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by Judith Miller


  2. At one point in our talks, the paper announced publicly that I would be reporting back to work in the newsroom by November 2. One of my lawyers interpreted this as an indication that Arthur was having second thoughts about whether an amicable settlement of our dispute was preferable to a dignified separation. But Matt Mallow, then a senior Skadden, Arps, partner and a friend, asked me a clarifying question: Even if I got a public apology from the paper, would I feel comfortable working again for the Times? Did I want to continue working for a paper that had “turned so quickly and easily on one of its own”? Would I ever again trust journalists who had, as Bob Bennett wrote in his memoir, “snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory” by assailing me after my almost three months in jail?

  3. I gave two interviews soon after I came out of jail: one to ABC’s Barbara Walters, whose father, a nightclub owner, had introduced my parents; and the other to Lou Dobbs, who was then at CNN and had run a clock at the top of the screen counting each day of my incarceration. I rejected numerous offers to write tell-all articles about jail and my fight with the paper and inquiries from filmmakers seeking my cooperation with a movie based on about my experience. In 2006 at the request of my lawyer, Floyd Abrams, who was involved in the project, I had lunch with Kate Beckinsale, the gifted actress who was preparing to play a reporter in a film about a court battle similar to mine. The film, Nothing But the Truth, written and directed by Rod Lurie, opened in the fall of 2007 went quickly to video distribution. Floyd was compensated. I did not participate.

  4. Libby’s version of their conversation is different. Libby told the grand jury that in response to Cooper, he had said that he did not know whether Cooper’s claim that Plame worked at the CIA was true. Cooper’s contemporaneous notes of their conversation support Libby’s description.

  5. Although Bush commuted Libby’s sentence, he still paid the hefty fine, served four hundred hours of community service, and had his law license revoked.

  6. John Rizzo, Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA (New York: Scribner, 2014), p. 208. In his book, the former CIA general counsel challenged another of Plame’s complaints: she had not been forced out of the CIA by its indifference to her family’s personal safety, he asserted. In her memoir, Plame said that she was forced to leave Langley partly because her bosses had denied her pleas for added security for her and her young twins after her family had been explicitly threatened. But Rizzo, who had investigated her request for “round-the-clock security protection,” determined that neither she nor her family was in “any sort of danger.” As a result, he wrote, he had “reluctantly” concluded that the CIA “could not lawfully expend the considerable amount of taxpayer money that would be required to shield her from a nonexistent threat.” Plame’s book also revealed, among other things, that the CIA had recalled her from her first covert overseas assignment in 1997 because the agency feared that she “might be among the officers betrayed to the Russians by traitor Aldrich Ames,” the CIA official who spied for Russia for nine years before being caught in 1994. While the agency never determined whether Plame was among the compromised spies, the disclosure meant that it was not senior Bush officials who had ended Plame’s career overseas as a full-time undercover operative but a traitor within the CIA.

  7. My belated discovery of the importance of my notation of “Bureau” explained something that puzzled me during the defense’s cross-examination of me on the stand in 2007. Libby’s lawyers kept asking me whether other agencies, such as the State Department, had “bureaus” rather than “offices” or “divisions” or “directorates.” But since neither they nor I knew that Plame had used the State Department as cover for her CIA work, the questions seemed odd, and their intention, at least to me, unclear.

  8. Stan Crock, “Fair Game Glamorizes Distortions and Perpetuates Myths,” World Affairs, November 8, 2010, p. 4; http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/fair-game-glamorizes-distortions-and-perpetuates-myths.

  9. Rizzo, Company Man, pp. 206–7.

  10. Dick Cheney, interview, January 2014.

  11. O’Sullivan, who worked at the State Department before being sent to Iraq soon after the invasion in 2003, argues that “there was no Sunni partner” willing to work with US forces to oppose Al Qaeda until 2006. Until then, she said, the US military’s top brass was convinced that the occupation of Iraq by US forces was the root cause of the insurgency, rather than Sunni bitterness over having lost control of the state they had controlled until Saddam’s ouster.

  12. Thomas Donnelly and Gary J. Schmitt, “The Right Fight Now: Counterinsurgency, Not Caution, Is the Answer in Iraq,” Washington Post, October 26, 2003, http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/409635877.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+26%2C+2003&author=Tom+Donnelly+and+Gary+Schmitt&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=&dese=The+Right+Fight+Now%3B+Counterinsurgency%2C+Not+Caution%2C+Is+the+Answer+in+Iraq.

