Debunking Distortions About My Trip to Niger (Wilson LTTE)

[shockingelk]

A letter to the editor, but I believe Wilson's response is newsworthy ... move if necessary:


Saturday, July 17, 2004; Page A17

For the second time in a year, your paper has published an article falsely suggesting that my wife, Valerie Plame, was responsible for the trip I took to Niger on behalf of the U.S. government to look into allegations that Iraq had sought to purchase several hundred tons of yellowcake uranium from that West African country.

...your paper's recent article acted as a funnel for this scurrilous and extraneous charge, uncritically citing the Republican-written Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report.

The decision to send me to Niger was not made, and could not be made, by Valerie. At the conclusion of a meeting that she did not attend, I was asked by CIA officials whether I would be willing to travel to Niger. While a CIA reports officer and a State Department analyst, both cited in the report, speculate about what happened, neither of them was in the chain of command that made the decision to send me.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56501-2004Jul16.html

[DeepModem Mom]

1. And here is link to the 7/10 WP article by, of course, Susan Schmidt --

Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission
Report Disputes Wilson's Claims on Trip, Wife's Role
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 10, 2004; Page A09


Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, was specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly.

Wilson last year launched a public firestorm with his accusations that the administration had manipulated intelligence to build a case for war. He has said that his trip to Niger should have laid to rest any notion that Iraq sought uranium there and has said his findings were ignored by the White House.

Wilson's assertions -- both about what he found in Niger and what the Bush administration did with the information -- were undermined yesterday in a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report.

The panel found that Wilson's report, rather than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts. And contrary to Wilson's assertions and even the government's previous statements, the CIA did not tell the White House it had qualms about the reliability of the Africa intelligence that made its way into 16 fateful words in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39834-2004Jul9.html

[radfringe]

2. Blowing smoke

Whether or not Plame had anything to do with sending Wilson to Niger is just blowing smoke to distort the real issue.

The real issues:

1. Niger selling Yellow Cake was unfounded, documents supporting the Niger-Iraq connection were determined to be forged.

2. CIA pulled the "Niger-yellow cake" statement from a speech that was to be given in Cincinatti (Oct-2002). It popped up again in 2003 SOTU.

3. A CIA agent was outed.

[Wilber_Stool]

3. Give 'em hell Joe._____n/t

[Moderator]

4. Locking as Duplicate

Please continue discussion here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x62981