Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame spent decades as a CIA officer gathering intelligence to help prevent nuclear weapons, materials, and technology from falling into hostile hands. That career was destroyed in 2003 when her identity as a covert officer was exposed amid an effort by members of the Bush administration to punish and discredit her husband after he publicly challenged a key justification for the war in Iraq. Plame became collateral damage in a political effort to defend a case for war built on intelligence that had been distorted to justify for its justification.
Her husband, Joe Wilson, had been an ambassador to three African countries. Wilson had gone on a CIA-authorized fact-finding trip to Africa to determine whether Niger was selling yellowcake uranium to Saddam Hussein for nuclear weapons. He reported through appropriate channels that no such sales had been made.
When President Bush nevertheless used the claim in his 2003 State of the Union address to help make the case for war, Wilson went public with a New York Times op-ed arguing that the administration had twisted intelligence to justify invading Iraq.
Plame’s CIA career was only the first casualty. Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched in March 2003, resulted in the deaths of 4,418 American service members, with another 31,994 wounded. There is no universally accepted figure for Iraqi casualties, but hundreds of thousands died, with some estimates approaching half a million or more.
An investigation into the leak ultimately led to the conviction of Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements.
Plame could have retreated into private life. Instead, she transformed her expertise into public advocacy, championing fact-based national security policy, informed citizenship, and nuclear nonproliferation. She has held leadership roles with organizations dedicated to reducing the nuclear threat. She also created and hosts Spies, Lies & Nukes, bringing intelligence professionals together with citizens to examine nuclear proliferation, disinformation, terrorism, and other emerging threats.
Valerie Plame has spent two careers defending the proposition that democracies cannot survive - or keep their citizens safe - unless national security is grounded in evidence, not ideology or political expediency.
“Certainly, if we had not invaded Iraq on intelligence that was clearly manipulated and cherry picked, we would be in a different position today.”
NEW MEXICO – MAY 7, 2024