Conservative media silent on prior publication of leaks favorable to WH

Conservative media silent on prior publication of leaks favorable to White House

... In December 2005, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff released a report that, in part, examined the White House's use of selectively leaked classified information in making its case for invading Iraq. The report pointed to the aluminum tubes article as an example of how "classified intelligence information supporting the Bush Administration's position ... was leaked to the press." The report further noted that "administration officials appear to have leaked classified information to the press well before the New York Times article," citing a July 29, 2002, Washington Times article headlined "Iraq Seeks Steel for Nukes." This article similarly reported that Iraq had attempted to purchase components for uranium enrichment, citing "administration officials familiar with intelligence reports" ...

The disclosure to the press of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity represents another example of the Bush administration's leaking of classified information to serve its own purposes. In a July 6, 2003, op-ed, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV challenged one of the White House's central justifications for war with Iraq -- that Saddam had attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. In a subsequent effort to discredit Wilson, White House senior advisor Karl Rove and Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby informed several Washington reporters -- including The New York Times' Miller --that Plame, Wilson's wife, worked at the CIA. Robert D. Novak went on to publish this fact in his July 14, 2003, syndicated column. Soon after, the CIA requested that the Justice Department investigate the leak. As special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has acknowledged in his ongoing probe, Plame's employment at the CIA was classified at the time of its disclosure ...

In an article titled, "Case Closed," in the November 24, 2003, issue of The Weekly Standard, staff writer Stephen F. Hayes reported that the Standard had obtained a "a top secret U.S. government memorandum" proving that "Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003." Not only was the article quickly discredited by Newsweek magazine and others, but it spurred the CIA to request a Justice Department investigation into the leak of the classified memo. Nonetheless, Cheney later touted Hayes's piece as the "best source of information" regarding the purported Iraq-Al Qaeda link pushed by the administration in the run-up to the Iraq war ...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607010007

K and R

I decided to subscribe to the New York Times on Sunday just to show my support. Had to do something to combat the incredible attack by the neocons against a free press.