Joe Wilson's Top Ten Worst Inaccuracies And Misstatements

GOP.COM ^ | 7/14/05 | GOP.COM

[paltz]

Thursday, July 14, 2005
Joe Wilson's Top Ten Worst Inaccuracies And Misstatements

1.)  Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger:

Wilson Said He Traveled To Niger At CIA Request To Help Provide Response To Vice President’s Office. “In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.” (Joseph C. Wilson, Op-Ed, “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” The New York Times, 7/6/03)

• Joe Wilson: “[W]hat They Did, What The Office Of The Vice President Did, And, In Fact, I Believe Now From Mr. Libby’s Statement, It Was Probably The Vice President Himself ...” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 8/3/03)

Vice President Cheney: “I Don’t Know Joe Wilson. I’ve Never Met Joe Wilson. … And Joe Wilson - I Don’t [Know] Who Sent Joe Wilson. He Never Submitted A Report That I Ever Saw When He Came Back.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 9/14/03)

CIA Director George Tenet: “In An Effort To Inquire About Certain Reports Involving Niger, CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Experts, On Their Own Initiative, Asked An Individual With Ties To The Region To Make A Visit To See What He Could Learn.” (Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,” Press Release, 7/11/03)

2.)  Wilson Claimed The Vice President And Other Senior White House Officials Were Briefed On His Niger Report:

“[Wilson] Believed That [His Report] Would Have Been Distributed To The White House And That The Vice President Received A Direct Response To His Question About The Possible Uranium Deal.” (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

The Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Reported That The Vice President Was Not Briefed On Wilson’s Report. “Conclusion 14. The Central Intelligence Agency should have told the Vice President and other senior policymakers that it had sent someone to Niger to look into the alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal and it should have briefed the Vice President on the former ambassador’s findings.” (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

CIA Director George Tenet:  “Because This Report, In Our View, Did Not Resolve Whether Iraq Was Or Was Not Seeking Uranium From Abroad, It Was Given A Normal And Wide Distribution, But We Did Not Brief It To The President, Vice-President Or Other Senior Administration Officials.” (Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,” Press Release, 7/11/03)

3.)  Wilson Has Claimed His Niger Report Was Conclusive And Significant

Wilson Claims His Trip Proved There Was Nothing To The Uranium “Allegations.” “I knew that [Dr. Rice] had fundamentally misstated the facts. In fact, she had lied about it. I had gone out and I had undertaken this study. I had come back and said that this was not feasible. … This government knew that there was nothing to these allegations.” (NBC’s, “Meet The Press,” 5/2/04)

Officials Said Evidence In Wilson’s Niger Report Was “Thin” And His “Homework Was Shoddy.”  (Michael Duffy, “Leaking With A Vengeance,” Time, 10/13/03)

Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Unanimous Report: “Conclusion 13. The Report On The Former Ambassador’s Trip To Niger, Disseminated In March 2002, Did Not Change Any Analysts’ Assessments Of The Iraq-Niger Uranium Deal.” (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

• “For Most Analysts, The Information In The Report Lent More Credibility To The Original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Report On The Uranium Deal, But State Department Bureau Of Intelligence And Research (INR) Analysts Believed That The Report Supported Their Assessments That Niger Was Unlikely To Be Willing Or Able To Sell Uranium.”  (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

CIA Said Wilson’s Findings Did Not Resolve The Issue. “Because [Wilson’s] report, in our view, did not resolve whether Iraq was or was not seeking uranium from abroad, it was given a normal and wide distribution, but we did not brief it to the president, vice president or other senior administration officials. We also had to consider that the former Nigerien officials knew that what they were saying would reach the U.S. government and that this might have influenced what they said.” (Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,” Press Release 7/11/03) 

The Butler Report Claimed That The President’s State Of the Union Statement On Uranium From Africa, “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.” (The Rt. Hon. The Lord Butler Of Brockwell, “Review Of Intelligence, On Weapons Of Mass Destruction,” 7/14/04)

4.)  Wilson Denied His Wife Suggested He Travel To Niger In 2002:

