Wilkerson's Words A Prologue For Plamegate

When the complete story of the Bush administration's dishonesty in rushing the U.S. to war in Iraq the statements made by Lawrence Wilkerson will serve as the opening prologue to this political thriller.

Wilkerson was the Chief of Staff for the former Secretary of State, Colin Powell. His comments last week while speaking to the New American Foundation have rocked the inner-White House and provided a visible fissure between those in favor of invading Iraq and those, like Powell, who sought a diplomatic solution. Is this the beginning of a string of White House dissidents who will finally speak out against this administration?

The case that I saw for four-plus years was a case that I have never seen in my studies of aberrations, bastardizations, perturbations, changes to the national security decision-making process. What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made, said Wilkerson.

Of course, this is exactly what everyone outside of the Beltway and epecially Democrats have been saying since 2003. To have a White House insider fire these verbal rockets at Vice President Cheney and Rumsfeld is monumental and portends for more who have either muzzled their opinions out of loyalty and job security or those like Powell who have had their personal reputation sullied for the folly of war in the Middle East.

Sure, this investigation began innocently enough for a single crime of outing an intelligence officer, but ultimately the beginning will become less important by the time history sorts out the legacy of George W. Bush. Wilkerson spoke out at the precise point where indictments from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald are a certainty and, more importantly, the job approval of the President is sinking to record lows.

This administration is in a free-fall and in the case of most free-falls; panic ensues and people start talking. Wilkerson has set the tone for others and they will follow in throwing dirt on the coffin of this presidency.

As he said this weekend, "as a citizen of this great republic" it's his duty to speak out. Assuredly, others will also be overcome by this same righteousness in the days and weeks to come.