About Time (Plame Investigation)

Word was out everywhere last evening that US Attorney General John Ashcroft had finally decided to recuse himself from the investigation into high-ranking White House leaks that led to the uncovering of "superspy" Valerie Plame, who is also the wife of former US Ambassador to Gabon, Joseph Wilson. Good for Mr. Ashcroft; it was the right thing to do.

I would tend, however, to agree with The New York Times that this should have happened some time ago, that there is much investigation yet to be done and that the very recusal itself doesn't mean true answers will be sought, and that we may never know the extent of the damage done because of the delay in months before Mr. Ashcroft chose this route.

We can't say we value those who risk their lives in "the war on terrorism" (this appears in quotations because the administration means very different things when it invokes this term which it does with seeming carefree abandon) in one breath, while allowing "high-ranking White House sources" in another to "out" operatives just because they don't like something the operative's husband said.