Novak Outs Another

[misterphelps]

Did you see this?

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak27.html

A CIA senior official, who spoke out to a group on the condition of anonymity, was identified by Novak in his column today. The intelligence officer revealed warnings given to the administration regarding an attack on Iraq.

If there was ever any doubt, Novak offers his services to the neocons to crush anyone who dares to cross them

[htuttle]

1. Does he have a guilty conscience?

From the article:

Pillar said he and his colleagues concluded early in the Bush administration that military intervention in Iraq would intensify anti-American hostility throughout Islam. This was not from a CIA retiree but an active senior official. (Pillar, no covert operative, is listed openly in the Federal Staff Directory.)

Gosh, Bob. Why would we assume you'd expose an covert operative? That would be unthinkable, wouldn't it?

[Eric J in MN]

3. Even if the CIA analyst isn't undercover, journalists aren't supposed

to out anonymous sources.

That is what Robert Novak does in this article.

[Shopaholic]

2. Well, he certainly faced no negative consequences from doing

this the first time-he wasn't fired from his CNN gig, he didn't lose his syndicated column--he hasn't been charged in any criminal investigation--so why not continue to break the law and curry additional favor from the *'s administration?

[tom_paine]

4. Exactly. There is NO LAW in Imperial Amerika.

Like other Totalitarian Nations before it, there is a set of rules that the Filthy Little Nobodies must follow, but for the Imperial Family, their Allies Cronies and Stooges

THERE IS NO LAW.

Welkom to the Free Market Soviet States of Amerika.

[BootinUp]

5. Pillar is overdue for his social retraining

too much free thinking going on.

[ROC]

6. I wonder if Pillar had clearance

to provide agency information to a private group. Hope the CIA IG is on this one.

[BootinUp]

7. I was being sarcastic

The article indicates he had authorization to discuss the material.

[Lucille]

11. Novak did say that Pillar was authorized to speak

And from that fact draws the conclusion that the agency is at war with the Bush administration.

From Novak's column:

The CIA official spokesman said Pillar's West Coast appearance was approved by his ''management team'' at Langley as part of an ongoing ''outreach'' program. However, the spokesman said, Pillar told him that the fact I knew his name meant somebody had violated the off-the-record nature of his remarks.


Pillar is a regional chief--the Near East and South Asia. How many people are in his "management team," I wonder?

[Me.]

8. Isn't It Time The CIA Did Something To Take This Guy Down?

Seriously, it's way past time for the karma truck to pull up at his door.
And isn't it interesting that he would compare the CIA to the Abwehr trying to take hitler down?

[Virginian]

10. Interesting comparison indeed.

"And isn't it interesting that he would compare the CIA to the Abwehr trying to take hitler down?"

Maybe Novak can compare Bush to Hitler, but don't any of us Dems try that.


Other post above:
"Even if the CIA analyst isn't undercover, journalists aren't supposed to out anonymous sources.
That is what Robert Novak does in this article."

If only he would out his anonymous source in the Plame investigation. That will ever happen.

[IkeWarnedUs]

13. Why do you think they had to put Goss in place?

Obviously there are some in the CIA who support this insanity. But in order to keep from the others who didn't drink the kool aid from taking him down, Bush had to put a faithful soldier in charge.

[Lucille]

9. It's funny. Novak presents so much shocking information here

But the only fact that I could really get my head around was that Novak outed his source.

Novak justifies breaking w/Pillar's confidentiality because:

"The substance was less significant than the forbidden background details."

and
"the CIA bureaucracy wants a license to criticize the president and the former DCI without being held accountable."

Novak also emphasizes that the confidential source (Pillar) is not a covert operative of the CIA, but one you can find in the phone book. Do suppose he's feeling a little defensive?


But Novak's shocking duplicity overshadows the even more shocking facts in his column:

Not only did Pillar rebut Bush's "just guessing" comment and criticize the wrong-headedness of *'s Iraq policy, Pillar also revealed that neither Bush nor Tenant even asked the CIA for an assessment of the regional consequences of an invasion of Iraq. THEY NEVER ASKED!!!

[Me.]

16. Why Would They Ask?

They'd have had to have been interested in consequences to do that.

Plame thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2408386

[baldguy]

12. Ideological and political loyalty first

Neocons put their party over their country

[DeepModem Mom]

14. It's obvious that Novak is Bush's ally in the war against the C.I.A. --

He is doing all he can to help the Bush cabal bring the Agency and its professionals under their control. We thought the C.I.A. could fight and win a war like this, but this regime seems to have the same weapons in its arsenal as those of the spooks, and Rove and Co. are more than willing to use them.

DUer Tom Paine is sounding more and more prescient.

[yardwork]

15. kick

[MostlyLurks]

17. The thing that really frightened me...

The last sentence floored me: "The CIA is...supposed to be a resource -- not a critic -- for the president."

Am I wrong, or is Novak making the argument that that the intelligence services should not create and disseminate information, proposals etc. that run counter to Presidential decree? Essentially, isn't his point that rather than providing intelligence based on fact-finding, etc. that the intelligence services should attempt to match their "findings" with Presidential opinion? if you get rid of all the hysterical hand-waving about the CIA wanting to criticize with anonymity, etc, I think that's really what he's trying to argue and that's really frightening, I think.

[951]

18. How the hell is he getting away with it?

How many CIA agents must be killed or beheaded before someone does something?

If you or I did something like that our butts would be rotting in prison.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. kick