former ambassador Joseph] Wilson’s wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson’s trip [to investigate reports that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa].”

Although the use of unidentified officials is common in prosecutions, no other White House official in the probe was singled out through this anonymous term. Mr Fitzgerald has side-stepped questions about Mr Rove, but his investigation into the CIA leak is not over. “I’m not going to comment on anyone named, because we either charge someone or we don’t talk about them,” he said last week.

A former federal prosecutor said: “That suggests that A was within the scope of the investigation and that the grand jury found probable cause to believe the official did what the indictment says. Whether that official will be indicted, there is no way to tell. One reason not to identify them is that you do not wish to injure his reputation when there is little chance of indictment, or you want to disguise the progress of your investigation.”

Mr Fitzgerald’s record points to the latter. The best example concerns George Ryan, the former governor of Illinois. In May 2002 an indictment referred to a mysterious “Official A”, charged with authorising kickbacks in return for a share. Mr Ryan denied he was the official. “I don’t believe I am. I sure as hell don’t think I am.” Fast- forward three years and Mr Ryan has been not only unmasked as Official A but in September went on trial on 22 counts of corruption.

Another complaint, in October 2004, referred to “Water Department Official A”, who ran a hired truck kickback scheme, a scandal that rocked Chicago. The man was later identified as Donald Tomczak. In July he pleaded guilty to accepting $400,000 in cash.

Even without indictments, speculation about being “Official A” can damage a political reputation.

Until Mr Fitzgerald completes his inquiry, Mr Rove will remain in uneasy legal limbo. He has already faced calls to resign or apologise.

Last weekend Trent Lott was one of the first Republican senators to ask whether Mr Rove could remain in his post under the current ­circumstances.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/76211ef8-4cb0-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html

Comment #42: Nolip said on 11/3/05 @ 7:24pm ET...

Finally the country is starting to “get it”…

“For the first time in his presidency, a majority of Americans question the integrity of President Bush, and growing doubts about his leadership have left him with record negative ratings on the economy, Iraq and even the war on terrorism, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll"

Bush's Integrity Is Questioned, According to Post-ABC Poll

Comment #43: Gerry Hiles said on 11/3/05 @ 8:24pm ET...

re#40

"That forbidden concept of zionism."

Well peoples, just take a look at what the moderate Israeli newspaper is saying, i.e. "Haaretz".

So why be afraid to be critical of the neocons and the current Israeli junta?

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/641018.html

Why be afraid to attack a particularly pernicious form of zionism - which has totally white-anted American administrations for decades, when people within Israel are not afraid to be critical ... and who oppose the current terror-tactics being used against the whole of the people of Gaza ... especially children who wet the bed, suffer nightmares and have PTSD because of the Israeli airforce deliberately creating "sonic booms" - especially at night-time - with low-flying US supplied aircraft.

This is truly SICK ... but just LOVED, no doubt, by the ex-Governor of Texas who established a record for signing death warrents ... who, as a child, just loved blowing up frogs for fun.

I daresay that most of you know this already ... but it is worth running by you all again.

You have a "president" who has a severe personality disorder - as any competent psychologist/psychiatrist can easily explain, including that he (and his little clique) can easily tip over into psychosis (so don't be surprized if you find yourselves involved in war against Syria and Iran ... even Russia and China.

The information on Libby's novel is enough to reveal that those at the head of the most dangerous empire the world has ever known, are sadists (hence reserving the right to torture anyone who opposes and totally negating everything embodied in the Geneva Conventions, for instance.

Of course you Americans are not alone, because, here in Australia, we have little johnny coward ... and "Britain" has the bLiar ... and Israel has the war-criminal Sharon.

Comment #44: Gerry Hiles said on 11/3/05 @ 9:17pm ET...

PS

Yeah, a while back, I recommended going easy on the zionist/neocon issue - at least in the short-term - but it clearly ain't going to go away and so, WDF, let's get it all out in the open because, let's face it, ever since the Balfour Declaration and the London Empire's carve-up of the entire region - from the Euphrates to the Nile - the world has been at war ... as carried on by the successor to the London Empire, i.e. the Washington Empire (I actually hope that Vermont succeeds in withdrawing from the Empire, just as I hope that Scotland, Ireland and Wales will detach from the sickophantic rump of empire which the bLiar represents in London. Just as I hope that ALL of us sane people will come to fall back on people we actually know, rather than politicians who spout a "nationalism" which, in fact, sets neighbour against neighbour, country against country and which foments hatred generally.

Dunno quite how liberation might be achieved, but I fancy that a part of it may be via exposing crude zionism for what it is.

Admin may ban me, but, meanwhile, I am willing to put a balanced case.

Comment #45: noguns said on 11/3/05 @ 11:04pm ET...

there is an article by Tom Hayden on bellaciao ... that could be read ... i was thinking as i read over the last posts ... that we (myself included) want Rep. Conyers to do this and that ...
as in:

#38 Vyan ... but we could begin to organize and, you know; fund raise, hire a lawyer and try to bring forth some of these "suits" ...

real citizen work ... how we get from talking ... i.e. the blogs to actual action is something i don't know how to do ... or to get a "citizen's group" that is already up and running to take on more than it is already doing is next to impossible ...

which i have tried and failed at...not to say it can't be done ... just that i know it isn't me...

re: #40, 43, and 44 ... i think the imput is vital and needs to be addressed ...
#43 Gerry Hiles ... i think it would be cool to post the actual article that is in Haaratz ... perhaps admin could then easily read it, and have a discussion with rep. conyers about it, and come up with a frame work for discussion, and presentation of at least the facts the citizens of Israel are discussing ...
to be done in one specific thread that would be kept open for a certain amount of time to "clear the air" and it wouldn't have to come up over and over on all the threads ... just one thought on the "great wheel of all possible thoughts"...

once again ... hoping for lots of TRUTH to the Utter Most.
noguns sheehan, santa cruz, ca.