Wilson Claimed His Wife Did Not Suggest He Travel To Niger To Investigate Reports Of Uranium Deal; Instead, Wilson Claims It Came Out Of Meeting With CIA.  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “Among other things, you had always said, always maintained, still maintain your wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA officer, had nothing to do with the decision to send to you Niger to inspect reports that uranium might be sold from Niger to Iraq. … Did Valerie Plame, your wife, come up with the idea to send you to Niger?”  Joe Wilson:  “No. My wife served as a conduit, as I put in my book. When her supervisors asked her to contact me for the purposes of coming into the CIA to discuss all the issues surrounding this allegation of Niger selling uranium to Iraq.”  (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 7/18/04)

• But Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Received Not Only Testimony But Actual Documentation Indicating Wilson’s Wife Proposed Him For Trip.  “Some CPD, [CIA Counterproliferation Division] officials could not recall how the office decided to contact the former ambassador, however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip.  The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador’s wife ‘offered up his name’ and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador’s wife says, ‘my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.’”  (Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

5.)  Wilson Has Claimed His 1999 Trip To Niger Was Not Suggested By His Wife:

Wilson Claims CIA Thought To Ask Him To Make Trip Because He Had Previously Made Trip For Them In 1999, Not Because Of His Wife’s Suggestion.  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer:  “Who first raised your name, then, based on what you know? Who came up with the idea to send you there?”  Joe Wilson:  “The CIA knew my name from a trip, and it’s in the report, that I had taken in 1999 related to uranium activities but not related to Iraq. I had served for 23 years in government including as Bill Clinton’s Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. I had done a lot of work with the Niger government during a period punctuated by a military coup and a subsequent assassination of a president. So I knew all the people there.”  (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 7/18/04)

In Fact, His Wife Suggested Him For 1999 Trip, As Well.  “The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA’s behalf … The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region …”  (Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

6.) Wilson Claimed He Was A Victim Of A Partisan Smear Campaign

Joe Wilson: “Well, I Don’t Know. Obviously, There’s Been This Orchestrated Campaign, This Smear Campaign. I Happen To Think That It’s Because The RNC, The Republican National Committee’s Been Involved In This In A Big Way …”  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “But They Weren’t Involved In The Senate Intelligence Committee Report.”  Wilson: “No, They Weren’t.”  (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 7/18/04)

Senate Intelligence Committee Unanimously Concluded That Wilson’s Report “Lent More Credibility” For Most Analysts “To The Original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Reports.”  “Conclusion 13. The report on the former ambassador’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)

Members Of The Senate Select Committee On Intelligence That Wrote The Unanimous “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq”:

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)

Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH)

Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO)

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

Sen. John Warner (R-VA)

(Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

7.) A Month Before The Bob Novak And Matthew Cooper Articles Ever Came Out, Wilson Told The Washington Post That Previous Intelligence Reports About Niger Were Based On Forged Documents:

In June Of 2003, Wilson Told The Washington Post “The Niger Intelligence Was Based On Documents That Had Clearly Been Forged Because ‘The Dates Were Wrong And The Names Were Wrong.’” (Susan Schmidt, “Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission,” The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

However, “The [Senate Select Committee On Intelligence] Report …  Said Wilson Provided Misleading Information To The Washington Post Last June [12^th, 2003].” (Susan Schmidt, “Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission,” The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

• Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Unanimous Report: “The Former Ambassador Said That He May Have ‘Misspoken’ To The Reporter When He Said He Concluded The Documents Were ‘Forged.’”   (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

8.) Wilson Claimed His Book Would Enrich Debate:

NBC’s Katie Couric: “What Do You Hope The Whole Point Of This Book Will Be? Joe Wilson: “Well, I - I Hope, One, It Will Tell - It Tries To Tell An Interesting Story. Two, I Hope That It Enriches The Debate In A Year In Which We Are All Called Upon As Americans To Elect Our Leaders. And Three, … That [It] Says That This Is A Great Democracy That Is Worthy Of Our Taking Our Responsibilities As Stewards Seriously.” (NBC’s “Today Show,” 5/3/04)

Wilson Admits In His Book That He Had Been Involved In “A Little Literary Flair” When Talking To Reporters.  “[Wilson] wrote in his book, he told Committee staff that his assertion may have involved ‘a little literary flair.’” (Matthew Continetti, “‘A Little Literary Flair’” The Weekly Standard, 7/26/04)

Wilson’s Book The Politics Of Truth:  Inside The Lies That Put The White House On Trial And Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity Has Been Panned In Numerous Reviews For Its Inaccuracies:

