I just saw a blurb that a ex-CIA analyst will testify on 60 minutes this week as to the level the administration picked and choosed thru the available intelligence on Iraq.

Needless to say, the tended to lean to any report that said be afraid of Iraq, no matter how many other analysts shot down that report as invalid.

>You are starting to sound Clinton-esque with a "meaning of IS" defense/apology. Again, from the indictment: her employment status was classified. And Libby knew something was wrong in discussing the info: Libby responded that there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing that information publicly, and that he could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line.
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>And McClellen told us way back in a press conference that the document was declassified "just today", that day happened to be 10 days after Libby talked to Miller. The "declassification" of the info consisted of having Libby tell Miller, and not sharing it with the press corp, nor with any media outlets. I'm not aware of any dissenting opinions in the document having been "shared" with the press. I recall that the info "shared" w/ Judy was already debunked. Powell had made a public statement about the same time as the leaking was going on, so Judy didnt get to run her piece.
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>This (from Eric Alterman) really sums up what you're defending:
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>"Is a President, on the eve of his reelection campaign, legally entitled to ward off political embarrassment and conceal past failures in the exercise of his office by unilaterally and informally declassifying selected — as well as false and misleading — portions of a classified National Intelligence Estimate that he has previously refused to declassify, in order to cause such information to be secretly disclosed under false pretenses in the name of a "former Hill staffer" to a single reporter, intending that reporter to publish such false and misleading information in a prominent national newspaper?"
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>>>>Plame was not a covert CIA agent. It has been investigated and no charges were brought for that crime. The only inditement is for lying and Libby has already resigned to fight that charge.
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>>I apologize for the inaccuracy of the above. I should have written "Plame was not a known covert CIA agent
>>
>>The memo at the center of the investigation does not make it clear that Plame's status was classified. http://www.nysun.com/article/31062
>>Fitzgerald is not persuing the release of classified information because there was no crime.
>>
>>>
>>>Fitz in his press conference said he did not persue the outting of the agent because Libby's perjury prevented him from doing so. Not because there wasnt an outting.
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>>Fitzgerald did not persue the outting of the agent because there was no crime. The outer must have knowledge that the information is classified and release it to someone not authorized to know. Since Plame's status was not known there is no crime.
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>>Just yesterday Robert Novak said that Fitzgerald has "known for years who the first source is. If he knows the source, why didn't he indict him? Because no crime was committed."
>>http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-novak20.html
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>>Libby may have lied to the grand jury and if so he should be convicted, but quit trying to make more out of this then is there. There is plenty to be critical of the current administration about without trying to attack his cabinet as treasonous.
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>>>
>>>From the indictment:
>>>
>>>At all relevant times from January 1,2002 through July 2003, Valeria Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003 Valerie Wilson's affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.
>>
>>>
>>>From the indictment:
>>>
>>>Shortly after publication of the article in The New Republic, Libby spoke by telephone with his then Principal Deputy and discussed the article. That official asked Libby whether information about Wilson's trip could be shared with the press to rebut the allegations that the Vice President had sent Wilson. Libby responded that there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing that information publicly, and that he could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line.
>>>
>>>From Fitzgerald's October 28 press conference:
>>>
>>>Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community. Valerie Wilson's friends, neighbors, college classmates had no idea she had another life. The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well-known, for her protection or for the benefit of all us. It's important that a CIA officer's identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation's security. Valerie Wilson's cover was blown in July 2003. The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published a column on July 14th, 2003.