Many have been perplexed by the recent turns in Joe Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked Valerie Plame-Wilson's identity. It seemed particularly inapposite that a NYTimes journalist, Judith Miller, was thrown into jail although she hadn't written anything about Valerie Wilson while Robert Novak, who had, was free as a popinjay. Many agreed with the claim of the NYtimes that Miller is a free-speech martyr. I was one of the many who agreed. However I now believe the matter is not so simple.
What changed is I've learned some of Miller's history. She may not have written about Valerie Wilson, but she intended to. Miller's role in this case can't be understood without recalling her role in the buildup to the Iraq war. She provdided much of the respected journalistic justification for the war. She wrote many articles which claimed that Saddam had WMD. Her role as advocate for the White House's position in fact went far deeper even than this. She acted as a sort of middlewoman between the Army and Ahmed Chalabai in Iraq. She was present when Saddam's son-in-law was arrested and even sat in on his debriefing. In fact this was even called "Judith Miller's team."
Once all this is understood Miller's role and the reason she has been targeted become's much easier to understand. Joseph Wilson's op-ed article in the NYTimes, her very own paper, threatened her as much as it did the White House. In fact Novak's piece beat her to the punch. What is interesting is that I haven't seen anyone in the press really conncecting these dots. The Times just calls her a martyr without recalling her previous role as the premier Iraqi War cheerleader. Keep in mind that Times wrote an op-ed in 2004, without naming Miller, which apologized for its credulousness in advocating the Iraq war. When it is asked why Miller has been targeted as she never did actually write on Valerie Wilson everyone shrugs. They never mention that she intended to.

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