Former Ambassador Wilson Endorses Kerry [BIG SURPRISE!]

Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq, endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president on Thursday.

In a conference call with New Hampshire reporters, Wilson said he and Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, have shared the experience of challenging their government -- Wilson when he questioned the "rush to war" with Iraq, Kerry when he challenged America's role in Vietnam.

Speaking from Washington, Wilson said Kerry's actions, coming when he was but 23-year-old Vietnam War veteran, makes him stand out in the Democratic presidential field.

"John Kerry did the same thing after he came out of Vietnam, I did it at the age of 53 ... with a long and distinguished career behind me," Wilson said. "John Kerry did it at the very beginning of his career.

"I know how these sorts of things test one's mettle," he said. "To have stood up and said what he did, at the time that he did, in my judgment, sets him apart from the other candidates."

Wilson and the Bush administration have been at odds since he accused the White House of manipulating intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Afterward, the Justice Department began a criminal investigation to determine who in the administration leaked the identity of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA operations officer.

Plame's identity was revealed in a July 14 column by syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who said he got the information from two senior administration officials.

For you impatient sorts, here's the juicy bit:

Here's an easy way to make an effective change: Less Wahhabism is in America's interest. More Wahhabism is in the terrorists' interest. So why can't the U.S. introduce a policy whereby, for the duration of the war on terror, no organization directly funded by the Saudis will be eligible for any formal or informal role with any federal institution?

That would also include the pro-Saudi Middle East Institute, whose "adjunct scholar" is one Joseph C Wilson IV. Remember him? He's the fellow at the center of the Bob-Novak-published-the-name-of-my-CIA-wife scandal. The agency sent him to look into the European intelligence stories about Saddam trying to buy uranium in Africa. He went to Niger, drank mint tea with government flacks, and then wrote a big whiny piece in the New York Times after the White House declined to accept his assurances nothing was going on. He was never an intelligence specialist, he's no longer a "career diplomat," but he is, like so many other retired ambassadors, on the House of Saud's payroll. And the Saudis vehemently opposed war with Saddam.

Think about that. To investigate Saddam Hussein's attempted acquisition of uranium, the United States government sent a man in the pay of the Saudi government. The Saudis set up schools that turn out terrorists. They set up Islamic lobby groups that put spies in our military bases and terror recruiters in our prisons. They set up think tanks that buy up and neuter the U..S diplomatic corps. And their ambassador's wife funnels charitable donations to the September 11 hijackers.

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