Libby Trial Window Into White House Iraq War Attack Machine

RealAudio

Interview with investigative journalist Robert Parry,
conducted by Scott Harris

As the trial of Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff began in Washington on Jan. 16, there was much speculation about how much further damage the Bush administration might sustain as a result of sworn testimony by a number of top White House officials including Cheney. In October 2005, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald indicted Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges for misleading the grand jury about how he learned that former U.S. ambassador and White House critic Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked as a CIA covert operative.

The Bush administration made an effort to discredit Wilson, after he challenged the president's rationale for the Iraq war by publicly discussing his 2002 fact-finding trip to Niger. While on the CIA mission there he found no support for the president's claim that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium in the African nation for its nuclear weapons program.

Vice President Cheney, it turns out, was the originator of information passed on to Libby, who in turn spoke with reporters about Wilson's wife's job at the CIA. Libby's defense attorney argued in an opening statement at the trial that the White House had sacrificed Libby in order to protect President Bush's political advisor Karl Rove in advance of the 2004 Presidential election. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with investigative journalist Robert Parry who examines the significance of Libby's trial and what the public may learn about the inner workings of the Bush administration as they aggressively attacked critics of their decision to invade Iraq.

Robert Parry is winner of the George Polk award for national reporting. He is the author of "Secrecy and Privilege, Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." Read his columns online at www.consortiumnews.com

Related links:

• "Bush and Cheney Face Legal Jeopardy in Covert CIA Agent Outing Investigation," Interview with Robert Parry, investigative reporter, conducted by Scott Harris, Between The Lines For The Week Ending April 28, 2006
• "Fitzgerald Previews Government's Case Against Libby," by Jason Leopold, Truthout, Mar. 20, 2006
• "Interview With Murray Waas: How Cheney 'Authorized' Libby To Leak Classified Info,""Will Scooter Libby Graymail The CIA?," by David Corn, The Nation, Feb. 6, 2006 Democracy Now!, Feb. 10, 2006
• "Some Congressional Democrats Now Push for White House Accountability on False Pre-Iraq War Claims," Interview with U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. conducted by Richard Hill, Between The Lines For The Week Ending Nov. 18, 2005
• "Libby May Have Tried To Mask Cheney's Role," Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2005
• "Indictment of Vice President's Former Chief of Staff Prompts Demand to Investigate White House Role in Misrepresenting Rationale for Iraq War" Interview with John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, conducted by Scott Harris, Between The Lines For The Week Ending Nov. 11, 2005
• "Poll: Libby Indictment Hits Major Nerve," Associated Press, Nov. 9, 2005
• "A Cheney-Libby Conspiracy, Or Worse? Reading Between The Lines Of the Libby Indictment," by John Dean, FindLaw.com, Nov. 4, 2005
• "Iraq War Appears Likely To Go On Trial Along With Libby," by Marc Sandalow, San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 29, 2005
• "As CIA Leak Investigation Concludes, Critics Say Probe Should Examine Possible Presidential Crimes Around Iraq War," Interview with John Bonifaz, conducted by Scott Harris, Between The Lines Week Ending Oct. 28, 2005