In his weekly column in the NYT Frank Rich notes that Vice President Dick Cheney first indicated he wanted the power to declassify documents in August 2001. But it wasn't until March 2003 that he was given the authority. Why then? Rich claims it was so he could go after the administration's enemies.

Says Rich:

Timing really is everything. By March 2003, this White House knew its hype of Saddam's nonexistent nuclear arsenal was in grave danger of being exposed. The order allowed Mr. Bush to keep his own fingerprints off the nitty-gritty of any jihad against whistle-blowers by giving Mr. Cheney the authority to pick his own shots and handle the specifics. The president could have plausible deniability and was free to deliver non-denial denials like"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is." Mr. Cheney in turn could delegate the actual dirty work to Mr. Libby, who obstructed justice to help throw a smoke screen over the vice president's own role in the effort to destroy Mr. Wilson.