• “On Page One Of Chapter One, He Quotes NBC Talk Show Host Chris Matthews, Who Told Him That, After Mr. Wilson Chose To Go Public: ‘Wilson’s Wife Is Fair Game.’ Later, He Bases His List Of Suspect Leakers On Conversations With Members Of The News Media And A ‘Source Close To The House Judiciary Committee.’” (Eli Lake, Op-Ed, “Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Mr. Wilson,” New York Post, 5/4/04)
  
• “For Example, When Asked How He ‘Knew’ That The Intelligence Community Had Rejected The Possibility Of A Niger-Iraq Uranium Deal, As He Wrote In His Book, He Told [Senate Intelligence] Committee Staff That His Assertion May Have Involved ‘A Little Literary Flair.’” (Matthew Continetti, “‘A Little Literary Flair,’” The Weekly Standard, 7/26/04)
  
• The Boston Globe: “In Essence, Much Of Wilson’s Book Is An Attempt To Portray The Bush Administration As A Ministry Of Fear Whose Mission In Pursuing War In Iraq Required It To Proclaim A Lie As Truth.” (Michael D. Langan, Op-Ed, “‘Truth’ Makes Much Of Bush Controversy,” The Boston Globe, 5/4/04)
  
• Newsweek’s Evan Thomas Wrote In The Washington Post: “[W]ilson’s Claims And Conclusions Are Either Long Hashed Over Or Based On What The Intelligence Business Describes As ‘Rumint,’ Or Rumor Intelligence.” (Evan Thomas, Op-Ed, “Indecent Exposure,” The Washington Post, 5/16/04)

9.) Wilson Claimed The CIA Provided Him With Information Related To The Iraq-Niger Uranium Transaction:

“The Former Ambassador Noted That His CIA Contacts Told Him There Were Documents Pertaining To The Alleged Iraq-Niger Uranium Transaction And That The Source Of The Information Was The [Redacted] Intelligence Service.” (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

• However, “The DO [Director Of Operations At The CIA] Reports Officer Told Committee Staff That He Did Not Provide The Former Ambassador With Any Information About The Source Or Details …” (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,” 7/7/04)

10.) Wilson Claimed He Is A Non-Partisan “Centrist”:

Recently, Joe Wilson Refused To Admit He Is A Registered Democrat. NBC’s Jamie Gangel: “You are a Democrat?” Joe Wilson: “I exercise my rights as a citizen of this country to participate in the selection of my leaders and I am proud to do so. I did so in the election in 2000 by contributing not just to Al Gore's campaign, but also to the Bush-Cheney campaign.” (NBC’s “Today Show,” 7/14/05)

“[Wilson] Insist[s] He Remained A Centrist At Heart.” (Scott Shane, “Private Spy And Public Spouse Live At Center Of Leak Case,” The New York Times, 7/5/05)

• Joe Wilson Is A Registered Democrat. (District Of Columbia Voter Registrations, Accessed 7/14/05)
  
• Joseph Wilson Has Donated Over $8,000 To Democrats Including $2,000 To John Kerry For President In 2003, $1,000 To Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) HILLPAC In 2002 And $3,000 To Al Gore In 1999.  (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed 7/12/05)
  
• Wilson Endorsed John Kerry For President In October 2003 And Advised The Kerry Campaign.  (David Tirrell-Wysocki, “Former Ambassador Wilson Endorses Kerry In Presidential Race,” The Associated Press, 10/23/03)
  
• “[Wilson] Admits ‘It Will Be A Cold Day In Hell Before I Vote For A Republican, Even For Dog Catcher.’” (Scott Shane, “Private Spy And Public Spouse Live At Center Of Leak Case,” The New York Times, 7/5/05)

[Christian4Bush]

That's gonna leave a mark...

Good find.

[Rummyfan]

(Joseph C. Wilson, Op-Ed, “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” The New York Times, 7/6/03)

As Ann Coulter said in her piece yesterday, the title of that op-ed is a hoot. What I didn't find in Africa? Polar bears? Penguins? Hockey players? The list is endless!

[1Old Pro]

bttt, I'm sure the NY Times will want to reprint this

[ClancyJ]

Thanks for posting this. Looks like all of us will have to circumvent the "media" for the truth.

[edcoil]

Wilson lied to the government. Should he go to jail like Martha Stuart?

[hoosiermama]

There's so much smoke Joe and Val MUST be trying to hide something.....Wonder what it is?

