Tag: cia

Woodward Apologizes, Cheney Speaks

This is just getting silly now. I say just quit now and forget anything ever happened. There will be no end, there will be no conclusion. There’ll always be someone who’s not talking. Bob Woodward says he knew of Valerie Plame a month before Libby supposedly leaked her identity. It’s kinda hard for Libby to be the source of the leak when others knew of it before he had a chance to “leak.”

Bob Woodward apologized to The Washington Post yesterday for failing to reveal for more than two years that a senior Bush administration official had told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame, even as an investigation of who disclosed her identity mushroomed into a national scandal.

Woodward, an assistant managing editor and best-selling author, said he told Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. that he held back the information because he was worried about being subpoenaed by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel leading the investigation.

“I apologized because I should have told him about this much sooner,” Woodward, who testified in the CIA leak investigation Monday, said in an interview. “I explained in detail that I was trying to protect my sources. That’s job number one in a case like this.”


No shit ya shoulda spoke up earlier. I can understand where he’s coming from though. I can’t say that I’d be too enthused about revealing new information in an investigation of that magnitude. I’d probably keep my mouth shut too, but this isn’t about me. Scott at ScrappleFace thinks special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may be close to discovering who told Valerie Plame that she was an undercover CIA agent. Could it be Woodward? Sure, I don’t see why not. heh.

Don Surber is happy to see Dick Cheney speak out against the various lies about the Bush administration produced by those mostly in the democratic party. It’s definately a good thing to see. If I were in control I’d be out there blasting these guys all the time, Bush and Cheney have been too quiet until recently. From Don Surber:

Sixty years ago, such a speech would not be necessary. People understood the need to put partisanship aside and to rally behind our troops. In Vietnam, I was told by many that they would support the military if our nation were ever attacked.
That too has now been proved to be a lie.

Reuters via Yahoo News on Cheney’s speech:

“The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone — but we’re not going to sit by and let them rewrite history,” said Cheney, a principal architect of the war and a focus of Democratic allegations the administration misrepresented intelligence on Iraq’s weapons program.

Cheney said the suggestion Bush or any member of the administration misled Americans before the war “is one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city.”

“Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against
Saddam Hussein,” he said in a speech to the conservative Frontiers of Freedom Institute.

Way to go Mr. Vice President. Get right at the heart of the matter and try not to offend anyone. The Washington Post has a little on the speech by Cheney now too.

Lots of blog coverage on Woodward:
Ace of Spades HQ
Michelle Malkin
Outside The Beltway
Wizbang
Big Brass Blog
Decision ’08
NewsBusters

And blogs on Cheney:
The Belgravia Dispatch
Just One Minute
Michelle Malkin
Pundit Guy

This post is linked at Cao’s Blog, Jo’s Cafe, Euphoric Reality, The Political Teen, TMH’s Bacon Bits and Stop the ACLU.

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Hotel Suicide Bombings in Jordan – UPDATED

Three hotels in Amman, Jordan were the target of suicide bombers today. 23 57 people are known to have died while 120 300 people were injured. The hotels were popular among Israeli and Western toursits.

AMMAN (Reuters) – At least 23 people were killed and scores wounded on Wednesday when three suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up in three hotels in Amman, a security source said.

Reuters correspondents said there had been explosions at the Radisson SAS and Grand Hyatt hotels in Amman and the official Petra news agency said there had been a third blast at the Days Inn hotel in the city.

“At least 23 people were killed in the three blasts and many wounded,” a security source told Reuters.

Jordan’s interior minister, Awni Yarfas, who was at the Radisson hotel, told reporters: “There were explosions in the Hyatt and the Radisson … Yes, they were bombs.”

Police threw up roadblocks around the hotels, causing traffic chaos in the city, and Reuters television footage showed a fleet of ambulances and fire vehicles outside the buildings.

The blasts appeared to happen at much the same time.


Supposedly, a wedding was taking place in a banquet hall inside one of the hotels. There was some speculation over wether or not the bombs were pre-planted or if this was the result of suicide bombers. It seems to be generally accepted now that it was suicide bombers.

Could this somehow be related to or in response to the Paris riots? Could be, but I doubt it. Proabably just more islamic crazies blowing stuff up for the sake of blowing stuff up. And to murder as many zionist pigs as possible, which is usually their goal. Note I said “usually”, not “always”. And I said “islamic crazies” rather than “all muslims”. You liberal european bloggers can stop calling me islamaphobic now.

Others blogging the Jordan bombings:
Protein Wisdom
The Counterterrorism Blog (has updates)
Michelle Malkin (also has updates)
Stop the ACLU
LGF
The Tar Pit
The Coalition of the Swilling
Terrorism Unveiled (very large roundup)
Don Surber
The Jawa Report

UPDATE 1: Wizbang has an update stating that FoxNews is reporting the death toll has risen to 57 with 115 people injured. Apparently the bombs at the Radisson and the Hyatt were suicide bombers. The Days Inn explosion was caused by a car bomb.

UPDATE 2: FoxNews is now reporting the number of injuries to be closer to 300 than 115.