Comment #46: Gerry Hiles said on 11/4/05 @ 12:08am ET...

Re#45

OK noguns, here it is (dunno how to make a separate thread of it):



Last update - 12:08 03/11/2005


War by remote control

By Meron Benvenisti

As opposed to the expectations of many, the disengagement has not brought about real progress toward peace, but undoubtedly caused a revolutionary change in the way war is conducted. The violence of body touching body and eye meeting eye, the friction saturated with hatred at the checkpoints and in the alleyways, and the sight of spilled blood - the intimate violence of conflicted communities - is changing in front of our eyes, and has become a push-button war, shooting via TV screens, robots and computers, and long range artillery.

There's no more need to occupy territory and fill it with soldiers; it's possible to position a battery of cannons and mark out "killing zones" that are no less effective than the occupation in practice, and allow sticking to the fiction that "the occupation of Gaza is over." Land forces are envious of the air force, and also want to fight by pushing buttons. They also want to feel like the former air force commander and current chief of staff, who said, "I feel a slight knock in the plane as a result of releasing the bomb, and a second later it passes and that's all." True, innocent people are killed, but on the TV screen it doesn't look so terrible.

Therefore, the commanders of the ground forces devised a driverless armored vehicle, which patrols under remote control command and opens fire on the order of a youth sitting in front of a TV screen, who "identifies the enemy." Spanish TV recently broadcast a report on the arsenal of robots - on land and sea and in the air - that is turning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a kind of computer game, of course, on condition that you're on the Israeli side. And if you're Palestinian, you should be grateful that at least you won't have to see the occupier at the Rafah crossing.



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The occupier is also happy not to have to brush up against the Palestinian; it's enough that a television monitor shows who enters and exits, and includes the Palestinian's identification details. In the Prisons Authority they call it electronic handcuffs. There's no limit to the creativity of the Israeli high-tech industries financed by the Defense Ministry, which enjoys unlimited resources, and nobody dares to criticize the waste of enormous sums of money, because after all, it saves soldiers' lives.

Its devastating effects on the lives of the Palestinian enemy is not taken into account. On the contrary, the progressive technology is presented as being good for the occupied. Fact, Israel is insisting that the donor nations pay for the technology-rich "international passages" that will replace the checkpoints, saturated with human friction, and "ease conditions for the Palestinians." After the electronic-technological disengagement from Gaza, the efforts at "separation" are being directed to the West Bank. There's a process under way of paving new bypass roads, digging tunnels and building bridges. Now it is focused on defining the boundaries of the Palestinian cantons, which will enable deployment of the technological developments developed for the canton of Gaza, which serves as a testing ground.

Along with the technological efficiency and advantage of remote-controlled violence, the virtual war is meant to frighten and deter the Palestinians. But its success has not been so great, since the Palestinians deploy primitive weapons like old Kalashnikovs and suicide bombers against the advanced technology. Despite Israel's efforts to turn the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into one between defined territories, which allows the use of remote-controlled weaponry, the conflict remains in its original form - in other words, a war of communities living inside each other.

Under those conditions, the chances of success for a sterile, technological war, are limited, and ultimately, the real battlefield remains the primitive meeting of body against body. There, the advantages of technology and robotics cannot be decisive, nor can conventional artillery shelling. The clashes between the advanced technology and the primitive weaponry will end in a tie, and there will be no winners, only losers. Isn't it a shame that the intellectual effort after the disengagement is aimed at upgrading death?

Comment #47: Gerry Hiles said on 11/4/05 @ 1:00am ET...

Incidentally:

I have a comment published in Haaretz, under "War by remote control".

I declared my Palestinian sympathies and did not pull too many punches about my opposition to the Sharon regime, nor the Bush cabal.

Sheesh! If I can get space in Israel to vent, then what the fuck is wrong with those in America who are too scared to cross the likes of Wolfowitz, Perle and the zionist lobby generally?

Comment #48: Gerry Hiles said on 11/4/05 @ 1:10pm ET...

Oh yeah.

A main reason for changing my earlier "go softly for now" stance is of course that Libby has been indicted and the whole cabal is in damge control ... and ripe to be pursued on every count of their corruption ... far from least in the zionist context and total support for the Sharon regime (no I am not anti-Jewish, far from it).

Comment #49: Gerry Hiles said on 11/4/05 @ 1:40pm ET...

For consideration:

http://codoh.com/zionweb/zionfraud.html

Comment #50: Gerry Hiles said on 11/4/05 @ 3:19pm ET...

More background for anyone wishing to have it:

http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.

Comment #51: noguns said on 11/5/05 @ 1:00am ET...

forgot to mention that for many years probably 15 or more i have known about the Peace Movement in Israel ...

they are the part of the great movement, in the hearts and minds of the people of the world toward PEACE, that are closest to my heart ... it feels to me, to be one of the hardest places in the world, to be in the peace movement ...
the last action they did (and by they, i mean Palestinians and Isralie's sp?) that grabbed me, was the flag drapped coffins in (i think it is called) Rabin Square...
there were a lot more Palestinian coffins ... they use clear pictures and carefully chosen words in the exactly the way the Hopi have suggested "we" do.
i think they could be a valuable resource for this discussion ...
noguns sheehan, santa cruz, ca.