Should those responsible for the Valerie Plame leak by punished for treason?

[Matthew777]

Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Treasongate:_Beyond_Karl_Rove

"In October of 2003, the White House, in a statement regarding the Valerie Plame affair, said that "if anyone in this administration was responsible for the leaking of classified information, they would no longer work in this administration." President Bush himself said, "If there is a leak out of my administration ... the person will be taken care of."

Apparently, he didn't mean it.

Assuming that Karl Rove was indeed responsible for the leak, which the investigators will determine, his was not only an illegal act; it was an act of treason. Former President George H.W. Bush calls people who do such things "the most insidious of traitors," for whom he has "nothing but contempt and anger" (April, 1999). President Bush should make good on his word: he should revoke Rove's security clearances, fire him, and see that he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But if the White House statement of July 12 that Rove "has the confidence of the president" is any indication, that won't happen."
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=98371&section=Opinion


"In the United States Code the penalty (for treason) ranges from "shall suffer death" to "shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason#United_States


Whether one supports it or not, we are fighting a war on terrorism. In such a time, the leak of a secret agent can endanger lives. To oust a CIA operative for temporary political advantage is not only shameful but treasonous, if we are to follow the definitions of the law.


Peace.

 

[Marek]

I don't know much about this; what was the political gain involved in leaking the information of a CIA agent?

 

[Matthew777]

I don't know much about this; what was the political gain involved in leaking the information of a CIA agent?

Joseph Wilson debunked Bush's claim that Saddam had been seeking nuclear material from Africa. In an effort to silence critics, Rove and Co. leaked out the name of his wife.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=823

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3151570.stm

Peace.

 

[ballfan]

if we are to follow the definitions of the law.

If we follow the definitions of the law then it wasn't a crime at all, treason or anything else.

 

[ballfan]

Joseph Wilson debunked Bush's claim that Saddam had been seeking nuclear material from Africa. In an effort to silence critics, Rove and Co. leaked out the name of his wife.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=823

Peace.

Wilson disagreed with them. He didn't debunk anything.

 

[Marek]

Joseph Wilson debunked Bush's claim that Saddam had been seeking nuclear material from Africa. In an effort to silence critics, Rove and Co. leaked out the name of his wife.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=823

Peace.

I understand this; I just don't understand how there was political gain in the situation. It seems that if information was really leaked, there would be two results: getting caught and tried(obviously no political gain), and not getting caught(revenge maybe but I don't see the political gain in this).

 

[nvxplorer]

If someone is found guilty of the leak, then they should be punished as the law prescribes. I don’t know whether it qualifies as treason.

 

[Matthew777]

I understand this; I just don't understand how there was political gain in the situation. It seems that if information was really leaked, there would be two results: getting caught and tried(obviously no political gain), and not getting caught(revenge maybe but I don't see the political gain in this).

There was political gain in having a case for war, which required silencing those who were willing to tell the truth.

Peace.

 

[Marek]

There was political gain in having a case for war, which required silencing those who were willing to tell the truth.

Peace.

But how is leaking information on a CIA agent going to silence anyone?

 

[Matthew777]

But how is leaking information on a CIA agent going to silence anyone?

I know that it was a silly way of going about it. But we are talking about the Bush administration. The man's wife was punished to set an example, to silence any other government official who dared to disprove their case for war.

Peace.

 

[JustOneWay]

This is probably a moot question because the pardons comeith.

Normal citizens would be jailed. Who has been killed for treason recently?

 

[Marek]

I know that it was a silly way of going about it. But we are talking about the Bush administration. The man's wife was punished to set an example, to silence any other government official who dared to disprove their case for war.

Peace.

Seems like borderline conspiracy theory to me.

 

[Matthew777]

Who has been killed for treason recently?

The last time I know of was in the Cold War era.

Peace.

 

[Matthew777]

Seems like borderline conspiracy theory to me.

Not exactly. It's only what we've seen on the news. For what other reason other than to silence critics would Rove do this?

Peace.

 

[BarbB]

I firmly believe that Valerie's husband,Joe Wilson, should be charged with treason and executed (if found guilty, of course) for outting his wife at every cocktail party and to any ear who would listen. Or for nepotism - maybe we should execute both of them.

 

[UberLutheran]

If we follow the definitions of the law then it wasn't a crime at all, treason or anything else.

It just depends on what the definition of "is" is.

 

[Matthew777]

Karl Rove : Worse Than Osama Bin Laden

By Ted Rall

07/04/05 "Yahoo!"
"How far up the White House food chain does the rot of treason go? "Bush has always known how to keep Rove in his place," wrote Time in 2002 about a "symbiotic relationship" that dates to 1973. This isn't some rogue "plumbers" operation. Rove would never go it alone on a high-stakes action like Valerie Plame. It's a safe bet that other, higher-ranking figures in the Bush cabal--almost certainly Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself--signed off before Rove called Novak. For the sake of national security, those involved should be removed from office at once."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9373.htm

 

[Marek]

Hahaha - I used to read Ted Rall's piece every week. It can be quite humorous.

 

[JustOneWay]

The last time I know of was in the Cold War era.

Peace.

I found that the last person convicted of treason was Tomoya Kawakita, a Japanese-American sentenced to death in 1952 for tormenting American prisoners of war during World War II. Even such a clear-cut case created qualms; President Eisenhower commuted Kawakita's sentence to life imprisonment.

I haven't found the last American executed yet. Execution is out of the question.

 

[Matthew777]

President Bush

"Near the end of a round table discussion on ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos dropped this bomb:

"'Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for the White House especially if we don’t know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.' "This would explain why Bush spent more than an hour answering questions from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It would also fundamentally change the dynamics of the scandal. President Bush could no longer claim he was merely a bystander who wants to 'get to the bottom of it.' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101568.html) As Stephanopoulos notes, if Bush played a direct role it could make this scandal completely unmanageable."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Treasongate:_Beyond_Karl_Rove

Peace.