[Rummyfan]

Nah, it was just a little literary flair!

[april15Bendovr]

Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war' (What Wilson couldn't learn sipping tea)
Financial Times by way of Iraq News (Laurie Mylroie) ^ | June 27 2004 | Mark Huband

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1161490/posts

[NC28203]

>>>Joe Wilson: “[W]hat They Did, What The Office Of The Vice President Did, And, In Fact, I Believe Now From Mr. Libby’s Statement, It Was Probably The Vice President Himself ...” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 8/3/03)

The full quote from that interview provides a different picture.

WILSON: Well, look, it's absolutely true that neither the vice president nor Dr. Rice nor even George Tenet knew that I was traveling to Niger.

What they did, what the office of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself...

BLITZER: Scooter Libby is the chief of staff for the vice president.

WILSON: Scooter Libby.

They asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report. So it was a question that went to the CIA briefer from the Office of the Vice President. The CIA, at the operational level, made a determination that the best way to answer this serious question was to send somebody out there who knew something about both the uranium business and those Niger officials that were in office at the time these reported documents were executed.

[weegee]

PING, you had questions about quotes regarding Wilson and Cheney.

[lugsoul]

Oh, I've seen the quotes in #1. The problem is that they don't say that Cheney sent him.

The little quote from Late Edition is an impressive editing job - they left out the statement immediately following where Wilson says Cheney didn't even know he was going.

If they have to twist like this to support their #1 charge, doesn't anyone wonder why?

[doug from upland]

Great stuff.

[weegee]

Any quotes where he comes out and says his wife sent him?

[conservativebabe]

This guy is an unbelievable fraud.

[blinachka]

(Joseph C. Wilson, Op-Ed, “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” The New York Times, 7/6/03)

The list is endless!

Hehehe...it sure is! let's see: what else did he not find in Africa? I know! The truth! Joe Wilson: Liar, liar, pants on fire!! Hehehe!!

[lugsoul]

Every quote I've seen from him is consistent - that 'agency officials' or the CPD sent him. That is confirmed by the Senate Intel report. The only question about his wife is the extent of her involvement. She wasn't the decision maker, and didn't have the authority to do so.

But I'm sure I could do some creative editing, like the quotes in this post, to make it look like he said his wife sent him.

I know I'll get called a lib for saying this - like I was yesterday - but I'm really amazed that no one here is bothered by GOP officials lying through their teeth for political purposes.

[kabar]

Every quote I've seen from him is consistent - that 'agency officials' or the CPD sent him. That is confirmed by the Senate Intel report. The only question about his wife is the extent of her involvement. She wasn't the decision maker, and didn't have the authority to do so.

I am sure that Wilson had official orders, which paid his expenses. As a USG bureaucrat for 36 years and one who has dealt with the Agency, I can assure you that his wife is the one who suggested him. That's the way the bureaucracy works. There is no way that he would have been selected for the trip without someone inside putting forth his name. She may not have signed the orders, but she was the determinant influence.

Wilson must have left the State Department under a cloud. He was fairly young, had an ambassadorship under his belt (albeit a small African country) and was Charge' in Baghdad during the invasion of Kuwait, a high profile assignment. Why did he leave after only 22 years and seemingly with more responsible postions ahead? He must have screwed up in his subsequent one year posting to the NSC or more damaging info came to light in terms of the April Glaspie contretemps. She was his boss.

[lugsoul]

You do know, don't you, that Wilson had previously been dispatched by the Agency on a mission to Niger?

Seems there are many folks who would have known of his credentials for such a trip.

But that's okay. The fact - indisputable fact - of my post above is that someone at the RNC is lying through their teeth about what Wilson said, using one of the most blatant selective edits I have ever seen. Strange that no one here wonders why.

[kabar]

You do know, don't you, that Wilson had previously been dispatched by the Agency on a mission to Niger?

Yes. In Fact, His Wife Suggested Him For 1999 Trip, As Well. “The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA’s behalf … The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region …” (Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

Seems there are many folks who would have known of his credentials for such a trip.

I doubt it. I served on an Agency advisory board after I retired from the USG. My assignment was the result of someone in the Agency who knew me personally. You can have some credentials (along with the requisite security clearances), but it is who you know, more that what you know. Plame volunteered her retired husband and the Agency approved him because he had the contacts and security clearance. I am sure others could have fit that bill, but Wilson had the advantage of his wife on the inside who could influence her supervisors.

