Expectations and Reality

I checked the Huffington Post earlier today after the Scooter Libby indictments were announced. They are ecstatic, convinced that the trial will include a full investigation into the reasons for invading Iraq. They are sure that Bush knew that Iraq had disposed its WMDs and that the entire case was forged.

They base a lot of this on Joseph Wilson. He's the one who started the whole mess when he wrote an op-ed column claiming that the Vice-President's office sent him to Niger to investigate reports of Iraq trying to buy Uranium yellowcake. Wilson said that his report indicated that this never happened. What's more, he knew as soon as he saw the final report that it was wrong.

Robert Novak wrote a column stating that Wilson had not been sent by the Vice-President, he was sent by the CIA at the recommendation of his wife, a CIA employee. Wilson responded by complaining that his wife was a covert operative and that Novak had ruined her career and put her life in danger. He wrote a book on this, claiming that the administration was ruining his wife as a warning to others. The leak investigation came out of these complaints.

The left lapped it up. Wilson became a hero. Kerry signed him up as a foreign affairs advisor and hosted Wilson's web site.

Then reality caught up with Wilson. It seems that he had been less than honest. He was sent by the CIA instead of the Vice-President and his wife had recommended him for the position. His report indicated that Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake and he had never seen the final report since he did not have security clearance for it.

His wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA employee but she was no longer doing covert foreign assignments. Moreover, it is possible that someone who read Novak's column might have looked up his wife's name and blown her cover but it is not that likely. By going public, Wilson made sure that the world knew who his wife was. Then they did a photo spread for Vanity Fair so everyone knew what she looks like (she wore a scarf and sunglasses as a disguise).

The left seems stuck on 2003. They do not admit that Wilson lied about the yellowcake nor do they recognize that Saddam is known to have had WMDs at one point - he even used them. There was no need for Bush to fake evidence.

Similarly, it is very unlikely that a trial of Libby will go beyond the leak investigation.

In many ways the left's reaction to Wilson is the same as to the forged TANG documents last year. In both cases, the evidence was too good to examine closely. The left needed them to be true so they didn't look too carefully. In both cases, even after the proof turned out to be wrong they refuse to admit it.

The guys over at Huffington have pinned their hopes on the wrong person. Wilson is a dead end and nothing involving his can lead to the investigation they want nor would that lead to the results they desire.