Kaboom!

IN THE NEWS
That's the sound of the Internet exploding with discussion about today's big story: in court documents filed today, Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, testified that the order to leak classified documents about Iraq's alleged nuclear weapons program ultimately came not from Cheney, but from President George W. Bush.

Of course, this is one man's testimony, and there's a whole lot more investigating that needs to be done before special prosecutor Kevin Fitzgerald is done. Leaking flawed intelligence about alleged Iraqi WMD programs is not as unambiguously wrong or criminal as "outing" a CIA operative. However, if Libby's story, withstands scrutiny, this is News with a capital "N," and not, as some people have speculated today, a story that doesn't have "legs." For every effort to brush aside Libby's testimony as unimportant, there's an obvious rebuttal:

• The President granted himself the power to de-classify documents in 2003. Yes, but the information in question wasn't exactly released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. The Administration continued to insist that all its intelligence about Iraqi WMD efforts was under tight seal. The de-classification, if indeed it was approved in writing, was itself kept secret among Bush, Cheney, and Libby. And remember how Bush spoke as though these leaks were coming from some unnamed official, who would experience the full presidential wrath once discovered?
• The President authorized the release of the information to help convince Americans of what people thought was a serious threat. This "release" was handled in the most underhanded way possible, through a leak. Leaks, of course, don't get the scrutiny that, say, Bush's assertion in the State of the Union address that Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake from African countries. Leaks are also an easier path to fight political battles that have nothing to do with the merits of the cassus belli against Saddam Hussein.
• This discussion has nothing to do with the Valerie Plame case. Except, of course, that the White House did have a coordinated strategy against of the war--again, a political battle, not a high-minded debate over national security concerns.

The Bush Administration fought hard for the war it wanted to fight against Iraq. President Bush is now facing the consequences, both of the war itself and how he made it happen.