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Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran When Outed

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:03:51 AM EST
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Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story breaks important news today: Intelligence officials say that at the time of her outing as a CIA employee/operative, she was "part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran."

Speaking under strict confidentiality, intelligence officials revealed heretofore unreported elements of Plame's work. Their accounts suggest that Plame's outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for U.S. national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program.

...Intelligence sources would not identify the specifics of Plame's work. They did, however, tell RAW STORY that her outing resulted in "severe" damage to her team and significantly hampered the CIA's ability to monitor nuclear proliferation.

The import:

The revelation that Iran was the focal point of Plame's work raises new questions as to possible other motivating factors in the White House's decision to reveal the identity of a CIA officer working on tracking a WMD supply network to Iran, particularly when the very topic of Iran's possible WMD capability is of such concern to the Administration.

Update: More from Steve Clemons at Washington Note who writes Larissa's article is "rather huge news" and adds more details.

[Graphic created exclusively for TalkLeft by CL.]

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    Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran When Outed | 43 comments (43 topical)
    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#1)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:34:47 AM EST
    Makes perfect sense to me. We go after the country that poses the least threat, Iraq, while N. Korea builds a Nuke, and we out an agent working on the other threat, Iran. Unless of course you are a neocon, Iraq serves as a training ground for the real battles with Iran and Korea loom. I really do not care about her status one way or another. The fact that this administration so angrily and callously punished her for her husbands politics goes to the cowardice of the administration. Next time I am about to throw down with a republican, I will make sure that my wife is safe in an unknown, secure location.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#2)
    by Slado on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:35:09 AM EST
    A soccermom in suburbia was a "covert" operative looking for bombs in Iran? Come on.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#3)
    by Al on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:42:44 AM EST
    Of course, Slado, you're right. The whole thing is ridiculous. Everybody knows real spies go around with a sign round their necks saying "I am a spy, big time".

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:43:33 AM EST
    And you can just bet on it that the wingnuts will be out in force saying "But she couldn't have been a covert agent doing important stuff - she's a GURL." Oh, I see Slado already did. I propose a radical response: there's no need to argue with anyone dumb enough to keep claiming that Plame wasn't covert - just ignore them.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:48:06 AM EST
    Jlv: I really do not care about her status one way or another. The fact that this administration so angrily and callously punished her for her husbands politics goes to the cowardice of the administration. No, it's not even that: they didn't think she mattered. They didn't think that what she was doing mattered. It was classic short-term thinking - destroy a covert agent's usefulness for all time to come, for the sake of winning a temporary partisan victory. As Hilzoy on Obsidian Wings said (in another context) the Bush administration is locked into pre-9/11 thinking. No wonder, given that most of them date back to Reagan, if not to Nixon.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 10:53:12 AM EST
    I have suspected that , and would not be surprised if, the outing of Plame had to do with wanting to shut down Brewester Jennings Mid East WMD anti proliferation ops. Perhaps it was on to some illegal activity by the WH, or ones with close ties to them like The Carlyle Group, Israeli defense industry et al. Plame may have been a very convenient boondoggle meant to distract from other illegal activity. Tin foil hat, maybe but this stuff is right up their alley.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#7)
    by Punchy on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:00:23 AM EST
    Slado's right. Spies don't have homes, spouses, or children. And they're NEVER seen in the suburbs. They actually live inside their desk cubicle when not on a mission, and eat all 3 meals at the Spy Cafe somewhere inside Foggy Bottom, where they make a mean cheese pizza.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#8)
    by jen on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:15:01 AM EST
    well, thats good news, right? That means Iran isn't that dangerous to us if the administration feels its ok to just blow an asset like that just to get back at somebody no one listened to in the first place.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:32:20 AM EST
    Hmmmm, too bad that Fitzgerald doesn't think she was covert.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#10)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:34:03 AM EST
    Slado, You are correct. Spies only dress like this. More Koolaid?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:35:49 AM EST
    Che, it looks like Abramoff has been taking costuming tips from DeNiro ;-)