  13. Judith Miller, “A Witness Against Al Qaeda Says the U.S. Let Him Down,” New York Times, June 3, 2002, www.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/us/a-witness-against-al-qaeda-says-the-us-let-him-down.html. Despite my admiration of Fitzgerald’s vigorous prosecution of terrorists in the first World Trade Center bombing, I was one of the few journalists to write critically about his mistreatment of Essam Al Ridi, an Egyptian pilot who helped him convict Bin Laden’s personal secretary. Al Ridi told me, and an FBI agent quoted in my article agreed, that once Al Ridi’s usefulness as a witness ended, Fitzgerald did not honor promises he had made that he would not be penalized in the United States or mistreated in his native Egypt.

  14. “Innovation, A New York Times internal report,” March 24, 2004, http://www.scribd.com/doc/224332847/NYT-Innovation-Report-2014.

  15. Leonard Downie, Jr., The Obama Administration and the Press (New York: Committee to Protect Journalists, October 10, 2013), http://cpj.org/reports/2013/10/obama-and-the-press-us-leaks-surveillance-post-911.php.

  16. The news of Abramson’s firing stunned the media but generated little interest among readers, even at the Times. The front-page article about the dismissal of the first female head of the nation’s leading newspaper was only the tenth most emailed story of the day—behind a story entitled “Steak That Sizzles on the Stovetop” and Frank Bruni’s column, “Read, Kids, Read.” BuzzFeed’s Kate Aurthur, a former Times employee, wrote that Abramson “got fired with less dignity than Judith Miller, who practically started the Iraq War.”

  17. By late 2005, according to a Pew poll, 43 percent of Americans thought that America’s and Britain’s leaders were “mostly lying” when they claimed that Iraq had WMD before the war.

  18. “As New Dangers Loom, More Think the U.S. Does ‘Too Little’ to Solve World Problems,” Pew Research Center, August 28, 2014, www.people-press.org/2014/08/28/as-new-dangers-loom-more-think-the-u-s-does-too-little-to-solve-world-problems.

  INDEX

  A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.

  Abdullah, Prince of Saudi Arabia, 106

  Abrams, Floyd, 245, 251, 263, 264, 271, 274, 275, 276, 280, 287, 303, 356–57n3

  Abramson, Jill, 54, 212, 356n20

  Chalabi and, 232

  Dowd as close friend, 265, 294, 356n20

  firing of, 320, 358n16

  Miller in Iraq War and, 175, 194

  Miller’s jailing and, 265

  Miller’s return to the Times after jail and “war on Judy,” 286, 287, 288–89, 290, 301

