WASHINGTON — A jury that includes four critics of the Bush administration’s Iraq policies was seated yesterday to try former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on charges of lying about what he told reporters about the wife of a prominent war opponent.

The jury of nine women and three men was seated after a nearly hour-long court session that was as silent as a professional chess match. Prosecutors and defense attorneys consulted in whispers, then handled papers to the clerk to exercise their 20 unexplained strikes of potential jurors.

The only sound was the clerk reading the numbers of each juror eliminated and the replacement juror’s number. Six potential jurors who had criticized war policy or the Bush administration were struck, as was one woman who said she had voted for President Bush.

Three women and one man were seated as alternates. Although the public knew, the jurors weren’t told which ones were alternates so they would all pay full attention during the trial.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton had hoped to give preliminary instructions but postponed that until today, when both sides will give opening statements. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald plans to speak for an hour, and defense attorney Theodore Wells estimated he’ll talk for two hours.

In a city where blacks outnumber whites more than 2-to-1, the jury has 10 whites and two blacks. Two of the alternates are black.

The critics chosen to serve include a woman who works for a senior citizens agency and said, “I think Bush was not candid” about why he began the war. There is also a retired woman who worked for the Air Force, Navy, and nonprofit groups and said the administration was not “forthright about the reasons for engaging in” the war.

The other two were a retired math teacher who said he would have sent 500,000 troops to Iraq and a Web architect who said he questions White House credibility at times.