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:36:55 AM EST
    This is obviously an attack on their boss, who recently said the NSA leaks severely damaged the country. And there is no doubt that what we have here is a cabal inside the CIA working to overturn US foreign and national defense policy. This can't be tolerated. Bush must take action.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:45:06 AM EST
    ppj-guess you have a superduper triple top secret hotline to Fitzgerald as he has never uttered the words you attribute to him.
    Fitzgerald doesn't think she was covert.
    And there is no doubt that what we have here is a cabal inside the CIA working to overturn US foreign and national defense policy.
    The latest from the echo chamber. What would we do without you ppj?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:55:22 AM EST
    Do we have to pay attention to the idiots who keep arguing that Plame wasn't covert? Jim's been citing that misquote from Fitzgerald every time Plame's name comes up on TalkLeft - it's really not even worth contradicting him. Jen That means Iran isn't that dangerous to us if the administration feels its ok to just blow an asset like that Dude, this is the Bush administration. They feel it's OK to do anything, no matter how criminal.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#15)
    by squeaky on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 12:25:41 PM EST
    Jesurgislac-
    Do we have to pay attention to the idiots who keep arguing that Plame wasn't covert? Jim's been citing that misquote from Fitzgerald every time Plame's name comes up on TalkLeft - it's really not even worth contradicting him.
    Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm in.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#16)
    by Slado on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 01:06:55 PM EST
    I guess Fitzgeralds 2plus year investigation that never could determine that she was covert missed this guy? The left keeps pushing this story. When are you going to give up on it? what happens when Libby gets off scott free and that's it? Will you drop it then or will "unnamed" wheenies deep inside the CIA keep floating partisan accounts of what happened to keep the left blogosphere churning?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#17)
    by aw on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 01:11:10 PM EST
    I haven't posted much lately, but I also pledge to not take the bait and ignore the wingnuts.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#18)
    by chupetin on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 01:15:40 PM EST
    You guys are starting to get it. It's not worth your time. Let DA handle it, he seems to enjoy it. As far as Plame, if she was a covert operative at any time during her career I would assume that protecting her identity for the remainder of her carrer is important. Maintaining covert personna is as important as establishing it, que no?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 02:17:42 PM EST
    Slado: "Per recently released court papers, Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity." So that should put a lie to the fact that she was not Covert. will you admit at least that much? [link deleted, not in html format, it skews the site.]

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#20)
    by squeaky on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 02:23:48 PM EST
    The raw story points out that by taking out Brewster Jennings America has been back 10 years in counter-proliferation efforts of WMD''s including nuclear weapons. Looks like there are no longer any obstacles left to counter WH claims that WMD's are in the Mid-East. It makes it easier to go to war with Iran, Syria, and other countries that are considered strategic assets required to maintain US world dominance well into the 21 century.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#21)
    by Edger on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 02:26:23 PM EST
    aw: I haven't posted much lately, but I also pledge to not take the bait and ignore the wingnuts. Lately I've developed quite a taste for them, aw. They're to die for if skewered and slow roasted over a very hot fire. Marinated in their own juices, of course. ;-)

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 03:07:03 PM EST
    Chupetin, I did already here. Also, using logic on PPJ is about as effective as shooting the Mongo character from Blazing Saddles. Not that PPJ has ever responded to what sailor posted above me in that thread, nor is he like to in the future ;)

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#23)
    by chupetin on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 03:09:50 PM EST
    So that should put a lie to the fact that she was not Covert. will you admit at least that much?
    Nope, as a matter of fact the next time the subject comes up, you can expect the same comments from some that she was not covert. Like I said, it's a waste of time.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#24)
    by Edger on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 03:45:17 PM EST
    A couple of mild but humorous refreshers: Field Guide to Trolls and Other Poser 'Species" What is a Troll?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#25)
    by jondee on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 03:56:57 PM EST
    The relevant question obviously is: would Valerie Plame or any operations she was involved with be placed in jeopardy if her identity was made public. Not, as ditto head says, whether she was "covert" or not. It aint rocket science.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#26)
    by Sailor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 03:57:32 PM EST
    edger, for heaven's sake, DO NOT marinate them in their own juices! The bitter, poisonous bile duct alone will taint anything it touches. BTW, thanks for your kind comments on my site, Yeah, we all lost when Coretta died. AW, Squeaky, Jesu, count me in. Like my Mom used to say, if you ignore them, they'll just go away;-)

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#27)
    by jondee on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:11:12 PM EST
    Well, everybody knows money from weapons sales to Iran goes to fight commonists. I knew that Wilson and his wife was leftists.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#28)
    by Edger on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:15:28 PM EST
    Sailor, I've heard that if you soak 'em in milk overnight it takes away the fishy and bitter taste. Softens 'em up too... They're easier to chew up and spit out that way. But never ever swallow 'em! Too hard on the stomach lining. ;-) You're welcome, BTW.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:17:11 PM EST
    Squeaky - He said that her employment with the CIA was classified. He has never said she was covert. That is totally 100% different than being a covert agent. And he hasn't indicted Libby for outing a "classified employee." Libby is indicted for perjury and obstruction.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#30)
    by jondee on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:26:23 PM EST
    Why was it classified Mr. "National Security" ?

