Hitchens baseless claims re: Novak's recent statements

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607210001

Thu, Jul 20, 2006 8:27pm EST


Hitchens baselessly claimed Novak's recent statements "dissolved any remaining doubt about the mad theory that the Bush administration 'outed' Ms. Valerie Plame"

Summary: Christopher Hitchens concluded that Robert Novak's July 12 "tell-all" column and his July 16 appearance on Meet the Press "dissolved any remaining doubt" that the Bush administration "outed" Valerie Plame, but presented irrelevant facts and assertions in support of that conclusion.

In a July 17 column titled "The End of the Affair" appearing in Slate, Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens concluded that syndicated columnist and Fox News political analyst Robert D. Novak's July 12 column, coupled with Novak's appearance on the July 16 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, "dissolved any remaining doubt about the mad theory that the Bush administration 'outed' Ms. Valerie Plame as revenge for her husband's refusal to confirm the report by British intelligence that Iraqi officials had visited Niger in search of uranium." Following that claim, Hitchens "summarize" what "we now know," which he apparently offered in support of his claim:

"Novak was never approached by any administration officials but approached them instead."

"He was never told the name Plame but discovered it from Who's Who in America, which contained it in Joseph Wilson's entry."

"Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had all along known which sources had responded to Novak's questions."

But none of these points support Hitchens's conclusion that there is no "remaining doubt" about whether the Bush administration outed Plame as revenge for her husband's actions.

..more..

articles always appear whenever he gets behind in his bills.

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:rofl: