[Mb-civic] Knocking on Cheney's door - Joan Vennochi - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Knocking on Cheney's door

By Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe Columnist  |  October 30, 2005

KNOCK, KNOCK, who's there?

Dick Cheney.

If you are President George W. Bush, you do not want to open that door. 
On the other side stands the vice president, who outed CIA official 
Valerie Plame Wilson to his chief of staff, I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby.

On Friday, Libby was indicted on criminal charges, including obstruction 
of justice, making a false statement, and perjury in the CIA leak 
investigation. Basically, Libby is accused of lying about how and when 
he learned that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA agent. According to the 
indictment, one of his sources was Cheney. The indictment specifically 
states that Libby ''was advised by the vice president of the United 
States that Wilson's wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency" and 
that ''the vice president had learned this information from the CIA."

Bush senior adviser Karl Rove was not indicted, but remains under 
investigation.

Given the build-up over the last week, Scooter without Rove at first 
feels like Bonnie without Clyde. Rove's escape for the moment means the 
CIA leak investigation does not -- yet -- directly involve Bush.

But it's getting closer. Here's the timeline closing in on the president:

In February 2002, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador, went to Africa to 
investigate allegations that Niger sold yellowcake uranium to Iraq for 
use in nuclear weapons.

On Jan. 28, 2003, in his State of the Union Address, Bush said: ''The 
British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought 
significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

In a July 6 New York Times op-ed piece, Wilson wrote that he could not 
verify that Niger sold uranium yellowcake to Iraq.

According to the indictment, Cheney passed Valerie Plame Wilson's name 
to Libby ''on or about June 12, 2003."

On July 14, 2003, Wilson's wife was first identified in the press as a 
CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction. The sources were ''two 
senior administration officials."

During a Friday press conference, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald did 
his best to cut through the complexity:

Valerie Wilson's cover ''was blown," said Fitzgerald, and Libby blew it 
and lied about it.

''This is a very serious matter," said Fitzgerald. ''Compromising 
national security is very serious."

No one was charged with the specific crime of leaking the identity of a 
covert CIA agent, because Fitzgerald apparently determined that he could 
not prove at this time whether it was done through ''inadvertence, 
recklessness, or maliciousness." That determination may change.

Think of the indictment as a skeleton. Put flesh on it, and here is what 
you get:

The Bush administration took this country to war on the premise that 
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. When Joseph Wilson undercut the 
premise, the Bush administration went to war to discredit him. Part of 
the effort involved getting the word out that Wilson's wife worked for 
the CIA and she was the only reason Wilson was chosen to check out the 
Iraq/yellowcake connection. In other words, Wilson did not have the 
stature or expertise to investigate WMD, and his conclusions were 
therefore irrelevant.

Right now, the price of gas and the rising toll of US military deaths in 
Iraq may seem more troublesome to the average citizen. But oil and Iraq 
are really what Plamegate is all about, as well as the lack of honesty 
at the highest level of government, and the willingness to do what it 
takes to silence a critic.

With Cheney in it, Plamegate gets a plotline that is easier to understand.

It's no wonder Cheney issued this statement regarding Libby, who 
resigned on Friday: ''Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and 
talented individuals I have ever known. He has given many years of life 
to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great 
distinction."

The vice president needs Libby now much more than Libby needs him.

Facing jail and disgrace, what will Libby give up about Cheney's passing 
on of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a CIA official? Will the 
information make it easier for Fitzgerald to determine whether the 
outing of Valerie Plame Wilson was done through ''inadvertence, 
recklessness or maliciousness." And what will Libby say about Rove?

Knock, knock. Who's there?

This door may yet open right into the Oval Office.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/30/knocking_on_cheneys_door/
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