Reading this book was a real challenge for me. I know my summer reading list was all about challenges, but I was real serious about this one! I have never read someones memoir that was about politics before. Let's just say...I am not a fan of politics. I try to be informed about what is happening in our government, but sometimes it gets to a point that I get so angry, I just don't want to know anymore. However, when voting time comes around, I make it a point to educate myself on the elections. I will take part in that right as much as possible! So, it took a lot for me to read this book.
Another reason this book was challenging to read was because a large part of it had been censored by the CIA themselves. There were pages completed blacked out because they decided that information should not be public knowledge. Actually, it was at times very frustrating to start reading a sentence, see blacked out portions for several lines, and then see a new sentence start. What happened? I guess we can never really find out in her case. If you can get through the first six chapters, which are about her personal experiences while in the CIA, you can get through the whole book.
If you don't know about this story, I will give you a brief synopsis about it. Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA officer in the Counterproliferation Department, which was devoted to obtaining intelligence on nuclear acquisition efforts of rogue nations. Her identity was leaked to the media (which, by-the-way, is a federal crime) in 2003 after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C Wilson IV, wrote an article criticizing the Bush Administration for their reason for the Iraq War. This was a huge political scandal that not only jeopardized her family, her career and the lives of people who worked undercover with her. But it also rocked the integrity of politics as a whole, if there ever was such a thing. This story involves a lot of finger pointing, as most politics does, but it really makes you think and talk about what really goes on in our government.
As I was scanning this book and saw all the blacked out pages, my first thought was why would anyone even publish it? But as I kept reading I realized that she had to get her side of the story out. I mean, how many times do you hear something in the news and begin to take the side of the people telling the story? And if you watch CNN or FOX? Well, they are usually one way. This was her way of getting her story out, so we could hear the other side. Plus, since she was forced to retire early she had to make money somehow, and I'm sure a book and movie deal helped along the way. (Just so you know, I am not completely for or against Mrs. Wilson. I'm neutral.) There are other people that did contribute to this book as well, so you get other perspectives. There is an Afterword by Laura Rozen, a reporter on national security for Washington D.C., who can fill in some of the blanks and provides another context of the story. The book also includes exerps from congressional records.
Once I got to chapter 7, I really wanted to finish the book. I wanted to know what had happened and what the outcome was going to be. And I'll say it really was worth reading. So what were the words that started all this mess? During President George W. Bush's state of the union address in January 2003, he said "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." This was a false statement because it was not verified. There were plenty of people that thought this, but it had not been verified. President Bush went ahead with this statement anyway because he wanted to sell the war to the American public. Were weapons of mass destruction ever found in Iraq? I'll let you have your own opinions.
In 2007, Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was found guilty of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements. For what you may ask? He may have been the "fall guy", but the Bush Administration went to great lengths to discredit Mr. Wilson on the claim that they were wrong about Saddam Hussein trying to buy materials to make WMDs. Not only did this show great desperation, but it was a smear campaign to take attention off of the reason we were even going to war. Was Saddam Hussein a threat? Absolutely! But we, the American public, had a right to know the truth of why we were sending our loved ones across the world. As an American, I am outraged that our leader at the time had to lie to us to finish his Dad's war. And he did it the wrong way.
It is so scary to know the "power" of the President. Why does one person have so much power? I'm not saying our government is the worst. But it's not the best either. Reading this book did make me angry that we having people running our country that are so manipulative and deceitful, and it's become the "norm" for us. Why are we not surprised when we hear about politicians making headline news for inappropriate behavior?
I will say that watching the movie did give more insight into what Mrs. Wilson "might" have done during her covert operations in other countries. But the movie pretty much followed the book (starting with chapter 7). Even with all the blacked out pages, I enjoyed the book more. I do like Naomi Watts, but Sean Penn is a little out there too much for me. This was probably the perfect role for him where he could step up on his soapbox and preach. If you ever saw Flags of Our Fathers or Lions for Lambs and you were upset by those movies because of the actions of (or lack of) our government, you might be just as upset with this movie. However, it was still worth watching because of the real-life issue.
And, for all of you who are oh-so-curious, my political affiliation is
