Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson

By Karoli October 28, 2007 Foreign Policy No Comments

Valerie Plame Wilson’s book Fair Game is as interesting as it can be, despite the deep CIA redactions.  (I’m actually listening to the audiobook but am planning to buy the print edition as well).  Chapter Five is a small departure from her description of CIA life to what it was like to give birth to twins, take them home 3 days later, struggle with all the things that new parents deal with (like breastfeeding and insomnia), and plunge deep into postpartum depression. 

Aside from that, it’s apparent from the second chapter on that she is a passionate patriot who loved her career, her contribution to the prevention of nuclear proliferation, and the integrity of the Constitution.  It’s a pity that it all ended so abruptly and with such callousness toward a loyal public servant. 

Her book is a rare insight into a profession we learn about mostly from spy novels and adventure movies.  Even with the redactions, she paints a vivid picture of the risk of what she was doing and why she was doing it.  Well worth reading.

She blogged her book tour for the Huffington Post last week and had some strongly held opinions about a number of things.  Here are some of the ones that I found interesting:

There has been an increasing trend to allow politics to spill over into the world of intelligence and I believe that it degrades the intelligence mission, its product, and is detrimental to our national security. Americans of all political stripes want to know that whatever intelligence lands on the president’s desk is devoid of ideological taint and political pressure. As we now know, Vice President Cheney and his then Chief of Staff Scooter Libby made an unprecedented number of visits to CIA Headquarters in the run-up to the Iraq war to meet with analysts. Apparently, the vice president kept asking the same questions until he began to hear the answers he wanted. Although there might not have been overt pressure to slant intelligence toward the administration’s stance on Iraq and its perceived WMD threat, the very fact that the vice president had taken time out of his day, come into Headquarters and asked a certain line of questions invisibly and insidiously has the effect of conveying a high level of dissatisfaction with what the CIA has already produced.

Joe Wilson, on FDL’s book salon with Plame says this:

This story is not, and has never been, about Valerie or me. It has always been about the administration and the Republican party’s willingness to lie, cover up, and condone the betrayal of our National Security. The administration and its lackeys have subverted our very democracy by their actions. This fight is about restoring constitutional rule to our great country. Our case is the mechanism through which we take the fight to the opposition. While we would much prefer to live our lives privately like other Americans, away from the harsh glare of the right wing smear machine, we realize that is not an option. When our kids ask us, twenty years from now, “Where were you when it counted,” our answer will be “On the front lines.”

Also on FDL, Plame talks about the value of bloggers:

I saw an earlier comment about FDL and how (frankly) obsessively Joe and I read the live blogs during the trial. What a huge breakthrough for media and how we can get our information! We hosted several FDLers including Jane and Christie and Marcy to our home for dinner during the trial and it was clear to me and Joe that they knew waaay more about the details of the case than we ever will. I am grateful to all of them for their passionate and dedicated efforts to get to the truth.

And this remark, which is the bottom line and which should be cause for us to bring charges against Dick Cheney for treason:

To the best of my knowledge, the leaking of my name and secret affiliation was primarily to undermine and discredit Joe’s report about Niger and his criticism of the admistration’s rationale for going to war. There is no question that character assassination is a tactic used by this crowd to silence their enemies.

Plame’s story, when combined with all of the negative news about Blackwater and the US Department of State, has been some of the most difficult for me to tolerate. I have firsthand knowledge of the pride that is associated with being part of the US Department of State, and how much of their heart and soul State employees put into their careers. I know that career diplomats ARE career diplomats because they truly believe they are acting to make the world a better place. Because of the plundering and politicization of the US Department of State by this administration, just as they have done with every other government agency, career diplomats are not volunteering to go to Iraq, and are instead being ordered there.

They will have 10 days to accept or reject the position. If not enough say yes, some will be ordered to go to Iraq and face dismissal if they refuse, said Harry Thomas, director general of the Foreign Service.

Only those with compelling reasons, such as a medical condition or extreme personal hardship, will be exempt from disciplinary action, Thomas said. He said the process of deciding who will go to Iraq should be complete by Thanksgiving.

It’s really time for the Democrats to stand up and stop Cheney/Bush from any more destruction.

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