I got sick of explaining this case to friends and family in bits and pieces.
Copy and paste if you like:
A simplified Q and A about the Scooter Libby/CIA leak investigation.
1. So what is this thing all about? Why is it all over the news?
Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was caught lying to the special prosecutor about his role in outing a covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame.
2. Why is that such a big deal?
Valerie Plame was a NOC agent working on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and material. Outing her exposed not only her, but her company, Brewster-Jennings, to the world.
3. What is Brewster-Jennings? You just said she worked for the CIA.
Brewster-Jennings was a CIA front company. The CIA spent about 20 years and millions of dollars establishing this front company in Boston. Brewster-Jennings was involved in what is called counter-proliferation, which is very important to the security of the world. Once their cover was blown, they could no longer operate.
4. Does the CIA have a lot of front companies?
Yes. Airplane companies are probably the most popular, but by no means are they the only type.
5. Why did Libby lie about an investigation involving someone in counter-proliferation? It seems like they would want to find out who outed Valerie Plame and Brewster-Jennings.
Yes it would seem that way. The problem is that Dick Cheney, Libby's boss, was the guy that orchestrated the outing.
6. Wait. Dick Cheney orchestrated the outing of a CIA front company involved in counter-proliferation?
Yes.
7. Why?
Because he is an evil fucker.
8. No seriously, why?
Besides his being a evil fucker, he was pissed off at Valerie Plame's husband, Joe Wilson.
9. Why was he mad at Joe Wilson?
Because Joe Wilson was sent by the CIA to investigate the lie that Bush told us in his 2002 State of the Union speech about Saddam Hussein seeking to purchase large quantities of yellowcake uranium from Niger. Joe Wilson came back and told the CIA that it was a bullshit story and that the "evidence" used to justify Bush's claims was an obvious forgery. Joe Wilson, upset that Bush lied in the State of the Union speech even after being told it was a lie, published his thoughts in a op-ed in the New York Times. Cheney had to shut Joe Wilson up.
10. So Cheney, in an effort to get back at Joe Wilson, outed not only Wilson's wife, a NOC agent working to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons technology and material to rogue states, but also outed an entire counter-proliferation network that took 20 years for the CIA to establish?
Yes.
11. That seems a bit much for petty political revenge. Is there more to it?
Of course! The area of expertise for Brewster-Jennings was the spread of nuclear weapons technology and material from former Soviet Union Republics like those in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
12. Wait, the Middle East?
Yes. That includes countries like, um, well, Iraq and Iran.
13. So Dick Cheney blew Brewster-Jennings entire working intelligence on the very area we are trying to keep from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Yes. While we were bitching about Iraq and Iran getting nukes, Dick Cheney was busy making it that much easier for them to get nukes should they want them (side note: no vetted intelligence has EVER been produced that Iraq had or Iran has a nuclear weapons program...just lies and obfuscation).
14. That seems like a pretty drastic measure to take just for petty political revenge. Is there anything else to it?
Take a look at this story from the BBC in late 2002 (during the run up to the Iraq War):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2286597.stmThis story involves highly enriched uranium stolen from Eastern Europe with the intent of being smuggled through Turkey into Iraq. Hmmm...lets look at the context here...
a country that shares a border with Iraq, two guys arrested for smuggling highly enriched uranium, a company involved with counter-proliferation whose specialty was the Middle East, Bush et al claiming Iraq had WMD stockpiles and had reconstituted their nuclear weapons program when there was absolutely no credible evidence to the contrary, within nine months of the seizure in Turkey a counter-proliferation front company is exposed...hmmm...
To me, it makes much more sense that both Joe Wilson AND Valerie Plame were involved in trying to expose the WMD myth perpetrated by the Bush Administration in the run up to war. Valerie (and probably some of her associates at Brewster-Jennings) had the inside knowledge on Cheney's plan to plant highly enriched uranium in Iraq to retroactively justify the war in Iraq. That explains why they would keep trotting out their line that Saddam had weapons when they KNEW he never did. Once Americans saw pictures of highly enriched uranium canisters found in Iraq, the war would be justified.
15. Nice theory, but why wouldn't they just plant something after that bust?
Once the cover was blown, there was no way to plant anything in Iraq after that. Turkey was under a spotlight as a known smuggling route. Other countries would closely monitor Turkey and the risk of exposure was very high.
Also, keep in mind that this is one story of a bust that made it through to a major news source. There are probably other instances out there that were not reported. My theory is that Brewster-Jennings probably stopped several attempts to plant uranium in Iraq.
15. Final question: So why isn't Dick Cheney under arrest for treason right now? Why was Scooter Libby the only guy convicted in this sordid affair?
Because Scooter Libby lied to the federal investigators and has to this date refused to give up the information he has on Cheney. So long as Libby keeps his mouth shut, the special prosecutor has no case against Cheney.
BTW expect Bush to pardon Libby before he leaves office in 2009.
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