Bush's Betrayal of a CIA Agent is a Blatant Act of Treason

Commentary ~ October 23, 2003:

Someone on George Bush's team blew the cover of CIA operative Valerie Plame as an act of revenge against her anti-war husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.

Wilson was sent to Niger in February 2002 to investigate allegations that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium in the West African country. He concluded that there was absolutely no truth to the story, and relayed his findings to the CIA. However, much to his surprise, a year later George Bush claimed the CIA had proof that Iraq had in fact tried to purchase uranium from Niger, and he used these allegations prominently to justify his invasion. Wilson went public with his doubts in July and a week later at least two Bush administration officials leaked Plame's identity to six Washington reporters. Five refused to broadcast the CIA operative's identify, knowing that to do so could get her killed -- and would be an act of treason. Only one - conservative columnist Robert Novak - took the information and included it in one of his columns.

Now, in a sign that Americans may be waking up to Bush's excesses, nearly seven in 10 Americans believe a special prosecutor should be named to investigate allegations that he or his officials illegally leaked the name of the undercover CIA agent, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll.

Links:

• Crisis in the White House: Bush under fire
  From The Guardian
• Pressure over leak mounting
  From The Washington Post
• Pressure builds for special probe into name leak
  From The Washington Post
• Robert Novak and the Valerie Plame Affair
  From Counterpunch
• The Elephant in Wilson's Living Room
  by Murray S. Waas, The Village Voice
• F.B.I. Agents Begin Interviews of Bush Officials on C.I.A. Leak
  By RICHARD W. STEVENSON, The New York Times

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