  Miller’s sources and, 235

  Miller’s stories restricted by, 237–38, 239

  Miller’s WMD reporting and, 205–12, 219, 228, 346n7

  on Obama’s White House, 320

  Plame leak and, 244, 309

  “The Times and Iraq” editor’s not
e and, 205, 225–26, 230, 347n10, 348–49n2

  as Washington bureau chief, 148, 175, 209, 291–92, 296, 355–56n18

  Abu Sayyaf, 149

  Achille Lauro, 88

  Afghanistan

  Abu Khabab camp, 140, 142, 143–44

  Bin Laden in, 139, 141

  biological weapons lab in, 132

  Faizabad, 140

  Miller interviews Massoud and jihadists, 138–39

  Miller visits with Laili Helms, Taliban interviews, 141–44

  Taliban in, 138, 141–44, 169

  terrorist training camps in, 134, 141, 146

  US misspending in, 22, 333n20

  US war in, 169

  Against All Enemies (Clarke), 343n12

  Agee, Philip, 351n1

  Aghion, Anne, 87

  Ajami, Fouad, 112

  Albright, David, 157

  Iraq’s efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb and, 219

  WMD aluminum tubes intelligence and, 213–14, 215, 216, 217, 220

  Alexandria Detention Center (ADC), 255–62, 265–71, 279, 292

  Alibek, Ken (Kanatjan Alibekov), 117–18, 121, 126, 129, 338n1

  All-Russian Institute of Phytopathology, Golitsino, Russia, 124

  Almodóvar, Pedro, 261

  Al Qaeda

  Bin Laden founds and funds, 137

  black flag of, 18

  Bush war on terror and, 148–49

  chemical and biological weapons programs, 134, 146

  Iraq and, 18, 27, 181, 210, 332n17

  jihad against the West, 146

  London bombings of 2005, 259, 265

  Miller’s investigation and stories, xi, 135–36, 137, 170–71, 226

  9/11 terrorist attacks, 147

  Reid shoe bombing attempt, 165

  Saddam Hussein and, 13, 207, 290–91

  spread of, 322

  US embassy bombings, Kenya and Tanzania, 132, 134, 140, 146

  US response to 9/11 and, 164–65

  American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem, 73

  America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 123

  Ames, Aldrich, 351n1, 357n6

  Ani, Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-, 152

  Anson, Robert Sam, 261–62

  anthrax letter attacks, 165, 342n4

  early theories about Iraqi link, 150, 152, 222

  intelligence community and, 165

  Miller-Engelberg article on, 222–23, 348n22

  US source of spores, 151

  Anton, Michael, 165

  Apple, R. W., Jr. “Johnny,” 95, 97, 98, 99

  Gulf War coverage, 104

  Arab nationalism, 5

  Arafat, Yasser, 107, 110

  Oslo Accords and, 112

  Aral Sea, 115, 116, 127

  Armitage, Richard, 304, 352n6

  Arnold, Martin, 355n15

  Arrows of the Night (Bonin), 156, 341n1, 341n3, 350n9

  Ascari, Ismail, 336n3

  Ashcroft, John, 243

  Aspen Strategy Group, 62–63

  Aspin, Les, 47, 48, 60–64, 103, 336n1

  Assad, Hafiz al-, 69

  Atomic Soldiers (Rosenberg), 37–38

  Atta, Mohamed

  middle-class background, 77

  in Prague, 151–52, 207

  Aurthur, Kate, 358n16

  Ayres, B. Drummond, Jr., 95

  Aziz, Tariq, 134

  Baer, Robert, 341n3

  Baker, James A., III, 12, 19, 107, 311, 343n15

  Baker, Peter, 165, 315–16, 342n9

  Baquet, Dean, 135

  Baranger, Walt, 286

  Barnard College, 44, 50

  Miller commencement speech, 194–95

  Barringer, Felicity, 58

  Barstow, David, 148, 217, 265, 286, 289, 293, 316–17, 356n19

  Barton, Rod, 120, 345n8

  Barzani, Massoud, 24

  Bashir, Omar al-, 134

  Beckinsale, Kate, 356–57n3

  Beers, Rand, 343n12

  Behind the Times (Diamond), 335n3

  Bennett, Bob

  Keller-Abramson order to Miller for a first-person account of grand jury testimony and, 288, 289, 290

  Miller’s grand jury testimony and, 280, 281, 285

  Miller’s protection of sources case and, 263, 264, 268, 271–73, 274, 275, 276, 279, 294, 355n17

  Miller’s resignation and legal settlement, 294, 295, 296, 297, 321

  Berenson, Alex, 186

  Bergen, Peter, 136

  Bergman, Lowell, 293, 356n19

  Bernstein, Carl, 54–55

  Bernstein, Richard, 81, 87

  Biden, Joe, 19, 166

  Binder, David, 57, 95

  Bin Laden, Osama, 132

  in Afghanistan, 139, 141

  Al Qaeda begun by, 137

  Al Shifa pharmaceutical company, Khartoum, and, 134

  escape from Tora Bora, 149

  fatwa declaring war on America, 137, 147

  interview with Bergen, 136

  interview with John Miller, 137–38

  killing of, 322

  Miller declines interview, 136–38

  Miller’s early coverage of, xi, 135–36, 226

  9/11 terrorist attacks, 147

  Saudi Arabia ejects, 106, 337n2

  as terrorist financier, 136

  training camps run by, 140, 142

  US efforts to kill, 149

  US intelligence community and, 135

  WMD and, 132, 165

  Biohazard (Alibek and Handelman), 338n1

  biological weapons, 115–28

  Al Hakam, Iraq, 119, 120

  anthrax, 2, 115, 116, 119, 121–22, 127, 132, 165

  anthrax letter attacks, 150–52, 165, 222–23, 342n4, 348n22

  Bin Laden and, 132

  Biopreparat, 117

  botulinum toxin, 2, 119, 133, 150

  danger of rogue groups acquiring, 128

  Germs (Miller, Engelberg, and Broad), xi, 117, 122, 172, 174, 208, 223, 342n1, 342n4, 346n3

