TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Famous CIA Spy Speaks

ADVERTISEMENT

By LAURA KINSLER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

TAMPA - Valerie Plame Wilson wants people to know she wasn't just some pencil pusher at the CIA when high-ranking Bush administration officials outed her to Washington journalists.

She had worked her way up the ladder to a leadership role in the agency's Counterproliferation Division. She holds two master's degrees and speaks four languages. As part of her CIA training, she learned to jump out of airplanes, evade capture, fire an M-16, skin a deer and excel in clandestine photography. In other words, she learned how to be a spy.

"I was the best shot in my class," she said.

Speaking at the University of South Florida Sun Dome on Tuesday, Plame Wilson described her life in the CIA and after she became the most famous undercover operative since the fictional James Bond. She also explained how her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was selected to investigate reports that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had acquired enriched uranium from Africa.

"I did not sit in on that meeting," she said. And when Wilson, who had served as a diplomat in Africa and Iraq, returned from his 2002 trip - subject of his New York Times op-ed piece - his wife recused herself from his debriefing.

Wilson found no evidence that Saddam had purchased yellowcake uranium from Niger as President Bush claimed in his 2003 State of the Union address.

A few weeks later, she watched then-Secretary of State Colin Powell address the United Nations.

"I have to tell you, my heart just sank," she said. "The strength with which he conveyed this intelligence had nothing to do with the intelligence to which I was privy."

The Wilsons knew there would be retribution when the ambassador publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.

Plame Wilson described how she learned she'd been outed by columnist Robert Novak. Her husband tossed a newspaper on the bed and said, "The S.O.B. did it."

"In a nanosecond, I started thinking about my network of assets, the safety of my children and that my career was over," she said.

Only I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, faced criminal charges for the leak. He was convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice. President Bush commuted his sentence.

Plame Wilson said that despite everything, she still believes in public service and encouraged students to get engaged in politics.

"Wake up! Participate, and educate yourself," she said.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT