No mention of Wilson being part of the Kerry Kampaign?
Posted on 07/25/2004 4:50:05 AM PDT by bad company
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Posted on Sun, Jul. 25, 2004
Bond pilots campaign to discredit Bush critic
By MATT STEARNS The Star's Washington Correspondent
Bond
Wilson
WASHINGTON — Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri is on the hunt.
Bond's prey is Bush administration nemesis Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who said that while on a CIA-sponsored trip to Niger before the Iraq war he had found evidence to debunk an intelligence report later cited by President Bush that Iraqi agents had attempted to buy uranium from Africa.
Bush's assertion, made in his 2003 State of the Union address, was considered a key argument that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had or was seeking weapons of mass destruction, and therefore had to be removed from power.
With no such weapons yet found, controversy over the intelligence sources used to make the Niger assertion has swirled, with Wilson playing a leading role in accusing the Bush administration of misleading the American people in the march toward war.
This month the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released its report on prewar intelligence. The unanimous report was highly critical of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. It also disputed Wilson's assertion that Iraq had not tried to buy uranium from Niger.
Several Republicans on the committee, including Bond, wrote an addendum to the report even more critical of Wilson, saying that Wilson exaggerated what he actually knew and that Wilson's CIA agent wife probably had recommended Wilson for the job, contrary to Wilson's statements.
And now Bond, known chiefly in the Senate as an inside player adept at ferreting out vast sums of federal dollars to send home, has taken a rare turn in the wider public eye in the last week as the leading Republican trying to debunk the debunker.
He has made several speeches on the Senate floor criticizing Wilson. His communications office has churned out news releases. He appeared on PBS' “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” where he debated Wilson one on one. He has distributed talking points to his Senate colleagues and reveled in their approval of what he's doing.
“I've taken the role because nobody else decided to take it,” Bond said. “I think it's very important that the American people understand that this man held up as a great truth-teller is no such thing and is in fact a disingenuous dissembler.”
That's about as subtle as Bond's onslaught gets. In one typical broadside, Bond said, “The whole Wilson story has been exposed as a fraud and a hoax designed only to smear the president.”
Bond points out that British intelligence stands by its assertions about the Niger matter and that the Intelligence Committee found that Wilson's trip “did not change any (CIA) analysts' assessment of the Iraq-Niger uranium deal.”
The only things Niger exports besides uranium are mung beans and goats, Bond says — and it's doubtful that beans and goats were what the Iraqi team was interested in.
Wilson did not return calls seeking comment. In a letter to Bond and other Republican senators, Wilson said their addendum to the full report included “errors and distortions.” He reiterated that his wife had not recommended him for the trip and that he reported only what he knew.
There remains room for disagreement over whether Wilson truly was discredited by the intelligence committee report.
Those who generally support the Iraqi war say the committee's report is fully accurate and applaud Bond for publicizing it.
Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a terrorism-focused policy institute, said of Wilson: “His cover's been blown” by the committee report.
“My understanding is, the British are probably as good or better (at African intelligence), and they stood by this all along,” May said. “I think we should take seriously what British intelligence believes, whether or not we can duplicate it.”
Those who opposed the war say Bond and other Bush administration supporters are choosing facts to fit their goals and ignoring others.
For instance, State Department intelligence analysts took the opposite view of their CIA counterparts, saying Wilson's trip supported their belief that there wasn't much to the Iraq-Niger deal.
And Niger has no control over the uranium mined there. A cartel led by the French controls the product, so Iraq wouldn't have been able to purchase the uranium from Niger anyway, said Ray McGovern, a retired CIA analyst who has criticized the war.
“The president was literally right: They had a report that this happened,” McGovern said. “You can have a report that anything happened. The intelligence challenge is deciding whether it's credible.”
For his part, Bond said he was just doing what he thought was right. But in doing so, Bond seems to have latched onto an issue with nothing but political upside.