  Iranian attempts to acquire, 123, 124–25

  Iraqi germ bombs, 133

  Kelly as expert on, 195–99

  lethal pathogens, miscellaneous types, 123, 129

  Saddam’s program, xii, 26, 119–20, 133–34, 196–97

  smallpox, 116, 123, 127, 197, 198–99

  Soviet program, 115–16, 117, 121–22, 197

  Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan, 121–22

  treaty banning, 116

  vaccination of Bush and Cheney, 150

  vaccination of Miller, 175

  vaccination of US military, 117, 198

  Vector research center, Siberia, 122–23

  Voz Island, Aral Sea, 115–16, 125–28

  White House botulinum false alarm, 150, 165

  Blair, Jayson, 184, 185–86, 193, 288, 317, 349n5

  Blair, Tony, 168, 195–96, 209

  Bleifuss, Joel, 349n4

  Blix, Hans, 209, 211

  Miller interview, 208, 227, 228

  Blundy, David, 8–11, 86

  Bojinka plot, 136

  Bolton, John, 262

  Bonin, Rich, 156, 157, 232, 341n1, 341n3, 350n9

  Boulenouar, Tewfik, 2

  Boyd, Gerald, 95, 147, 148, 164, 169, 172

  firing of, 191, 193, 194, 206, 209, 244, 297, 299

  Miller in Iraq War and, 175, 180, 183, 184, 187, 188, 190, 200–201, 209, 236

  Miller’s WMD reporting and, 190, 206, 345n7, 349n6, 350n8

  Times plagiarism scandal and, 184, 185–86

  Times staff revolt and, 185–86, 187, 193–94, 296

  Bradlee, Ben, 54–55

  Bragg, Rick, 344–45n3

  Braun, Carol Moseley, 259

  Bremer, L. Paul (Jerry), III, 22, 194, 314

  Brisbane, Arthur, 354–55n14

  Britain

  credibility gap, 358–59n17

  Iraq War and, 168, 195–96, 203, 209

  London bombings of 2005, 259, 265

  yellowcake claim and, 242, 282, 350n1, 35
3n4

  Broad, William, xi

  aluminum tube misinformation article, 217

  anthrax letter attacks article, 152, 348n22

  biological weapons reporting, with Miller, 116

  Clinton interview, with Miller, 131–32, 133, 338n1

  defectors as source, 118

  Germs, with Miller and Engelberg, xi, 117, 122, 172, 174, 208, 223, 342n1, 342n4, 346n3

  Iraq mobile germ lab stories, 209–10, 346n8, 347n9

  Miller’s collaboration with, 342n1

  as Times science reporter, 116

  UNSCOM’s search for Iraq’s WMD article, with Miller, 196

  WMD reporting, 210

  Brooks, James, 248

  Buckley, Susan, 271

  Burnham, David, 55

  Burns, John, 183, 188, 200, 202

  Bush, George H. W., 64

  Gulf War and, 12, 14, 102

  Iraq no-fly zone and, 16–17, 23–24

  Saddam Hussein and, 167

  Bush, George W.

  anthrax letter attacks and, 150, 165, 342n4

  biological weapon threat and, 198

  Iraq War and overthrow of Saddam decision, 17, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 272, 282, 284, 291, 312, 322, 339–40n2, 342n6

  Iraq War mistakes, 22

  Iraq War withdrawal and, 1

  Libby’s sentence commuted by, 305–6, 357n5

  neocons and, 154, 167

  nuclear 9/11 fears, 165, 166

  PDB (Presidential Daily Brief), 164–65

  post 9/11 response, 164–65

  “preventive war” strategy, 168, 343n13

  Saddam Hussein and, 13–14

  State of the Union address (2002), 169

  State of the Union address (2003), 211, 242, 282, 283

  State of the Union address (2003), retraction of “sixteen words,” 242, 353n4, 355–56n18, 356n19

  State of the Union address (2004), 232

  “the surge” and, 19, 311, 315

  vaccinations given to, 150

  war on terror, 148–49

  West Point address of June, 2002, 166, 170

  WMD and, 13–14, 155, 161, 164, 165, 184, 219, 242, 264–65, 344n5, 347–48n17

  yellowcake claim and, 242, 282, 350n1, 353n4

  Butler, Richard, 151, 160

  BuzzFeed, 358n16

  Byers, Steve, 261–62

  Byrne, Brendan T., 351–52n3

  Cacheris, Plato, 234–35

  Calame, Byron, 295, 301

 

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