While Tom McGuire at JustOneMinute has done a great job of covering the story, I want to make a comment on a most incredible letter that The New York Times published last Saturday. The letter was from Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. It was addressed to President Bush and dated May 18, 2006.
The article in the Times focused, of course, on that part of the letter in which Representative Hoekstra complained the Bush Administration had not kept the House and Senate Intelligence Committees briefed on certain activities. Obviously, this is what the Times would highlight: Even Republicans are claiming the Bush Administration is not informing Congress and may be violating the law.
However, that was not the most interesting part of the letter. The most interesting, and the scariest, part of the letter is this:
"First, I am concerned that the nominations for Director and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency signal a retreat from needed reforms of the Agency. … [T]he choice for Deputy Director, Steve Kappes, is more troubling, both on a substantive and personal level. …
There has been much public and private speculation about the politicization of the Agency. … In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and its policies. This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plane events, as well as by the string of unauthorized disclosures from an organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets. I have come to the belief that, despite his service to the DO [Directorate of Operations], Mr. Kappes may have been part of this group."
Before continuing, please read those excerpts again. This is incredible. Rep. Hoekstra is saying that there is a sizeable group within the CIA that is working to intentionally undermine the President. A rogue group in the CIA is trying to make the President’s policies, trying to make our country’s policies, fail.
Also, note the reference to Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame. It almost seems as if Rep. Hoekstra is saying the Wilson/Plame incident, if not a total set-up to get the President, was part of the effort to undermine the Bush Administration. In other words, Joe Wilson and his column in the Times was not a matter of an outraged citizen voicing his concerns. It was, instead, part of an organized effort within the CIA to undercut the President’s policies.
While not quite Seven Days in May, this is a very troubling situation. But the mainstream media has ignored it. The Times mentioned this part of the letter only in passing and did not elaborate on it. The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune did not even mention Rep. Hoekstra’s concerns, except to say he complained about the appointment of Steve Kappes. (I give credit to the Times for posting a copy of the letter on its website so people could read it themselves.)
Also, note what Rep. Hoekstra says about the choice of Mr. Kappes as new Deputy Director of the CIA. Rep. Hoekstra clearly fears that Mr. Kappes may have been part of the rogue group. If this is true, does Kappes’ appointment signal that President Bush is giving in and the rogue group has won? If this is so, it means an organized opposition in the CIA, with the help, whether witting or not, of the mainstream media and others, has been able to successfully undermine some of the most important policies of an elected President of the United States.
Obviously, we do not know what happened (and what still may be happening) here, but Rep. Hoekstra has raised some very important questions. Unfortunately, with the mainstream media seemingly only interested in things that can "get" President Bush, it is depressingly possible, in fact, probable, we may never really know whether an organized opposition within the CIA has been working against the President of the United States and his policies – and has won.
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