But that's okay. The fact - indisputable fact - of my post above is that someone at the RNC is lying through their teeth about what Wilson said, using one of the most blatant selective edits I have ever seen. Strange that no one here wonders why.

Specifically, what is someone at the RNC "lying through their teeth" about? What blatant selective edit?

[lugsoul]

For the selective edit, read item #1 in these talking points. Then read post #10.

It is pretty shameless.

[Darkwolf377]

Specifically, what is someone at the RNC "lying through their teeth" about? What blatant selective edit?

I'm wondering that myself. Both seem to be saying the same thing. If you can figure out the difference, pass it on!

[King Prout]

good find.
ping.

[bitt]

refresh your arguments - information ping

[kabar]

For the selective edit, read item #1 in these talking points. Then read post #10. It is pretty shameless.

First, talking point #1 Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger refers to all the subequent information and quotes under that heading, not just the CNN interview. In his July 6th Op-Ed with the NYT, Wilson said, " The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.” As it turns out, the VP did not ask the CIA to conduct this inquiry. It was done at the Agency's initiative and not at the behest of the VP or his office.

CIA Director George Tenet: “In An Effort To Inquire About Certain Reports Involving Niger, CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Experts, On Their Own Initiative, Asked An Individual With Ties To The Region To Make A Visit To See What He Could Learn.” (Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,” Press Release, 7/11/03) I am sure that Tenet's statement was in response to Wilson's July 6th NYT OP-Ed, which created the impression that the VP's office initiated the Wilson visit.

CIA Director George Tenet: “Because This Report, In Our View, Did Not Resolve Whether Iraq Was Or Was Not Seeking Uranium From Abroad, It Was Given A Normal And Wide Distribution, But We Did Not Brief It To The President, Vice-President Or Other Senior Administration Officials.” (Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,” Press Release, 7/11/03)

Joe Wilson: “[W]hat They Did, What The Office Of The Vice President Did, And, In Fact, I Believe Now From Mr. Libby’s Statement, It Was Probably The Vice President Himself ...” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 8/3/03)

This is an exact quote from Wilson. The implication is that the VP'office and more than likely the VP asked that the CIA to initiate a trip to Niger. Wilson goes on to say, "They asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report. So it was a question that went to the CIA briefer from the Office of the Vice President. The CIA, at the operational level, made a determination that the best way to answer this serious question was to send somebody out there who knew something about both the uranium business and those Niger officials that were in office at the time these reported documents were executed." This was a CYA statement made after the CIA's July 11 press releases. You can call it selective editing by the GOP, but why quote Wilson's cover-up statement?

Wilson made these statements to CNN after the CIA press releases on July 11 essentially shot down Wilson's assertions in his July 6, Op-Ed piece in the NYT. What I Didn't Find in Africa

If you read Wilson's pompous, self-promting Op-Ed, you can see what his partisan, political objective was.

"Though I did not file a written report, there should be at least four documents in United States government archives confirming my mission. The documents should include the ambassador's report of my debriefing in Niamey, a separate report written by the embassy staff, a C.I.A. report summing up my trip, and a specific answer from the agency to the office of the vice president (this may have been delivered orally). While I have not seen any of these reports, I have spent enough time in government to know that this is standard operating procedure. "

"Those are the facts surrounding my efforts. The vice president's office asked a serious question. I was asked to help formulate the answer. I did so, and I have every confidence that the answer I provided was circulated to the appropriate officials within our government." The implication is that the VP received this report or was briefed on them.

"The question now is how that answer was or was not used by our political leadership."

[lugsoul]

The 'exact quote' you reference specifically says that the Agency, at an operational level, decided to send him. How in the world does this translate, in your mind, into Cheney sent him?

The mendacity being displayed on this is amazing.

Wilson says Cheney asked the CIA to look into the Yellowcake reports. Wilson says the CIA decided to send him to Niger. This is absolutely, 100% true. And you can't point to a single statement where Wilson says anything different than that.

[lugsoul]

"They [the VP's office] asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report. So it was a question that went to the CIA briefer from the Office of the Vice President. The CIA, at the operational level, made a determination that the best way to answer this serious question was to send somebody out there who knew something about both the uranium business and those Niger officials that were in office at the time these reported documents were executed."

