But, beside Judith Miller’s close associations with the people who were pushing, and perhaps framing, the Iraqi war, her trajectory as an anti-Islamic Hawk had its own momentum. In 1996, she wrote God Has Ninety Nine Names about militant Islam, and established herself as something of a germ warfare expert with Germs in October of 2001, published at a time when the country’s paranoia was at it’s peak. But it was after September, 2002 that she really hit her stride. In the lead-in period to the Iraqi war, she published article after article about Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, Chemical/Biological weapons, and Al Qaeda connections. Her sources were un-named, officials and Iraqi expatriots. As Bush increased his stampede to war, her articles fueled the fire – so much so that many now wonder if the Administration was feeding her directly. A few examples: December 20, 2001 – An Iraqi Defector Tells of Work on at Least 20 Hidden Weapons Sites, September 8, 2002 – U.S. Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts, September 2, 2002 – White House Lists Iraq Steps To Build Banned Weapons, January 24, 2003 – Defectors Bolster U.S. Case Against Iraq. A complete listing of Judith Miller’s articles from September 11, 2001 to May 26, 2003 produces 165 articles, many in this vein.
In March, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Judith was embedded with the group looking for the WMD’s, as it turns out by direct intervention by Donald Rumsfield. The soldiers didn’t like her. She barked orders and apparently functioned as more than just a reporter. There were more articles: April 21, 2003 – Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert, April 23, 2003 – Focus Shifts From Weapons To the People Behind Them, April 24,2003 – U.S.-Led Forces Occupy Baghdad Complex Filled with Chemical Agents. As it became clear after a few months that there was nothing to be found and that her stories had been wrong, she kept up her rhetoric, even though other papers were saying "uh-oh:" May 21, 2003 – U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms. The political pundits inside the beltway were all over her reporting. In May, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post published an article with leaked internal NY Times emails revealing that Judith’s main source was the infamous Amhad Chalabi, who was in the process of being exposed as a monumental liar [May 26, 2003 – Intra-Times Battle Over Iraqi Weapons, By Howard Kurtz]. Miller’s tone changed. The May 21st article was the last of Miller’s really firebrand articles. A couple of weeks later, she publishes her first softened article on June 7, 2003 – Some Analysts of Iraq Trailers Reject Germ Use. But Kurtz kept coming, reporting on her behavior while in Iraq [June 25, 2003 – Embedded Reporter’s Role In Army Unit’s Actions Questioned by Military, By Howard Kurtz].
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby: Indicted
Perjury[2], Obstruction[1], Giving False Information[2]
“The President and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone, but we’re not going to let them rewrite history.”
“The suggestion that’s been made by some US senators that the President or any member of this Administration purposely misled the American people on prewar intelligence is one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."
“The saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to these cynical and pernicious falsehoods day in and day out.”
I think that the saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to this cynical and pernicious war day in and day out.
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