An NYT story reports the U.S. National Security Agency is sitting on a historical study completed in 2001 that found some of its agents "deliberately distorted critical intelligence to cover up their mistakes" in the 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident that triggered the Vietnam War.

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Seymour Hersh, the legendary U.S. reporter, talked to The Globe and Mail about what the Plamegate scandal is really all about.

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This article by NYT media writer Katharine Q. Seelye explores why 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq seemed to resonate much more than the first 1,000 did.

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Blair mulls banninq liquor on public transportation in Britain, and a Beeb corro goes drunk-spotting in Helsinki.

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Salon's Aaron Kinney rounds up reaction from the U.S. conservative commentariat on the indictment of "Scooter" Libby in the Plamegate affair.   more »

Patrick Fitzgerald says his team only subpoenaed journalists as a last resort during the investigation of the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.

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Dubya said that during his brief remarks in the wake of the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his veep's chief of staff, for activities stemming from Plamegate.

Here's some of the other things Dubya was up to this week:

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Tim Grieve of Salon's War Room blog on what might be next for Karl Rove, Dubya's most important advisor.

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I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, resigned after being indicted in connection with Plamegate.

From CNN:

Libby was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements, court documents show.

The indictments were not directly related to the actual leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.

Libby discussed Plame's identity in the summer of 2003 with reporters after her husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, wrote a highly critical op-ed column in The New York Times that challenged intelligence used as a rationale for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Descriptions of those conversations by reporters say Wilson discussed Plame's identity, in part, to cast doubt in the reporters' mind about Wilson's account and criticized the CIA, the indictment alleged.

"These are very serious charges," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "They suggest a senior White House aide put politics ahead of our national security and the rule of law. This case is bigger than the leak of highly classified information. It is about how the Bush administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq."

These indictments are the first in a nearly two-year investigation. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has scheduled a 2:15 p.m. ET news conference.

Here's Dubya's statement on the charges.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- whose nation may well be aspiring to a nuclear weapons program -- isn't backing down from his call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

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The NYT is reporting that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will likely be indicted later today for his role in Plamegate. While Karl Rove, Bush's brain, won't be at this time, the paper says he will remain under investigation and the grand jury hearing the case will have its term extended.

Let's see what the day brings!

Meanwhile, can't tell the Plamegate players without a program? The Globe and Mail's Alan Freeman has a primer.

The NYT's Todd S. Purdum analyzes U.S. President George W. Bush's week from hell -- a week that isn't over.

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Need more oil? The Saudis say, "Don't worry, we can handle it." But some U.S. government officials say, "don't be so sure." They think the Saudis' oil reserve estimates may be a tad optimistic.

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A collection of information on the grim business of U.S. troop deaths and maimings in Iraq.

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This NYT essay by Dr. Abigail Zuger talks about the delicious thrill some people get from scary health news, with special billing for avian flu.

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Democracy Now! ran some excerpts from the documentary Hotel Palestine: Killing the Witness, produced by the Spanish TV network Telecino. It contains interviews with two of the wanted soldiers.

Bunny Greenhouse made $137K US/yr working as a procurement bureaucrat for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But her work habits apparently went to shit not long after she started asking questions about fat contracts for Halliburton in the run-up to the Iraq war, and she was demoted.

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It's not the best of times for top U.S. Republicans.

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