Of course, like the RNC, you completely excised THIS part of the quote. Obviously, because it completely refutes the 'implication' you want to take from the preceding part. Honesty and Integrity.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping.

[kcvl]

bttt

[Darkwolf377]

What are you talking about?

Here is the RNC claim (CAPS mine):

Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s OFFICE SENT HIM To Niger

Here is Wilson's claim (CAPS mine):

What they did, what THE OFFICE of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself... BLITZER: Scooter Libby is the chief of staff for the vice president. WILSON: Scooter Libby. THEY asked essentially that we follow up on this report

The RNC claims Wilson said the trip was as a result of Cheney's office wanting confirmation of the report.

Wilson claimsCheney's office wanted confirmation of the report and led to him being sent to Niger.

[lugsoul]

"led to him" being sent to Niger. Those are key words.

Cheney's request that the CIA look into the Niger / yellowcake issue DID 'lead to' the CIA, at a operational level, sending Wilson to Niger. That is not disputed.

What is disputed is whether Wilson said Cheney sent him. The RNC says yes. But no one can point to such a statement. And anyone who reads the ENTIRE exchange you excerpted can see that Wilson specifically says that CIA officials, not Cheney, made the decision to send him. And that Cheney didn't even know he was going.

[Darkwolf377]

"led to him" being sent to Niger. Those are key words. Cheney's request that the CIA look into the Niger / yellowcake issue DID 'lead to' the CIA, at a operational level, sending Wilson to Niger. That is not disputed. What is disputed is whether Wilson said Cheney sent him. The RNC says yes.

No they don't. Where in this article do they say that? Here's the quote:

1.) Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s OFFICE Sent Him To Niger: Wilson Said He Traveled To Niger At CIA Request To Help PROVIDE RESPONSE To Vice President’s OFFICE. “In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide A RESPONSE TO to the vice president’s OFFICE.” (Joseph C. Wilson, Op-Ed, “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” The New York Times, 7/6/03)

You're attacking the RNC for supposedly being dishonest; where have they been dishonest? Show the specific quotes, please.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Anybody else here wonder WTH kind of "business" Joe Wilson had in Niger, which is what ostensibly qualifed him to make the first trip to Niger in 1999? This is not Egypt or South Africa we are taking about. This is one of the most dangerous and corrupt regimes in Africa. There are State Department warnings against Americans traveling there. It's one of those banana republics where nobody "does business" without the government being involved. So what was Joe Wilson doing there? Why should we believe him when he reports something that conveniently lets the Niger government off the hook for dealing with Saddam Hussein? Isn't is just the tiniest bit possible that Wilson set all this up, using his wife's position of course, to protect his friends in Niger in order to support his "business" while at the same time screwing the Bush Administration? What a sweet deal! Too bad George Tenet and Bob Novak called bullshit on the whole thing.

[FreedomCalls]

Excellent summary. And I'm still stunned that such an incompetant would be selected to be sent on such a mission. He didn't even understand what it was he was supposed to be looking for.

Joe Wilson:  “No. My wife served as a conduit, as I put in my book. When her supervisors asked her to contact me for the purposes of coming into the CIA to discuss all the issues surrounding this allegation of Niger selling uranium to Iraq.”   (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 7/18/04)

The allegation is that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from Niger, not that Niger sold uranium to Iraq. Just documenting the attempt to purchase would satisfy his mission. Which he did inadvertantly. It's just as if a know felon walked into a gun store and tried to purchase an AK-47. The gun store would turn him down. But that doesn't mean he didn't try. Just as here when Niger turned down Iraq's offers. Iraq still nevertheless "sought" to purchase the uranium. The President and British Intelligence were correct, Joe Wilson continues to lie about it.

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." (President Bush, in the State of the Union Address, January 28th, 2003)

[lugsoul]

Oh - now I see your hypertechnical point. You are correct. They claim Wilson said Cheney's OFFICE sent him.

The problem with your point is that Wilson didn't say that, either. He consistently said that the CIA, at an operational level, sent him.

So, the quote you posted is still the lie.

