yellowcake-gate widens?

[Faceman]

slightly [img]graemlins/offtopic.gif[/img]
not to sidetrack the thread but does anybody know if the Tehelka tapes (or part of them) are downloadable somewhere online. I have tried to locate them but all I can get is the transcript.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Sir Taliesin: I think it's a travisty, but like everything else no ones head will roll and no one will go to jail. How many times has something like this happened in the past? To many to count. This is one just happened to be after 9/11. What I think is interesting is why this story is coming up now. I mean it was broken about two months ago and no one cared then. What's the big deal now? What I REALLY THINK IS INTERESTING is why now and not, in say 6 to 9 months from now, during the elections. Seems to me that would REALLY be the time to dredge it up!

Sir T.
Why should the interests of justice wait for political reasons? One of the very reasons I shun party affiliation and look down upon the two-party system is people are willing to shelve the truth in favor of party ideology.

I'm curious- When has a secret agent's name been announced publicy before by an agent of a political party?

You say things like this have happened before, I must asume you are speaking in general terms: That people do stupid and vindictive things for partisans reasons. Have I mistaken your meaning? Have CIA agents been outed in the media like this before?

[ 10-01-2003, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]

[Sir Taliesin]

I don't know about being "outted" by the media, but apparently someone in the Clinton Administration "outted some CIA Agents to the FBI and possibly contributed to the execution of some officers in the Iraqi Army.

In 1995 the CIA had a team in Kurdistan in Northern Iraq. They were approached by a group of Iraqi officers concerning a coup that was being planned against Saddam. They cabled Washington about the planned coup and waited for instructions. None were forth coming. The officers approached the team again and requested support from the US. Again cables were sent to Washington and again nothing happened. Finally they recieved a cable from Tony Lake, President Clinton's National Security Advisor, that the coup would in no way be supported by the US. Further, they were ordered back to the States. The Coup attempt was scrapped.

When they reported into Langely they were met by the FBI and arrested for conspiracy to overthrow a foriegn government. A capital offense, according to
Robert Baer, the Team Leader. They got off because they had all the cable numbers and cables and presented these to the FBI. Apparently, someone in the Clinton Administration pushed for their arrested.

Afterwards the plotters were all rounded up in a purge of the Iraqi Army, by Saddam. Over 800 were arrested, of which at least 30 were executed.

Robert Baer, the CIA Team Leader, has published a book about the whole thing.

But to really answer you question Chewwie, no one really gets in trouble over these political scandels. The other party just raises a big stink about it and then it all blows over. Look at the Iran-Contra deal. The only one I know of that got convicted was Poindexter and I don't think he spent anytime in jail. In Watergate, the lower flunkys got to reside in a federal pen of the rich and infamous. But only for a couple of years at most. Generally, these kinds of things just go away after the other party has their time in the lime-light. Hell, Clinton got off with purgery on National TV!

[ 10-01-2003, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: Sir Taliesin ]

[John D Harris]

[quote]Originally posted by Chewbacca:

Sir T. Why should the interests of justice wait for political reasons? One of the very reasons I shun party affiliation and look down upon the two-party system is people are willing to shelve the truth in favor of party ideology. I'm curious- When has a secret agent's name been announced publicy before by an agent of a political party? You say things like this have happened before, I must asume you are speaking in general terms: That people do stupid and vindictive things for partisans reasons. Have I mistaken your meaning? Have CIA agents been outed in the media like this before?

I don't know about CIA agents,b ut many times Classified info has been leaked, also a feleony(sp?) prehaps while we are having an independant investgator looking into this matter we could have him look into the matter of a couple of US Senators, or at least their offices that leaked classified info. Anybody up for that.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Sir Taliesin: **SNIP** But to really answer you question Chewwie, no one really gets in trouble over these political scandels. The other party just raises a big stink about it and then it all blows over. Look at the Iran-Contra deal. The only one I know of that got convicted was Poindexter and I don't think he spent anytime in jail. In Watergate, the lower flunkys got to reside in a federal pen of the rich and infamous. But only for a couple of years at most. Generally, these kinds of things just go away after the other party has their time in the lime-light. Hell, Clinton got off with purgery on National TV!

Ah, I see where you are coming from now, thanks! I agree that people tend to get off way to easy in these scandal situations.

That Iraq story is a real humdinger. I saw a documentry about it on the history channel.

[Sir Taliesin]

I understand this morning that the President has ordered everyone at the White House to sign a sworen affidavid (or however you spell it) and is going to order polygraph tests (which are not admissible in a court of law). Two things no other administration has ever done in the past. I believe the White House wants this over and done with as quick as possible. I also heard yesterday that the White House moved quickly to gather all meeting notes, emails and phone logs in order to provide the FBI all the resources it needs to conduct it's investigation.

One other thing. I also heard on FOXNEWS this morning that the DoJ does about 50 investigations a year at the request of the CIA over apparent leaks and the such.

[ 10-02-2003, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: Sir Taliesin ]

[Sir Taliesin]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: That Iraq story is a real humdinger. I saw a documentry about it on the history channel.

I remember first hearing about this on CNN and later saw an interview with Baer. Last night I found an interview the BBC did with him as well. You can GOOGLIZE Robert Baer and Iraq and read all about it. apparently the clinton Administration backed off the Coup attempt because they couldn't figure out what the end game would be.

[Chewbacca]

The chain of consequences unfolds:

Source

The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday. The company's identity, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, became public because it appeared in Federal Election Commission records on a form filled out in 1999 by Valerie Plame, the case officer at the center of the controversy, when she contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign. After the name of the company was broadcast yesterday, administration officials confirmed that it was a CIA front. They said the obscure and possibly defunct firm was listed as Plame's employer on her W-2 tax forms in 1999 when she was working undercover for the CIA. Plame's name was first published July 14 in a newspaper column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two senior administration officials. They were critical of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, for his handling of a CIA mission that undercut President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought uranium from the African nation of Niger for possible use in developing nuclear weapons. The Justice Department began a formal criminal investigation of the leak Sept. 26. The inadvertent disclosure of the name of a business affiliated with the CIA underscores the potential damage to the agency and its operatives caused by the leak of Plame's identity. Intelligence officials have said that once Plame's job as an undercover operative was revealed, other agency secrets could be unraveled and her sources might be compromised or endangered. A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities. "That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat said. FEC rules require donors to list their employment. Plame used her married name, Valerie E. Wilson, and listed her employment as an "analyst" with Brewster-Jennings & Associates. The document establishes that Plame has worked undercover within the past five years. The time frame is one of the standards used in making determinations about whether a disclosure is a criminal violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. *snip*