Joe Wilson is a hero! (Pass it on) - Democratic Underground

demgurl

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Mon Aug-01-05 10:57 AM
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Joe Wilson is a hero! (Pass it on)

Now I know what you are expecting. You read my subject header and you thought this was going to be a post about how Wilson went to Niger and what courage it took to write the editorial stating there was no uranium in Niger. Well that is true, it took a lot of courage to do that when everyone seemed to be revved up and pro-war. I do not wish to diminish anything he did in that regard but that is not what I wish to address at this moment in time.

How many of you ever heard the name 'Joe Wilson' before the Valerie Plame investigation? I know I had never heard his name and, yet, he is more of a hero than I would even have classified John Kerry.

The right decided a long time ago to start a smear campaign against Wilson. They had to so that they could defend the occupation of Iraq. Has anyone ever wondered why the only thing they really ended up doing is saying his wife sent him or that he was mistaken? Why could they not come up with something juicy like he had been to sex clubs cheating on his wife or he had embezzled money? Something that would have been a headline grabber. I decided to do my own investigation into his past to see why the worst thing they could come up with is that his wife recommended him.

I still do not understand what would be wrong with his wife suggesting he would be good for this assignment. After all he was Ambassador to that area. Wouldn't he be a perfect person with all of his ties?

I found some interesting information on this man. I included more than one snippet of the same events because I found his heroism so darn interesting and there were a couple of different facts added in here or there: :

Oct. 10, 2003 |
In 1991, President George Bush introduced Joseph Wilson to his war Cabinet, calling the veteran diplomat "a true American hero." By any standard, Wilson deserved such praise. As the senior U.S. diplomat in Iraq during Operation Desert Shield, the massive U.S.
military buildup in Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Wilson was responsible for freeing 150 American hostages seized by the Iraqi dictator. Indeed, he was the last U.S.
diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein, in August 1990, following Saddam's notorious July 25 meeting with U.S. ambassador April Glaspie, who failed to warn Saddam not to invade Kuwait.
Wilson advocated a muscular response to Saddam's aggression, and though he sought a diplomatic solution, supported Operation Desert Storm. During his highly decorated 23-year career, Wilson also held the position of political advisor to the commander in chief of the
U.S. Armed Forces in Europe and was ambassador to Gabon.
http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2003/10/10/wilson/index_np.html

CNN) -- In 1991, the acting U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Joe Wilson, sheltered 800 Americans
at the embassy in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Twelve years later,
Wilson was thrust back onto the international stage when he accused President Bush of
misleading the American people into another war with Iraq.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/07/CNN25.tan.wilson/

As acting ambassador to Iraq in the run-up to the first Gulf War, he was the last US
diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein, in 1991.

He very publicly defied the Iraqi strongman by giving refuge to more than 100 US citizens
at the embassy and in the homes of US diplomats - at a time when Saddam Hussein was
threatening to execute anyone who harbored foreigners.

He then addressed journalists wearing a hangman's noose instead of a necktie.

He later told the Washington Post newspaper that the message to Saddam Hussein was:
"If you want to execute me, I'll bring my own rope."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3156166.stm

1992-1995 – Nominated by President George H.W. Bush, Wilson serves as Ambassador to the
African nations of Gabon , as well as the smaller island country of the Democratic Republic
of São Tomé and Príncipe. (Wilson, Politics 451).
http://www.factcheck.org/article337.html

Do you know why Joe Wilson became an ambassador? It was because of his heroic efforts when he sheltered those 800 people. I can not find the exact article now (this is something I started researching last week), but after those efforts and at risk to his own life, he was appointed a ambassador!

I really need to point out one of the statements above because I feel it is so important. Salon said "Wilson advocated a muscular response to Saddam's aggression, and though he sought a
diplomatic solution, supported Operation Desert Storm." So we are now to believe someone who stood up to Saddam and even flaunted thumbing his nose, by wearing a noose, now has decided to take Saddam's side and say there was no uranium?

There are few times in my life that I have read about such heroic actions. Do you want to know the reason why Bush Co. could not attack Wilson? It would be the same as attacking Superman in a sense. Even Rove could not spin Wilson's acts of heroism to make him look bad. He was highly decorated and even W's daddy introduced him as a hero.

Does this sound like the type of man who would have a vendetta against the Bush admin? Why would he have said there was no uranium if there was? No, what the right is arguing made no sense anyway, but when you couple it with revelations of Wilson's past then nothing they say holds water.

Joe Wilson is a true American hero, pass it on. Shout it from the rooftops. Write it to the editor. Tell all of your friends. Everyone needs to hear how Joe Wilson has acted in the past. Joe is a hero, pass it on.