In an election year, it allows him to burnish his partisan credentials with his Republican base on a defining issue of the year — but it's a partisan position that Bond can defend to swing voters and his Democratic supporters because of the imprimatur of the unanimous intelligence committee report.
It also allows Bond to open a stature gap between himself and Democratic opponent Nancy Farmer by showing he deals with important international issues on the national stage.
His “NewsHour” appearance also gives him gravitas with his colleagues should he ever want to lead the committee.
Finally, there's no doubt the Bush administration is smiling upon Bond's work against Wilson. That can only help when Bond needs to deal with the White House on other issues.
To reach Matt Stearns,
Washington correspondent, call (202) 383-6009 or send e-mail to
mstearns@krwashington.com.
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First glance
• Sen. Kit Bond is leading the GOP charge against a former ambassador who has criticized Bush administration assertions that Iraq sought to buy enriched uranium from Africa.
• The Missouri lawmaker's efforts give him a national stage in an election year and buff his image before fellow Republicans and the White House.
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© 2004 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com
"I like my title better."
I do too. The boarding party better hurry the hell up.
I like your title, too!
As Wilson, I am sure, is aware, there is a huge difference between the following two statements:
1. "I have found no evidence that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger."
2. "I have found evidence that Iraq did not try to buy urnaium from Niger."
The first statement is probably true, owing primarily to the fact that Wilson never did any real investigative work.
The second statement is demonstrably false in that it is very difficult to prove a negative. If the original story had indicated that a specific Iraqi operative had been in Niger on a specific date for the purpose of obtaining Uranium, proof that this did not occur would involve alibi evidence of some sort--e.g., the operative was seen in Switzerland on the day this meeting was to have occurred.
Wilson produced scenario number one and turned it into scenario number two. It's called lying.
This is a terribly helpful and important bit of information of which until now I was unaware. Wonder why the MSM hasn't reported it? Unless Iraq was looking for Niger mung beans or goats, it must have been looking for uranium.
Very well put.
"Wonder why the MSM hasn't reported it? "
Lets see if I can get this straight, a French led cartel controls the uranium that is sold out of Niger, therefore Iraq couldn't possibly have purchased/obtained uranium because their buddies the French controlled it.....hhhhhmmmm
Thats about as ridiculous as "the 16 words" argument itself
TPD
No mention of Wilson being part of the Kerry Kampaign?
"And Niger has no control over the uranium mined there. A cartel led by the French controls the product, so Iraq wouldn't have been able to purchase the uranium from Niger anyway, said Ray McGovern, a retired CIA analyst who has criticized the war."
Maybe not the Niger government, but the french are dirty up to their eyeballs in under the table Iraqi money. They sold nuclear capability to saddam once and they have proven not to be trustworthy.
Either way, once again the french are around when a fishy deal comes up. Maybe we need a dirty french ping list.
Oddly enough there was absolutely no mention of wilsons connection to the kerry campaign. I'm sure it was just an oversight, or the printer slipped, or the dog ate his homework.
New tagline material...
Has a certain ring to it. Kinda like Spiro Agnew's "Nattering nabobs of negativity".
If Senator Bond is such a whiz at "ferreting out vast sums of federal dollars to send home," why are Missouri roads the worst in the nation ?
You've obviously never been to Wisconsin :)
From the headline, I thought for a moment that Dave Barry was trying his hand at political reporting.
I'll take that as a compliment. (I think)
I took the interstate from across from Cairo, Illinois down to Arkansas about three years ago. That was one extra sorry highway. Bond must not be bringing home that much bacon despite what the News Cartel idiot claims.
Heck, as an Anbassador type he could have carried suitcases full of money around and no one would have challenged him.
Did Wilson take the Yellowcake Road to Africa via commecial aviation or did he go via government plane? Wonder if that has beeen found by anyone?
I would! Dave Barry, the founder of talk like a pirate day, writes a great syndicated humor column. When you have some time, do a FR keyword search for "davebarry"
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