Italian faces pre-war intelligence probe

[swag]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Italy_Iraq_Uranium.html

By ARIEL DAVID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ROME -- The head of Italy's military secret services will be questioned by a parliamentary commission next week over allegations that his organization gave the United States and Britain disputed documents suggesting that Saddam Hussein had been seeking uranium in Africa, officials said Tuesday.

Nicolo Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, will be questioned on Nov. 3 by members of the commission overseeing secret services, said Micaela Panella, a commission spokeswoman.

She said Pollari asked to be questioned after reports Monday and Tuesday in the Rome daily La Repubblica claiming SISMI passed on to the CIA, U.S. government officials and Britain's MI6 intelligence services a dossier it knew was forged.

The documents detailed a purported Iraqi deal to buy 500 tons of uranium yellowcake from Niger, a claim the United States and Britain used to try to prove Saddam Hussein was seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction and justify the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

. . . more

[leftchick]

1. wow!

I think a case of depends will be needed at the WH stat!

[swag]

2. Yeah, no kidding.

"a dossier it knew was forged."

[louis c]

3. If you have ever seen copies of these "forgeries"..........

you would think my pisano friends were drinking too much wine at the time.

They couldn't fool a four-year old.

P.S. I'm 100% Italian-American, so I'm twice as upset. The government of my ancestors and the government of my birth have both blundered in this war.

What do they say about history, and learning from it. First Mussolini allies himself with Hitler, and now Berlusconi ties himself up with Bush.

[swag]

4. Would love to see copies of the docs.

Were they done in Crayola?

[louis c]

5. Might as well have been

[Stephanie]

10. I've seen jpegs of them - they're out there

[LynnTheDem]

12. Images of the forgeries

http://911blimp.net/graphics/BogusNigerDocLogo+.gif

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/30/121555/214

Scroll down almost to the bottom, all 5 forgeries are linked;
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/related.html

[swag]

13. Thank you kindly.

[Just Me]

6. I wanna' know the identity of the forger.

I wanna' know from whom Pollari acquired these documents.

It's very curious that, in spite of the obvious forgery, Pollari was still determined to pass these docs directly to the Bushites.

[Stephanie]

7. AP: Italian Faces Pre-War Intelligence Probe (re: Niger forgery) >>>

The scandal goes international!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5369408,00.html

Italian Faces Pre-War Intelligence Probe
Tuesday October 25, 2005 9:46 PM

By ARIEL DAVID
Associated Press Writer

ROME (AP) - The head of Italy's military secret services will be questioned by a parliamentary commission next week over allegations that his organization gave the United States and Britain disputed documents suggesting that Saddam Hussein had been seeking uranium in Africa, officials said Tuesday.

Nicolo Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, will be questioned on Nov. 3 by members of the commission overseeing secret services, said Micaela Panella, a commission spokeswoman.

She said Pollari asked to be questioned after reports Monday and Tuesday in the Rome daily La Repubblica claiming SISMI passed on to the CIA, U.S. government officials and Britain's MI6 intelligence services a dossier it knew was forged.

The documents detailed a purported Iraqi deal to buy 500 tons of uranium yellowcake from Niger, a claim the United States and Britain used to try to prove Saddam Hussein was seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction and justify the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<more>

[tex-wyo-dem]

8. YES!...This goes right to the heart of the matter.

Means, motive, opportunity.

[leveymg]

9. You want pictures of the forgers and their network?

[LynnTheDem]

11. "disputed documents"...DISPUTED??? They look like a CHILD did them.

That and the letterhead is of a diplomat that retired a decade ago.

"DISPUTED documents"???

:eyes: