Agree as to the initial aim of this scam: the target was President Bush. But the Rove card got played by Amb. Joseph C. Wilson IV (ret.) early in the game -- shortly after the Novak column appeared.
Recall Wilson's histrionics and his demand that Rove be "frog-marched out of the White House"?
Personally, I believe that the attack on Rove is an opportunistic venture by Wilson/Plame, et al, trying to take advantage of some "inside info". It's not unlikely, for example, that Judith Miller and Valerie Plame knew each other -- both worked on WMD issues. Wilson/Plame may have leaked Plame's role to Miller, who in turn leaked it to Rove and Libby -- thereby setting them up.
This scenario would explain a.) Miller's involvement in the case, even though she never authored a story concerning it and b.) why she (and her employer) would not want her source revealed.
Okie, thanks. I agree with everything you say. If you haven't already, you ought to read what Clifford May at National Review Online says about the Plame-Miller-Wilson triangle. I have no doubt Miller and Plame knew each other and that Plame herself--or her gabby hubby--may have sourced Miller, and also David Korn.