by Rachel Hill
Daily Lobo
Former CIA operative Valerie Plame compared the agency's censorship of her book to lessening the crime of leaking her classified identity.
"If you diminish me, then you diminish the crime," Plame said.
Plame's new autobiography sheds light on government scandal and personal struggle. Plame's identity was outed by Washington Post columnist Robert Novak in July 2003 which led to a grand jury investigation and the prosecution of Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
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Plame visited Albuquerque's Bookworks on Saturday to sign copies of her new book, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.
Joe Wilson, Plame's husband, introduced her for a question-and-answer session. Plame dedicated her book to him.
"Even though she looks innocent and sweet, she's one tough cookie," Wilson said.
Plame said she wrote Fair Game because she had a story to tell.
"It's a story of speaking truth to power despite the consequences," Plame said. "This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is an issue of national security - our national security - which is why we should care."
Plame's husband shares her strong convictions.
"We continue to fight this fight because 20 years from now, when our kids ask us, 'Where were you when it counted?' We want to be able to tell them, 'We were on the front lines,'" he said.
The question-and-answer session turned into a heated political discussion.
Event attendee Tom Lawson said Plame must have a special type of personality to handle the vigor of the CIA's paramilitary training, which she discusses at the beginning of her book.
"She must be from a military family, and she's certainly a patriot," said Lawson, a World War II veteran. "She's gotten stepped on by an administration that is off course, but they can't make her disappear."
Plame's book teems with black bars that conceal details of her career and personal life. The blacked-out portions range from sentences to pages. Plame was forced to submit her manuscript to the CIA before publication and it censored her story, she said. But Plame chose to leave the
redactions in her book for readers to see.
"I'm not permitted to acknowledge my agency affiliation prior to January 2002," Plame said. "This is further evidence of the vindictiveness and the lengths to which this administration will go to silence a critic. They use national security and fear as a bludgeon to help perpetuate their agenda."
Plame said a democracy is strong only if its citizens are willing to participate in it and contribute to it.
"I think we've seen long enough what happens when we're not paying attention, and we're not calling our government to account for its words and deeds," she said.
Lawson said individuals should challenge the actions of
authorities.
"I think impeachment and indictment are justified in this situation - conviction even - for both the president and vice president," he said.
Attendee Linda Hayes said the question-and-answer session made her more aware of how bad things are in Washington, D.C.
"I was furious before," Hayes said. "But to hear the details - it makes me feel more personally outraged."
