Who’s Part Of The “Smear Campaign”? (Wilson Lashes Out)

Republican National Committee ^ | July 20, 2004

[RWR8189]

WHO’S PART OF THE “SMEAR CAMPAIGN”?
Under Fire From Senate Intelligence And British Government Reports, Wilson Lashes Out
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CNN’S BILL HEMMER: “Mr. Ambassador, people are now calling you a liar. Your response to that is what?”  JOE WILSON: “Well, I think when the facts are known to everybody, the truth will be very clear. This is part of a partisan smear campaign over the last several days. The Republican National Committee has been sending out blast faxes and blast e-mails focusing on me. Ironically, just a week before the convention, I seem to be their worst enemy. Again, this is designed to confuse people from the basic facts.”  (CNN’s “American Morning,” 7/20/04)

IS THE ENTIRE BIPARTISAN SENATE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE PART OF THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN?

Senate Intelligence Committee Unanimously Concluded That Wilson’s Report “Lent More Credibility” To CIA Reports On Iraqi Attempts To Purchase Uranium From Africa.  “Conclusion 13. The report on the former ambassador’s [Wilson’s] trip to Niger, disseminated in March 2002, did not change any analysts’ assessments of the Iraq-Niger uranium deal. For most analysts, the information in the report lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal, but the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) analysts believed that the report supported their assessment that Niger was unlikely to be willing or able to sell uranium to Iraq.”  (Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

OR THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT?

Independent British Government Inquiry Has Concluded Uranium Claim Was “Well-Founded.”  “We conclude that, on the basis of the intelligence assessments at the time, covering both Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the statements on Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from Africa in the Government’s dossier, and by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, were well-founded. By extension, we conclude also that the statement in President Bush’s State of the Union Address of 28 January 2003 that: ‘The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,’ was well-founded.”  (Lord Butler Of Brockwell, “Review Of Intelligence On Weapons Of Mass Destruction,” Report Of A Committee Of Privy Counsellors To The House Of Commons, 7/14/04)

Last Fall, British Parliamentary Inquiry Determined British Dossier’s Uranium Claim Was “Reasonable.”  “The British government inquiries also disclosed new intelligence about Iraq’s alleged attempts to purchase uranium in Africa … The president used the British dossier to support the 16-word statement in his 2003 State of the Union address … [The British Secret Intelligence Service] had two independent sources for reporting the uranium purchase attempts, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee report: One source provided the information in June 2002 and the other just as the dossier was being finalized that September. One of the two was described as ‘documentary evidence.’ … [T]he committee said that after questioning the SIS ‘about the basis of its judgment,’ it had determined the dossier statement on Iraq seeking uranium in Africa was ‘reasonable.’”  (Walter Pincus, “U.S.-British Differences Show Iraq Intelligence Gap,” The Washington Post, 9/30/03)

OTHER EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS?

Three European Intelligence Services Were Aware Of Possible Iraq-Niger Trade.  “The FT has now learnt that three European intelligence services were aware of possible illicit trade in uranium from Niger between 1999 and 2001. Human intelligence gathered in Italy and Africa more than three years before the Iraq war had shown Niger officials referring to possible illicit uranium deals with at least five countries, including Iraq.”  (Mark Huband, “Evidence Of Niger Uranium Trade ‘Years Before War’,” Financial Times, 6/27/04)

MAYBE THE NEWS MEDIA?

Financial Times Reported New Evidence That Iraq Attempted To Obtain Uranium Yellowcake From Africa.  “Until now, the only evidence of Iraq’s alleged attempts to buy uranium from Niger had turned out to be a forgery. In October 2002, documents were handed to the US embassy in Rome that appeared to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials. When the US State Department later passed the documents to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, they were found to be fake. US officials have subsequently distanced themselves from the entire notion that Iraq was seeking buy uranium from Niger. However, European intelligence officers have now revealed that three years before the fake documents became public, human and electronic intelligence sources from a number of countries picked up repeated discussion of an illicit trade in uranium from Niger. One of the customers discussed by the traders was Iraq. These intelligence officials now say the forged documents appear to have been part of a ‘scam’, and the actual intelligence showing discussion of uranium supply has been ignored.”  (Mark Huband, “Evidence Of Niger Uranium Trade ‘Years Before War’,” Financial Times, 6/27/04)

The Washington Post Reported That Wilson’s Various Charges “Were Undermined” By “Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report.”  “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.”  (Susan Schmidt, “Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission,” The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

NBC News Reported On “Cracks In His Story.”  NBC’S BRIAN WILLIAMS: “NBC News ‘In Depth’ tonight: New questions about a Washington insider, a diplomat named Joe Wilson, who turned against the war in Iraq. He claims that in order to punish him, the Bush White House outed his wife by blowing her cover at the C.I.A. and endangering her life. Joe Wilson’s story was everywhere a while back. He even wrote a book about it. Now he’s defending cracks in his story that has to do with a trip he made to the nation of Niger and claims that Iraq tried to buy uranium. Here’s Andrea Mitchell.”  (NBC’s “Nightly News,” 7/15/04)

The Wall Street Journal Noted Recent Reports “Exposed His Falsehoods.”  “After U.S. and British intelligence reports exposed his falsehoods in the last 10 days, Joe Wilson is finally defending himself. We’re therefore glad to return to this story one more time, because there are some larger lessons here about the law, and for the Beltway media and Bush White House. Mr. Wilson’s defense, in essence, is that the ‘Republican-written’ Senate Intelligence Committee report is a partisan hatchet job. … But the fact is that the three most damning conclusions are contained not in Chairman Pat Roberts’s ‘Additional Views,’ but in the main body of the report approved by Mr. Rockefeller and seven other Democrats.”  (Editorial, “Mr. Wilson’s Defense,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/20/04)

[BerniesFriend]

I heard joe wilson was found..it was reported he said, "What value meal can I get you today?"..

[moodyskeptic]

I heard Joe Wilson has a new position, waving a big SMOG CHECK flag on a street corner.

[BushisTheMan]

Joe, I hope you are "frogmarched" right out of the John Kerry for President offices.

But unfortunately Kerry loves liars.

[Mister Baredog]

Joe, I hope you are "frogmarched" right out of the John Kerry for President offices.

But unfortunately Kerry loves liars.

He's a Democrat. Seriesly, that means lying is not a character flaw, but a required attribute, the truth will win him nothing.

P.S. Hey Bushie that Peterson trial is turning into a joke, I guess the thread finallly died eh? LOL

[nothingnew]

After carefully sifting through the above information, and weighing the veracity of the above publications, taking into account all the possible political leanings of said publications, I have come to the conclusion that Wilson is a liar.

FMCDH(BITS)

[savedbygrace]

The truth is not a smear. The problem he is having is, his definition of the truth is, "whatever I believe." That's always going to run smack-dab up against the actual truth at some point in time.

[Tamzee]

Democrats emit lies as naturally as feces emits odor.

[AndyTheBear]

The truth is not a smear.

It is if your a Rat. They fear truth the way a vampire fears the sun. They are deeply convinced that truth itself is unfair and wrong. If you challenge their psychosis, they usually revert to the insane position that there is no such thing as the truth, no such thing as right and wrong, that everything is "shades of gray".

[L.N. Smithee]

I wonder if the proposed movie based on the Wilson-Plame story is going to go forward, or if they will junk the idea since it has an "unhappy" ending.

[OESY]