We cannot allow this or any administration to lie, manupulate or try and influence our citizens.

In government, as in business, a boss is ultimately responsible for his employees behavior. In the case of Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie, President Bush must ultimately shoulder the responsibility for this cowardly attempt to discredit an individual who disagreed with findings on WMD. Whether Karl Rove, Libby or others leaked this information, the bottom line is, it was a disgraceful act that directly impacts the office of the President. Bush detractors should be weeping with joy, as this, much like Watergate, may bring his Presidency down,

Mrs.Wilson is not the only casualty in this political debacle. George Tenet and others also suffered from the desperate acts of a White House determined to go into Iraq, no matter what it cost. Here is a brief description of what allegedly set off this chain of events.

There had been rumours and letters stating that Saddam Hussein had bought or attempted to buy yellowcake uranium ore from Niger. CIA had discounted these rumors previously, and had in fact sent two memos to the White House with their findings. CIA, who are familiar with Joseph Wilson, due to his having held ambassadorial postings in Iraq and other key "hot" spots. According to Wilson, his wife merely relayed a message that CIA wished to have a discussion about this issue, and get his opinions on it. In the course of this discussion, according to Mr. Wilson, he was asked by others if he'd mind going to Niger and taking a further look into this. He agreed.

Joseph Wilson is reputed to be a thoroughly competent, intelligent man, who can research information and give straightforward findings. When he did not find anything to support the Administrations claims on the yellow cake issue, on his return home, he notified CIA and the Administration. Here is a quote from Vanity Fair writer Vicky Ward's interview with the Wilsons on this aspect:

"But, on his trip, Wilson had found no evidence to substantiate the president's assertion. His New York Times piece was titled "What I Didn't Find in Africa." Had he been wrong?, he wondered in the article. Or had his information been ignored because it did not fit with the government's preconceptions about Iraq? On the Sunday his piece ran in the Times, Wilson appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to discuss it.

The article and the television appearance had two results. Officially, National-Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice admitted that the sentence should not have been in the president's speech, because the intelligence on which it was based was not good enough, and C.I.A. director George Tenet took the blame, saying that he was "responsible for the approval process in my agency." But then he added that the C.I.A. had warned the National Security Council that the intelligence was dubious, and some days later Stephen Hadley, the N.S.C. deputy, admitted he'd "forgotten" about seeing two memos from the agency debating the veracity of the intelligence. Still, the administration could argue—and did—that, technically, none of the words in the speech were actually inaccurate, because it cited British intelligence as the source.

http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/051010roco03d

. This was apparently too much for some members of the Bush administration, who soon after began trying to discredit Joseph Wilson, and finally outed his wife Valerie, who up until this moment had enjoyed the special anonymity granted to our active agents.

Many of the political loudmouths that leach off any news station or paper that will hear them, have proclaimed loudly, "where is the crime?" The crime is a federal one, for disclosing the name of any active operative employed by CIA or any of our intelligence communities. But it pales into insignificance next to the motive, mindset and sheer manipulation of the truth by this White House.

Prior to Wilsongate making front page news, it had long been known that relations between this White House and CIA were severely strained to say the least. Briefs containing information that ran contrary to what the administraton wanted to hear were ignored, or even worse, enormous pressures applied to "re-evaluate" their findings. This attempt to use CIA to manipulate the truth to suit political agendas is a crime in itself, or should be.

All the money and effort poured into the 9-11 Commission Report, all the fingerpointing at FBI and CIA in particular, demonstrate an untrustworthy and very dangerous mindset. How can anyone trust this administration or believe it can be relied on to lead our country with honesty and integrity.

We survived the Watergate scandal and the Clinton impeachment. We will survive this, but in the process somethings must be broken. I suggest we start with demanding accountability from this administration for it's lies and outtright manipulation of the truth, that has cost us the lives of almost 2,000 soldiers.