How would outing Valerie Plame as a CIA agent "discredit" her husband?

Question

Articles keep saying that the White House disclosed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in order to "discredit" her husband, Joe Wilson.
I can understand how outing her would endanger her and may have been done as a revenge tactic against Wilson, but how would it "discredit" Wilson?

Answer 1

It wasn't the "outing" of her per se, but the implication that his trip to Nigeria was just a "junket" that he got assigned because of nepotism. In other words, Valerie pulled some strings to get her hubby assigned to this "fun" trip. That story just doesn't work unless you come out and explain just who Valerie Plame is and what her role is in the CIA.

Answer 2

the misconception is due to sloppy news reporting that sees only a partisan take on the leak...sure, perhaps it can be perceived that this discredited wilson, but REAL people realize the REAL reason for the slap on the wrist (the leak) -- it happened becuase wilson was the former ambassador to iraq, and KNEW (as really most everybody knew) -- that there NO wmd. Wilson was sent to niger because he needed to be out of the country around the time he was to discredit the administration because he knew there were no wmd (yellow-cake in niger is the cover story -- the real story is that he spoke out (way before the leak), that the bush admin was barking up the wrong tree when they decided to say sadaam had wmd. FACT. The FACT is the leak never discredited anybody, it simply revealed why he was sent -- he was being set up by an administration too scared to debate a man who was against the war before america really knew a war was a foregone conclusion.

IN A NUTSHELL:
The leak was done to make the plame and wilson **** themselves, and realize either they fall in line with the administration or be destroyed. They refused. Here we are. Rove is on the stand, again.

get the popcorn, it's gonna be a long, hot summer.

Answer 3

Valerie Plame was first outed back in the '90s. Her name popped up during one of the arrests of a CIA traitor. But her name has been in the public view since the late '90s. I believe some of the article being printed over this case have got it wrong. Discredit? Listen from what sources I read she got her husband the Niger trip. Now this could blow up in thier faces before its over with.

Answer 4

Joe Wilson as the leading pre-Iraq war critic, it was a vital blow to his revealing the manipulation of WMD intellegence. By exposing his wife, they exposed the entire network in Africa where she was working. Joe Wilson aquired the intellegence from his wife that Saddam "DID NOT" try buying yellow cake which is used to create a nuclear bomb.

The WMD/Yellow cake was all the President had as intellegence for his reason to invade Iraq!

So by exposing Joe Wilson's wife - they managed to stop Joe Wilson from letting the American people know that Bush and his Administration were about to attack Iraq for no other reason other than to remove Saddam from power and so George could finish his Daddy's failed Gulf war!

By getting the story out that Valerie Plame was his wife and that is where he received his African WMD intellegence, they were able to discredit his proof and make the Nation focus on that story instead of his Pre-War intellegence briefing!

Answer 5

It doesn't, and it is an unsubstantiated charge. For those unsure about the term, a substantiated charge would have things like "facts", "proof" or "evidence" that support the charge. So far, we have innuendo, smear, speculation and conspiracy theories.

They may not have known she once had a covert status, and one of my problems about the whole thing is that not even Fitzgerald has confirmed that she indeed had a covert status at the time. Wouldn't the first act of the Independent Counsel be to establish that she was, in fact, covert?

The key fact is that the op-ed states that Iraq did not buy uranium from Niger, and thus the president lied. But Bush never said that - he said that the British had learned that Saddam was seeking to buy uranium from Africa. Second, his debrief to the CIA actually confirmed what the Brits said - because the Niger official said they met with an Iraqi trade mission. What else would they have to sell to Iraq BUT uranium?

Regardless of how you feel about Bush, you should admit to yourself that Wilson is not a paragon of veracity.

Answer 6

Well, it turns out that he is now going to prison, because everything he told people about going to nigeria to investigate uranium smuggling, and he made up numerous other things to use against the president.
Scooter Libby got in trouble for simply replying "oh, you know about that?" when someone asked about wilson's wife being a CIA operative.

Answer 7

Knowing that a guy's wife is a spy would put a spin on everything he's ever told you or possibly done. You'll have to wonder if he told you some information because he was being honest or because he had to protect his wiffe's identity.

"Yes, we'll be gone for two weeks. We're traveling to ... um... Seattle for ... fishing. Yeah. that's the ticket."

Answer 8

Because it makes it sound like the two of them planned together to disprove the administrations claims of saddam trying to buy yellowcake uranium from niger.

Unless everyone knew that it was her (and the only way to do that was to commit treason and out her) then they wouldn't be able to claim that they were in it together.

Answer 9

I dont' know why they claim it was to discredit him.

But if your wife suddenly lost her job, and her life was now at risk, that would certainly make your life more stressful.

Answer 10

Its a WAY to Shift the Heat // I guess Bush made this film also


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_CepS8u9wQ&NR