A Call for Vigilance

"The war on terror goes on," President Bush somberly declared today in a short statement after the London bombings.

He also warned Americans to be "extra vigilant."

Earlier, Bush literally stood behind British Prime Minister Tony Blair as Blair read a statement from the global leaders gathered in Scotland in which they declared the bombings in London "not an attack on one nation but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere."

Press secretary Scott McClellan, in a telephone gaggle , described the president's morning, which included a secure video conference with some of his homeland security and national security advisers.

Bush saw himself as among allies. "I was most impressed by the resolve of all the leaders in the room," he said. "Their resolve is as strong as my resolve. And that is we will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists."

But few of them share his approach to fighting those terrorists.

It's too soon to say what all this means, either to the war on terror, the G-8 meeting or the political climate in the United States. So I, with you, will be following the news closely today.

Valerie Plame and Karl Rove

New York Times reporter Judith Miller is in jail today, after refusing to say who told her what about Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose name was leaked by senior administration officials in retaliation against her husband, an administration critic.

Time reporter Matt Cooper is not in jail, after a last-minute intervention from his source, who released him from confidentiality.

Signs increasingly point toward Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist, as Cooper's source. What's not clear is why Miller's source -- be it Rove or someone else -- has not given her the same explicit release from confidentiality.

Adam Liptak writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Cooper's decision to drop his refusal to testify followed discussions on Wednesday morning among lawyers representing Mr. Cooper and Karl Rove, the senior White House political adviser, according to a person who has been officially briefed on the case. Mr. [Special prosecutor Patrick J.] Fitzgerald was also involved in the discussions, the person said.

"In his statement in court, Mr. Cooper did not name Mr. Rove as the source about whom he would now testify, but the person who was briefed on the case said that he was referring to Mr. Rove and that Mr. Cooper's decision came after behind-the-scenes maneuvering by his lawyers and others in the case.