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Shut Your Hole Harry

Harry Reid’s feelings must have really gotten hurt. Could he be any more of a baby? I don’t feel I need an apology Harry. Bush didn’t do anything to me or anyone else, why should he apologize for the actions of others? True, he’s got control over who’s in what positions, but he has no control over their individual actions once they’re there.

An apology is fine. Should Bush apologize, I won’t hold it against him. Harry Reid thinks of Bush as a a god-like figure, otherwise he wouldn’t want an apology from Bush for actions of those under him.

From WaPo:

Reid said Bush should pledge not to pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff who was indicted Friday on five charges relating to statements he made to the FBI and a grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

He took aim at Rove, whose actions were probed by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Rove is reportedly still under investigation.

“I think Karl Rove should step down,” Reid said about the White House deputy chief of staff. “Here is a man who the president said if he was involved, if anyone in the administration was involved, out they would go. Anybody who is involved in this, they’re gone.”

What a damn idiot. It’s a witch-hunt. Only the witch is specifically Karl Rove. Dems obviously aren’t satisfied with Libby being indicted, they don’t even acknowledge that Libby was the one that was indicted, not Rove. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they’re perfectly happy Libby got indicted, it’s just that he wasn’t their most prized target.

PunditGuy has a whole bunch of thoughts and other commentary from various publications.

Other coverage coming from Real Teen- Right on the Right, The Political Teen, Don Surber, and Jo’s Cafe.

This post was kindly linked by the following: Euphoric Reality, Cao’s Blog, and Mudville Gazette, Wizbang, and Random Numbers.

UPDATE: The Political Teen has video of Reid on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”.

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Scooter Libby Not So “Lucky”

The NYT is reporting that Karl Rove, Bush’s deputy chief of staff and a senior advisor, won’t be indicted in the Plame case. He will remain under investigation though, lucky him.

Sooter Libby Jr., Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, will be indicted on charges of “making false statements to the grand jury in the C.I.A. leak inquiry”.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 – Lawyers in the C.I.A. leak case said Thursday that they expected I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, to be indicted on Friday, charged with making false statements to the grand jury.

Karl Rove, President Bush’s senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday.

As rumors coursed through the capital, Mr. Fitzgerald gave no public signal of how he intended to proceed, further intensifying the anxiety that has gripped the White House and left partisans on both sides of the political aisle holding their breath.

Being indicted doesn’t mean guilty. Basically, the prosecutors feel they’ve got enough on Libby to link him to crimes he’s suspected of commiting. They just need more time before they’re confident enough in their evidence to indict Rove.

None of this is even known to be 100% true yet. It sounds very plausible though, along with a few thousand other possibilities. I almost hope it goes down that way. I expect aggression and general outrage from left leaning bloggers if Rove does “get lucky” and comes out still under investigation. Should be a good time.

This post kindly linked at bRight & Early, The Political Teen, Cao’s Blog, MacStansbury, Jo’s Cafe, Adam’s Blog, and NIF. Also linked at Real Teen, who’s hosting his first true open trackback party.

UPDATE 1: ABC news has picked this up now too. h/t Dan @ Riehl World View.

UPDATE 2: NBC News is confirming (along with WaPo now) that Libby will be indicted today while Rove will remain under investigation. h/t Real Teen.

James Joyner of OTB notices that most news sources are reporting on the non-indictment of Rove rather than the indicement of Libby. Sounds like the liberal media trying to ruffle feathers again. Conservative Cat gets serious about Plamegate and looks at how cats would make better military leaders than humans, sort of.

UPDATE 3: I caught Patrick Fitzgerald explaining all the charges in a press conference while I was at lunch. The Political Teen has the video. I think Fitzgerald did a nice job explaining everything and why Libby is being indicted. The Q&A was basically worthless, Fitzy didn’t really answer much. It’s not his fault reporters ask questions they already know the answers to though, or non-answers in this case.

And Bush is supposed to speak about the Libby indictment at 3:50 PM ET. So in like 2 minutes.

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Marine Spy in the White House

A marine, recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney, is suspected of spying from within the White House for nearly 3 years. I read this at The Jawa Report lastnight before I went to bed.

Apparently this story has been around for nearly a month. PunditGuy reports that ABC News is investigating a possible White House angle. Below is from ABC News.

Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney.

“I don’t know of a case where the vetting broke down before and resulted in a spy being in the White House,” said Richard Clarke, a former White House advisor who is now an ABC News consultant.

Federal investigators say Aragoncillo, a naturalized citizen from the Philippines, used his top secret clearance to steal classified intelligence documents from White House computers.

In 2000, Aragoncillo worked on the staff of then-Vice President Al Gore. When interviewed by Philippine television, he remarked how valued Philippine employees were at the White House.

The marines name is Leandro Aragoncillo, age 46 and originally from the Philippines. A whole bunch of goodies could have been stolen in a 3 year period of time, mostly just really sensitive data. PunditGuy also has a bunch of information on this guy, he’s got the most all-inclusive post.

Other coverage in the blogosphere coming from Jay at Stop The ACLU, Riehl World View, and The Political Teen has a video.

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