March 7, 2007
 
COMMENTARY: Libby Conviction: Our Justice System Works
 
By Tom Proebsting
Special to HNN
 
Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, former chief of staff for the Vice President, was convicted on four counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice today. His defense is likely to ask for a new trial and when the judge refuses, they will likely appeal. Libby's court case has been as closely followed as was the Watergate hearings.
 
Today’s (Tuesday, March 6, 2007) outcome fooled me as I thought Libby's attorney, Theodore Wells, would call Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, or Libby himself to the witness stand. He didn't. I mistook this for overconfidence. But it was incompetence.
 
It all started when President George Bush decided to preemptively attack Iraq on the flawed basis of Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. Bush said in a State of the Union speech that Saddam had been seeking enriched uranium from Niger.
 
The CIA sent former ambassador Joe Wilson to Niger to investigate Bush's claim. Wilson returned to the states and publicly reported that Saddam had not approached Niger on the subject of purchasing uranium and that the reasons for attacking Iraq were bogus.
 
The Bush Administration responded by going after Joe Wilson. Why didn't they respond by just admitting the truth? Why didn't they admit there was little evidence for assuming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction?
 
Think about it. Right before the war, former Secretary of State Colin Powell made his case before the United Nations Security Council. He alleged that military trucks had been spotted by military intelligence tooling around Iraq. The vehicles were thought to have contained weapons of mass destruction. Powell also claimed certain suspicious-looking buildings in Iraq may have contained WMD. This evidence was almost laughable then; it's hilarious now.
 
So the Bush Administration responded to Wilson like a schoolyard bully. They kicked Joe Wilson's wife in the shins. They outed Valerie Plame, a CIA agent. No one is supposed to know who the individual agents are, because any one of them could go covert at a moment's notice. I got that last item of truth from an FBI agent.
 
So the Bush Administration, with a smirk, appoints Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the case of who leaked Valerie Plame's name and identity to the press. He needed to look no further than under the nose of Dick Cheney.
 
Many witnesses were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury. Libby testified and was found very inconsistent in his testimony. So he was charged with lying to a grand jury. Note he wasn't charged with leaking Valerie Plame's name and identity to the press. Libby wasn't the original leaker; former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was.
 
Libby was brought to trial on charges of lying to a federal grand jury and FBI agents (perjury) and obstruction of justice. The jury didn't buy his weak defense of a faulty memory. You don't work your way up the ladder to become chief of staff for the Vice President of the United States by being senile.
 
Justice was done as was announced today. Libby's defense will likely keep him out of jail on the appeals. Fitzgerald announced today that he will not file any more charges for this case. I fully expect President Bush to pardon Libby near the end of his term. A lot of messages were sent back and forth during this debacle. I want to reveal some of them to you. First, President Bush decided to preemptively attack Iraq on flimsy evidence.
 
("I'm going to do what I want, when I want, because I am the President!") Reason, in the form of Joe Wilson, responded and said, "I'll check out your evidence." ("Oh, yeah?")
 
Joe Wilson was sent to Niger by the CIA and found Bush's claims to be false. (Liar, liar, pants on fire!)
 
The Bush Administration responded by attacking Iraq, attacking Joe Wilson and outing Wilson's wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame. (Take that, you snitch!)
 
By the checks and balances of our government, witnesses are questioned before a grand jury. Libby is found to have an inconsistent testimony, and is brought to trial on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
 
(Nyaah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyaaaah!)
 
Libby is found guilty.
 
(Do not lie to the American people.)
 
By February, 2009 President Bush will have fully pardoned Scooter Libby.
 
(**** You!!!)

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Tom Proebsting is a commentator living in Missouri. Comments may be directed to: http://www.truthprobe.com