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Stink of Censorship? Email Print

By Limelite
03/18/2006 11:44:47 PM EST

Is this why I haven't noticed Larry Johnson posting around the liberal blogosphere much any more?

   CIA to Bloggers: Honor the Oath

    The CIA's Publications Review Board is sending out terse reminders to agency veterans reminding them of the rules requiring that any writings--even blogs--must first get agency approval. Among those getting the warning is outspoken blogger and ex-agency man Larry Johnson, who smells censorship. "It's very selective," says Johnson, who has been critical of the CIA's failure to defend outed ex-spook Valerie Plame. His note from CIA brass referenced his blogging. A CIA spokesman described the reminder as standard operating procedure. "Should anyone be surprised if CIA reminds people of the obligations they voluntarily assumed?" asks the agency in a statement. Exempted from the review list: radio and TV appearances--unless written notes are used. US News.com

[emphasis mine]


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Stink of Censorship? | 4 comments (4 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Stink of Censorship? | (none / 0)

Of course Mr. Johnson is afraid of censorship. He could be declared an "enemy combatant" before he could bat an eye, and subsequently find himself in Guantanamo Bay.
I'm just a dumb Dutchman, but I cannot understand how you can wage a war on terrorism and still declare that your prisoners are not POWs. Doublethink, doublespeak?

by Hans on 03/19/2006 08:31:21 PM EST

Right You Are (none / 0)
as did the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confirm in its ruling three years ago, when it upheld the Federal Government, saying,
President Bush has the authority to designate U.S. citizens as "enemy combatants" and detain them in military custody if they are deemed a threat to national security.

Apparently the so-called war on terrorism must be waged on the terrifying types such as Larry Johnson, at least using psy-ops so far.

by Limelite on 03/23/2006 12:21:43 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Censorship or CIA Defense? (none / 0)
The answer to the rhetorical question, Stink of Censorship?, is a rhetorical no.

Censorship is a nice boogeyman word, sure to race the hearts of the left, but quite unfriendly to the left-leaning Agency with more than a modicum of hate-Bush sentiment below the level of the Director, e.g., Johnson.

As Johnson says, the CIA failed to defend Valerie Plame. But it failed to do so long before Novak's source could have named her as a CIA employee. As a result, the statute protecting undercover agents and punishing leaks, 50 U.S.C. §421, did not apply.

Valerie herself revealed her employment in her unclassified letter of 2/12/02 to her supervisors nominating her husband for the Africa trip that in a roundabout, armslength way was supposed to show Bush lied about Saddam's nuclear activities.

Then whoever in the CIA responded to the Senate Select Committee investigating the leak again revealed her employment identity again in unclassified text.

Because of the CIA's failure to take "affirmative measures to conceal [Plame's] intelligence relations to the United States", Scooter Libby should walk on those charges. The news may already be out that the CIA won't provide the discovery Libby is requesting allegedly because that information is sensitive. This is a good cover story for the CIA for not having taken any affirmative measures to protect Plame's identity, or for not having to reveal now that she was not undercover at all.

In warning those like Johnson who had access to classified information, the CIA is trying to plug its leaks, taking a necessary affirmative measure so if there's a next time it might have a case.

by drrocket on 03/25/2006 12:50:01 PM EST

censorship in the U.S.A.-----NAH (none / 1)
David W. Bouchard Esq: Remember telling Judge Henry Coke Morgan about the 1942 case- Glasser v. U.S.- just before Judge Morgan split the statute into separate offenses so you could dissect the statute- U.S.C.844(e)-in the 4th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals. Well I've found it Dave. No wonder you led me on to the Supreme Court without a peep of my case appearing in the press.

I always thought Hillary Clinton's exhortation of a vast right wing conspiracy was total gibberish. Now on second thought, that exhortation was anchored in reality.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.c om/scripts/getcase.pl?vol=3 15&page=60&navby=ca se&court=us&SUBMIT_ SUPREME4=Search

by jlspruill on 07/05/2006 09:47:50 AM EST

Stink of Censorship? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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