The Armitage mystery

On which side of the fence do you come down in the Plame leak story? Do you think that there was a plot within the Bush administration to discredit Joe Wilson to bolster justification for the invasion of Iraq? Or do you think that it was a royal screw-up by the village gossip? Or do you have a different take on that entire leak scandal? Recent revelations may make it possible to move on from the whole question.

Richard Armitage is probably the source of the leak that "outed" CIA covert operative, Valerie Plame/
Valerie Wilson. Newsweek's Michael Isikoff appeared with Nora O'Donnell on MSNBC's 8/28/06 program, "Hardball." During the interview Isikoff described how Robert Novack got the information leading to his column that revealed Plame's identity. Quoting from the Newsweek story,

After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me."

What made Richard Armitage make this damaging revelation? Why would this man, never a loyal Bush administration mouthpiece, tell Novak - and later Bob Woodward - about Joe Wilson's wife working for the CIA? Was his motivation nefarious? Or was it just a stupid mistake?
The blogosphere has been buzzing with opinion about this question. Here's a hat tip to TPM reader, DK for this link to "Needlenose" at Swopa, who wrote a very rich post titled, "The trapping of the accidental leaker." The post is just filled with quotes and links that provide many possible clues. To quote,

So what possible wrinkles are there? I'd start with the odd claim that Armitage didn't realize his apparently crucial role until reading Novak's October 1, 2003 column.

Many of us have been attributing malevolent motivations to all those people in the current administration who caused this major scandal. Washington Post writer, R. Jeffrey Smith's 8/29/06 story, lays out the motivation dilemma. To quote,

Armitage's involvement in the matter does not fit neatly into the assertions of Bush administration critics that Plame's employment was disclosed as part of a White House conspiracy to besmirch Wilson by suggesting his Niger trip stemmed from nepotism at the CIA. Wilson and Plame have sued top administration officials, alleging that the leak was meant as retaliation.
But Armitage, the source Novak had described obliquely as someone who is "not a political gunslinger," was by all accounts hardly a tool of White House political operatives. As the No. 2 official at the State Department from March 2001 to February 2005, Armitage was a prominent Republican appointee. But he also
privately disagreed with the tone and style of White House policymaking on Iraq
and other matters.
"Just because Armitage did this on his own, earlier, doesn't mean that there wasn't a White House conspiracy to 'out' Valerie [Plame] Wilson. We don't think it affects the case," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group pressing the lawsuit.

Where you come down may depend on your politics. Slate Magazine's Sonia Smith rounds up a number of references to major blogs with their wide-ranging "takes" on the Armitage story.

Liberals are still suspicious, and some doubt Armitage was the only leaker. . .
Many on the right believe that Armitage was Novak's original source.

Here is where I come down on the question. I believe that Richard Armitage is a fallible human being who opened his mouth to two very ambitious and exploitive columnists. Novak, unfortunately gave the information to Karl Rove, the one person in the administration who would make the worst use of it. Armitage would not have had it that way for anything, in my opinion.
The other big piece of this is not an original thought with me. (I think the question came up on "Hardball," but I am not sure). Anyway, it regards why it is that Colin Powell did not tell the president who the leaker was after he found out, if that is the case. The consequence of that ommision eventually produced the entire Patrick Fitzgerald investigation, out of which came the indictment of Libby, as well as all the trouble for the rest of these nefarious Bush administration characters.
Tags: Bush Blogs current affairs News News and politics Richard Armitage Plame
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about "royal rocks."