Thursday, October 13, 2005

Uranium fallout

Coverage of the Plame affair has been tainted by the press's cosy duet with the White House

From the steakhouses of the lobbyists to the cloakroom of the Senate, from the book-launch parties to the news bureaux, the main subject in Washington is who will be indicted, and when. As the inquiry of independent counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity approaches its deadline of October 28, the cast of characters appears for final performances before the grand jury. Trailing clouds of mystery, they disappear into the windowless chamber to emerge illuminating nothing. Fitzgerald's airtight office, leaking to no reporter, only fuels the fires of rumour by its silence.