Chicago Tribune Series
The Chicago Tribune’s John Crewdson has written a devastating indictment of the CIA’s ability to keep their operatives secret. He also ridicules the CIA in the Valerie Plame fiasco with an article titled “Plame’s identity, if truly a secret, was thinly veiled”.
Here’s a glimpse of his Plame article:
When the Chicago Tribune searched for Plame on an Internet service that sells public information about private individuals to its subscribers, it got a report of more than 7,600 words. Included was the fact that in the early 1990s her address was “AMERICAN EMBASSY ATHENS ST, APO NEW YORK NY 09255.”
A former senior American diplomat in Athens, who remembers Plame as “pleasant, very well-read, bright,” said he had been aware that Plame, who was posing as a junior consular officer, really worked for the CIA. According to CIA veterans, U.S. intelligence officers working in American embassies under “diplomatic cover” are almost invariably known to friendly and opposition intelligence services alike. “If you were in an embassy,” said a former CIA officer who posed as a U.S. diplomat in several countries, “you could count 100 percent on the Soviets knowing.”
This article begs the questions: When Andrea Mitchell said that Plame’s identity was “common knowledge”, was she lying? Or is she lying when she changed her tune after the Libby indictment that it wasn’t “common knowledge”? Why should we think that Plame’s identity was secret to most of official Washington?
After this series, it’s pretty difficult to believe that Mitchell didn’t know Plame. It’s even more absurd to think that Patrick Fitzgerald didn’t know that she wasn’t a covert operative.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing
March 12th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Outing CIA Agents OK — If You Are A Republican
The latest claim that Vakerie Plame was not really a covert agent comes from Plame’s identity, if truly a secret, was thinly veiled. The evidence? She said she was employed by “Brewster-Jennings & Associates.” And just how does this indicate…