What the US papers say: President Bush vowed to restore honour[... but] secretly punish an opponent's spouse rather than openly defend policy

The Observer | International | What the US papers say: "Sunday October 30, 2005 | The Observer

The New York Times The indictment ... describes a distinct and disturbing pattern of behaviour among very high-ranking officials, including Lewis Libby and Vice- President Dick Cheney, who knew that they were dealing with a covert officer and used their access to classified information in a public relations campaign over the rapidly disintegrating justifications for war with Iraq.

The Washington Post Both Mr Libby and Mr Rove appear to have allowed the White House spokesman to put out false information about their involvement. But nothing in this indictment suggests a broad-based conspiracy that requires endless further investigation by Congress or others.

The Houston Chronicle What started as a common cold for selected Republican officeholders has turned into raging influenza for our democracy. The Democrats are already counting Congressional seats to be gained from the litany of GOP scandals, but we think they misunderstand the nature of this contagion.

Los Angeles Times [The] implications could hardly be more momentous. President Bush vowed to restore honour to the White House... Friday's indictment, however, shows how the White House used Plame's identity as part of a campaign to discredit critics of the war in Iraq.

The Houston Chronicle What does it say about the character of officials who would attempt to secretly punish an opponent's spouse rather than openly defending their policy, in this case their reasons for war?"