|
1. He probably knows enough to put the entire Bush Junta behind bars if not before a firing squad. So if he turns on them, while they are still in power--or even long afterward--his life would be in jeopardy.
2. I actually think that he is a true believer. I think he thinks that his taking the fall is cover for whatever they've got cooked up on Iran (we ain't seen nothin yet). I got this from his "aspens" letter. He told Judith Miller to "come back to life--and work" to cover "biological threats" and Iran nukes. The "aspens" turning together because "their roots are connected, " meant that everybody is still agreed on the "grand plan," his taking the fall is part of it, and she can therefore come out of jail and testify against him.
And speaking of the jeopardy to Libby "long afterward"--someone at Firedoglake commented today that, as long as Fitzgerald is Special Prosecutor, they CANNOT give Libby a pardon, cuz the moment they pardon Libby, Fitz hauls him back before the Grand Jury and he is compelled to tell the truth. He cannot refuse (no 5th amendment--his criminal liability is not at issue). And Fitz doesn't look to me to be anywhere near finished with this investigation and with prosecutions. He has enough, from what we've heard in the trial, to indict a number of people, including Cheney, and he certainly has a conspiracy--and that's just from what is visible. God knows what Fitz has that we don't know about. My guess is a lot. He hinted at a Cheney-led conspiracy in early docs on Libby, and the trial has revealed much more. Also, Fitz's mandate is very broad, and rock solid (at least on paper)(--but so is the Constitution--is my argument with H20Man, who says they won't dare do a "Saturday Night Massacre"). My feeling: Fitz ain't going anywhere til he solves this crime. There is no end date to his powers (which the Comey letter makes equivalent to the AG's powers--nay, superior to the AG's powers, cuz Fitz can indict the AG and ANYBODY WHO INTERFERES WITH HIM. (--as I said, on paper, anyway; in a lawful country). (What ever happened to the old rightwing "law and order" line?)
The Junta is in a tight spot vis a vis Libby. If they DO pardon him, they've got BULLDOG Fitzgerald right on him. If they don't, they've got an aggrieved Libby.
However, what I think the plan is, is to bugger all this legal stuff with a war on Iran, and consequent conflagration in the Middle East, which could involve (given Putin's recent statements), Russia, maybe even China (big interest in Iran's oil), Europe, parts of No. Africa, Pakistan, and the entire Middle East. And I don't mean that Russia, China and Europe would be our allies. They would be our enemies. The countries downwind of possible US nukes are likely very, very unhappy with us right now. I see a deliberate crash of the US dollar as part of this awful scenario--and possibly a preventive measure, although Cheney wants blood and lots of it, and he probably has his filthy billions in foreign currency. (They probably all do.) So what does he care? Chaos and mass murder as cover for massive thievery, treason, and what-all. Will Fitzgerald matter? Will our country even be functioning?
To Libby, I think it may just be a neat PNAC plan that fills him with egotistical pride. Conquer Iraq as stepping stone to Iran. Conquer Iran. Become Lords of the Earth, then "we make the rules." But what will REALLY happen is what is happening to Iraq right now--hell on earth. And the "neat" PNAC theory can easily escalate--more than likely WILL escalate--into WW III. Could even be the end of all life on earth (if Carl Sagan was right--about the impacts to our atmosphere of even a limited use of nukes). I think Libby is a "good soldier" of the PNAC conspiracy. I think he believes in it. And is taking the fall for ITS sake. He is probably deluded that the "aspens" will reward him for this. A knife in the back in prison will probably be his reward.
Why is Cheney not testifying for Libby? Because he is Fitzgerald's main target--and the things that have come out at Libby's trail point straight at him. He cannot afford to testify--and he also has bigger things on his mind: how to fuck up the world so that he can abscond to Paraguay, or wherever, with his loot. And Libby cannot testify for himself without being led into a deadly trap by Fitzgerald--an absolutely brilliant prosecutor--that would indict Cheney ten times over. Loyal Libby is protecting Cheney, but not just Cheney, he's protecting "the grand plan"--which is directly connected to WHY they outed Valerie Plane and the entire CIA WMD counter-proliferation network--to be able to have a free hand with WMDs, to indict Iran with, and/or create a terrorist incident to blame on Iran. (Also, it's my guess that Cheney is protecting Rumsfeld and the plan to plant WMDs in Iraq that failed. That plan, if exposed, would point to their Iran plan.)
Anyway, there is far, far more at issue here than just a warring bunch of rightwing assholes knifing each other in the back. There is A PLAN. We see it in the weird, wild things the Junta is still saying, against all reason--about Iran now being the "mother of all threats," then trotting out some bomb parts with "suspicious" serial numbers, presented by DoD operatives who won't give their names. I mean, that is just WEIRD. But it is only the beginning. And Libby keeping his lip zipped is PART of The Plan (or so he has been led to believe).
I don't know that "The Plan" is going to work. But they sure can create a lot of bloody hell trying. And, frankly, I don't think Cheney gives a crap if it works or not, as long as he and the multi-billionaire war profiteers behind him escape the consequences.
|