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#31)
    by jondee on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:29:42 PM EST
    100% different. Yeah, Fox is now reporting that she never worked for the C.I.A at all; she was a night stocking clerk at Target.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#32)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:29:47 PM EST
    Squeaky - I almost forgot to answer your last question?
    The latest from the echo chamber. What would we do without you ppj?
    That's easy. You would remain uninformed on a host of important issues. Such as this one. et al - Doing "some covert work over seas" doesn't maker her a covert agent. Two different things as Fitzgerald must have known because if she was, he would had indicted Libbt on that charge. The proof is in the pudding, although it is a bitter desert for you on the Left.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 04:53:22 PM EST
    So, now we know not only that Plame was covert - which had been certain from the beginning of the DoJ investigation - but precisely what the area of her expertise was: Were Bush & Co really targetting Wilson, or was their goal all along to take out Plame? I admit I think it more likely that Wilson was their target, because if Plame was their target that suggests considerable forward planning.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#34)
    by Johnny on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:08:46 PM EST
    I guess it all depends on what the definition of "is" is... If doing covert work makes someone other than covert... Mmmmm kool-aid.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#35)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:20:39 PM EST
    Anyone ever notice that PPJ doesn't know the talking points on weekend events until the beginning of office hours in Washington on Monday morning? Just sayin'.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#36)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 07:24:34 PM EST
    He said that her employment with the CIA was classified. He has never said she was covert. And as we know, a covert status would not be classified information. If you are covert, it doesn't have to be a secret. Jim, Jim. No one could say stuff as stupid as you do without getting paid to do it. And no one could pay me enough to say stuff as stupid as you do.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#37)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:38:36 PM EST
    He has never said she was covert.
    Really?
    But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion.
    Link Gotta link to refute me? LOL!

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#38)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 11:27:51 PM EST
    Squeaky, I think you have proved my point that responding to PPJ is a total waste of time and energy. That is, of course, unless you just want to receive more of his nonsense to read. But here's an alternative. Create a longer post containing your comments, his completely predictable response, followed by more of your own arguments. Save time, cut out the middle man!

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#39)
    by squeaky on Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 05:15:01 AM EST
    Cymro-Thanks for making your point. I found it quite easy to prove. As I commented on an earlier thread and slightly improved for this one. His epitaph will read as follows.... PPJ lies here for the last time: Valerie Plame was not covert. Even if she was she wasn't.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#40)
    by Edger on Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 05:18:40 AM EST
    Black is white, even when it ain't.

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#41)
    by squeaky on Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 05:55:08 AM EST
    Juan Cole puts it succinctly:
    For warmongers, good intelligence on the enemy's capabilities is undesirable if that intelligence would get in the way of launching a war.
    He also reminds us of this other "goof up" by the warmongers:
    We know that someone among the Neoconservatives also let Ahmad Chalabi know that the US had broken Iranian codes and could read that country's secret diplomatic correspondence. As anyone could have expected, Chalabi immediately told the Iranians about the US spying. The Iranians will have immediately changed their codes.
    In the end he qualifies the plausible theory
    Still, it is just speculation. If the speculation were true, the scale of treason emanating from Rove and Cheney and his staff is scarcely imaginable.
    Sounds just about right to me. Juan Cole

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#42)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 08:44:32 AM EST
    Larisa's report concludes: "The revelation that Iran was the focal point of Plame's work raises new questions as to possible other motivating factors in the White House's decision to reveal the identity of a CIA officer working on tracking a WMD supply network to Iran, particularly when the very topic of Iran's possible WMD capability is of such concern to the Administration." Some of Jason Leopold's past reporting on Cheney/Halliburton/Iran suggests one possible angle. See: Cheney Lobbied Congress To Ease Sanctions Against Terrorist Countries While He Was CEO Of Halliburton Halliburton Secretly Doing Business with Key Member of Iran's Nuclear Team The laws of the USA and those pesky spooks at CIA? Trivialities and minor hindrances for ol' Dick. Thank you, TalkLeft!

    Re: Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran (none / 0) (#43)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 11:19:37 PM EST
    And 77 years ago today Al Capone was on his own private island off Miami getting ready to keep an appointment with the Miami Dade County DA when on a frigid day in Chicago, five of his hired gunmen dressed as cops walked into the SMC Cartage Company on the North Side of town and gunned down six members of the Bugs Moran Gang. Capone, having been in Miami with the DA, had the perfect alibi but everyone knew he was behind it. They just couldn't make the rap stick. Eventually, he was brought down on charges of Income Tax Invasion. Cheney's at least as slimy and corrupt as Capone.

    Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran When Outed | 43 comments (43 topical)