dKos diarist
clammyc reminds us of some important context to the Iran war drumming:
With all this talk about how dangerous Iran is and how they are THIS CLOSE to getting nook-you-lur weapons and must be stopped, let's not forget that Valerie Plame and her colleagues were tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran.
Clammyc makes an important point. But does she/he draw the right conclusion? He/She seems to take the fact that the the Plame outing cost us a major intelligence asset in a high risk area as evidence of Administration incompetence. But I have an even darker take on the whole thing.
What if it wasn't an accident? What if they outed her not (or not just) to get at her husband, but to get at her?
Think about the demonstrated disdain of Bush and Cheney for any and all intel that contradicted their preordained conclusions about Iraq. Then think about the neocon arrogance that then, as now, targeted Iran as next on their regime change to-do list.
In that context, Valerie Plame's knowledge of what was really going on in the WMD arena did not make her an asset -- it made her a very dangerous woman. When Joe Wilson went public with the truth about the way the Administration cooked the books on Iraq, the Administration must have been concerned that Valerie Plame would do the same when they turned their guns toward Iran.
What if they wanted us to think that their purpose was to smack Joe Wilson, but only as a smokescreen for their next Crusade? Maybe I'm overly impressed with Karl Rove's legendary ability to think five moves ahead, but he loves these kinds of two-birds-one-stone stunts.
Tin foil hat, anyone?