NYT: 2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim

[deminks]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/politics/18niger.html?oref=login

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles, according to a secret memo that was recently declassified by the State Department.

Among other problems that made such a sale improbable, the assessment by the State Department's intelligence analysts concluded, was that it would have required Niger to send "25 hard-to-conceal 10-ton tractor-trailers" filled with uranium across 1,000 miles and at least one international border.

The analysts' doubts were registered nearly a year before President Bush, in what became known as the infamous "16 words" in his 2003 State of the Union address, said that Saddam Hussein had sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

A Bush administration official, who requested anonymity because the issue involved partly classified documents, would not say whether President Bush had seen the State Department's memo before his State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2003.

Mr. Wilson said in an interview that he did not remember ever seeing the memo but that its analysis should raise further questions about why the White House remained convinced for so long that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa.

[sabra]

1. Curious what prompted this report to come out now?

I definitely don't mind.... but why now? What's NYT up to?

[Pirate Smile]

6. Judicial Watch got the document from a FOIA. They gave the docs

to the NYT.

edit to add the paragraph:

But the intelligence assessment itself - including the analysts' full arguments in raising wide-ranging doubts about the credence of the uranium claim - was only recently declassified as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that has sought access to government documents on terrorism and intelligence matters. The group, which received a copy of the 2002 memo among several hundred pages of other documents, provided a copy of the memo to The New York Times.

[MO_Dem]

7. Maybe dumping all the crap

that they've been witholding all this time? (Does it sound like I'm pissed at NYT? I'm still in no mood to forgive and forget.)

[Straight Shooter]

2. "A bush administration official, who requested anonymity ..."

the rest of that sentence should read, "... because he values his life and the lives of his family and friends ..."

[tmooses]

3. I can't remember now, but did Powell sign off on "16 words" in SOTU?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. And the hits just keep on coming, don't they? :-)

[wordpix2]

5. repuke rats jumping ship to save their lives as vessel leaks all over

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. K & R. I would really like to know who the "Bush administration offiicial"

is - and I bet the Bushies do too.

Pretty disingenuous, this part:
"...its analysis should raise further questions about why the White House remained convinced for so long that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa."

PULLEEEZE, Mr. Wilson, do you really think they ever actually believed that uranium yarn? That was their enabling story to front their scam, and they surely were involved in the faking of the documents or at least the knowing portrayal of the documents as genuine when they knew they were poor fakes.

[drm604]

9. Important paragraph

"The memo, dated March 4, 2002, was distributed at senior levels by the office of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and by the Defense Intelligence Agency."

[sabra]

10. kick

:kick:

[Wordie]

11. K&R

[underpants]

12. US memo in 2002 doubted Niger uranium sale to Iraq (Whoops!)

59 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060118/pl_afp/usattacksiraq_060118194110

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Well before President George W. Bush said in 2003 that Iraq was buying uranium from Niger, a high-level State Department intelligence assessment deemed the deal "unlikely" for several reasons, a US daily reported.

The document cast doubt on the alleged purchases as France controlled the uranium industry in Niger and could block the sale, Niger was avoiding actions that risked it losing US and other foreign aid, and moving tonnes of uranium by truck across the border would be very difficult to do and easy to detect.

The March 2002 memo was distributed at senior levels, but a White House official would not say whether Bush had seen it before his State of the Union address in January 2003, in which he cited the uranium deal as a sign Iraq was secretly developing nuclear weapons, The New York Times daily said.

The memo was only recently declassified as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch, which provided The New York Times with a copy.

[UpInArms]

13. but... but...but..their good friend and Rove's political assistant, Ledeen

brought it to them!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2046689&mesg_id=2046689

and

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2046959