July 04, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1428

WASHINGTON, July 3: The White House on Tuesday dismissed a storm of political outrage over President George W. Bush's decision to spare former top aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby from a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Bush insisted he had made the right decision and refused to rule out an eventual full pardon for Libby, a day after commuting the sentence handed down after a trial bound up in the drive to war with Iraq.

As well as flak from Democrats, Bush faced the ire of conservatives angry that he had not wiped out the conviction entirely for Libby, once a trusted former member of Vice President Dick Cheney's inner circle.

“I thought that the jury verdict should stand, I felt that the punishment was severe,” Bush told reporters on Tuesday.

“As to the future, I, you know, rule nothing in or nothing out,” Bush said, when asked whether Libby could ever benefit from a full presidential pardon.

White House spokesman Tony Snow rejected claims Libby was getting off lightly, after he was convicted of obstructing an investigation into the outing of CIA spy Valerie Plame, wife of a vehement critic of the administration over Iraq.

“This is hardly a slap on the wrist, in terms of penalty. It is a very severe penalty,” said Snow, noting Libby still faced a 250,000 dollar fine, two years of probation and was saddled with a felony conviction.

“The president also believes, for those who are arguing on behalf of a pardon, that you need to respect the jury system. Scooter Libby was tried before a jury of his peers.” Democrats kept up the heat on the White House on Tuesday seeking political advantage from Bush's move.

“I'm outraged,” senior Democratic senator Chuck Schumer told supporters in an email.

“President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence, wiping away two-and-half-years of jail time with the stroke of a pen.

“We expect more from our president. We expect honour and integrity, we expect moral leadership.” The Wall Street Journal, which normally takes a conservative line on its editorial page, warned that Bush had evaded responsibility on the Libby case — by not granting a full pardon.

“Mr Libby deserved better from a president whose policies he tried to defend when others were running for cover,” the paper said.

Snow interpreted the fact that Bush was also being “pounded from the right”as proof his move was not made for shallow political gain.

Bush critics claim Libby was part of a White House effort to punish former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was sent by the CIA to Niger in February 2002 to investigate claims Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium for nuclear bombs.

Wilson later criticized the administration's rationale for the Iraq war, and a probe was launched into whether top Bush aides deliberately blew Plame's cover as revenge.

Democrats reacted swiftly on Monday to news of Bush's move.

“The president’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people,” House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said.—AFP