Thank You, Valerie Plame Wilson, For Your Service!

I must admit I do not know much about Nuclear Proliferation. A baccalaureate level understanding of physics and chemistry does not make one adequate to the task. I follow some of the technological discussion of isotope enhancement through centrifugation, ... and even some of the writing about Uranium versus Plutonium based weapons. Even at my deficient level of understanding, I was suspect of the "aluminum tubes" that conveniently appeared to justify our attack upon Iraq. It seemed ridiculous to me that tons of yellow cake ore had been purchased by, let alone transferred to, Iraq with the many intercessions in place to enforce our sanctions on that nation over the previous decade. That our representatives in Congress could have believed the misrepresentations is preposterous to me to this day, and I am suspicious of their individual motivations to vote for the war. They must be asked such questions before we ever again allow them to lead us in any capacity.

I know President Carter understands these matters, for it was his specialization as an officer in the Navy after graduation from the USNA with my father. What all of that inspiring but insufficient understanding meant to me today, was that when you, Valerie Plame Wilson, appeared before a House Committee, you brought credibility, and honor to a place generally known for its stench of partisanship and stupidity of purpose about a subject that few comprehend, and I assure you none in the room could fully grasp.

And so, as an American, I offer my thanks to you as a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency for your service. You are a hero to me for having carried off your assignment with grace and style, with intelligence and purpose. I also extend my thanks to those you worked with in the Agency and abroad, and hope they are safe and out of harm's way, clearly caused by the despicable acts of our current Executive Administration.

What I am loathe to admit, and grieved to comprehend, is that America is probably more blind now to nuclear proliferation threats than we have been in many years as a result of this political abomination. Cheney and Bush will rot in the basement of American political history in any event, ... but even moreso if there is someday a nuclear attack upon America that you, and your networks, could have prevented on our behalves. In that event, there should be criminal hearings to call them to account for the attack, and the network these men have destroyed for personal political cover and gain.

I am afraid to admit that the America you took an oath to serve has been betrayed by others above us all, but who take no stock in their oaths whatsoever. That truth, ... the irrefutable treachery at the highest level of our Nation, is a threat against which neither you, the CIA, nor our Nation are truly prepared. To the extent that your testimony of today might reverse that course for our Nation, I thank you a second time.

Be well.