[kabar]

Here is the RNC claim (CAPS mine): Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s OFFICE SENT HIM To Niger

That caption covers everything under paragraph #1 ,not just the excerpted portion of the CNN interview. Wilson, implicitly and explicitly, makes the point that the VP's office was the genesis of his trip and that the VP ignored or intentionally misled the public about Wilson's report. We now know that it was strictly a CIA initiated trip and that the VP was never briefed on the contents of Wilson's report. Wilson started all of this with his highly partisan NYT Op-Ed piece.

You need to read Wilson's comments to CNN in the context and timeline of the incident. Wilson made a bunch of bogus claims and allegations in his July 6th Op-Ed. The CIA issued two press releases on July 11 setting the record straight. On August 3, Wilson still implied the VP office linkage, but he could no longer make the claim that the VPs office was the genesis of his trip or that they saw his report. Read Wilson's Op-Ed piece as the starting point.

Could the GOP have done a better job of wording its "Top Ten" list. Yes, but it certainly does not rise to the level of Wilson's unfounded accusations against Bush, Cheney and Rove. Wilson was all over the talk show circuit spreading lies and disinformation. Wilson used the Plame disclosure flap to attack the WH and get Kerry elected. The whole Plame story is bogus and Wilson knows it. He is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame and a book deal.

[Darkwolf377]

It sure sounds possible, though I have no idea. But what I find funny is how no one can answer, off the cuff, what country he was an ambassador to, even though they call him "Ambassador Wilson" to give him street cred.

The facts out there indicate that Rove was ASKED about Plame and gave an off-the-record comment that was THE TRUTH. Now the MSM are attacking THE TRUTH--which is that two Gore supporters connived to send one of them--who's said his goal is to ruin this administration--to Niger, where he sat around and chatted with a few people and didn't even write a report on a potential source of nuclear fuel!

Wilson then said Bush lied with those 16 words; in fact, he did not--British intel DID find that Iraq had attempted to get yellowcake from Niger.

Two political enemies of the President run an operation in the CIA to hurt the president...and the "scandal" is that someone blew the cover off it!

[lugsoul]

"Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger"

There's the quote you wanted. I'd love to see your quote where Wilson says this. But I won't. Because he didn't.

[FreedomCalls]

If they have to twist like this to support their #1 charge, doesn't anyone wonder why?

The #1 charge is not that Cheney personally sent him. The charge is underlined: "Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger." Wilson's quote do not support the charge that Cheney sent him but the DO support the charge that Wilson claimed that the Office of the Vice President sent him.

You are being more selective and are twisting more than what you claim they are doing.

[Darkwolf377]

The problem with your point is that Wilson didn't say that, either. He consistently said that the CIA, at an operational level, sent him. So, the quote you posted is still the lie. (clip) There's the quote you wanted. I'd love to see your quote where Wilson says this. But I won't. Because he didn't. “In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.”

What they did, what the office of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself... BLITZER: Scooter Libby is the chief of staff for the vice president. WILSON: Scooter Libby. They asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report.

So Wilson explicitly saying Cheney's office asked that the agency follow up on the report and that agency officials asked if he would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office, ISN"T the same as saying Cheney's office in the person of Scooter Libby ordered confirmation of the report, which resulted in Wilson being sent?

Talk about hypertechnical points.

Wilson said:“In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.”

That's what the RNC said. You can dance all you want, dude, but he said it.

[lugsoul]

Whoa - now hold on just a second.

“In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.”

That's the quote you posted, edited though it may be. IS THERE ANYTHING IN THAT STATEMENT THAT IS NOT TRUE?

[lugsoul]

"Wilson's quote do not support the charge that Cheney sent him but the DO support the charge that Wilson claimed that the Office of the Vice President sent him."

Where in the world does he say that? He specifically says the CIA sent him.

[Aldin]

Tag for later

[Darkwolf377]

Whoa - now hold on just a second. “In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office.” That's the quote you posted, edited though it may be. IS THERE ANYTHING IN THAT STATEMENT THAT IS NOT TRUE?

No. When did I say there was?

Are you on crack or something, dude? You are pissing and moaning about the SUBJECT LINE of the #1 item on that RNC list.

Tell you what--FORGET that line.

Now you tell me: IS THERE ANYTHING IN ITEM #1 THAT IS NOT TRUE?

[kabar]

A War on Wilson?
Inside the Bush Administration's feud with the diplomat who poured cold water on the Iraq-uranium connection
By MATTHEW COOPER, MASSIMO CALABRESI AND JOHN F. DICKERSON
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHOR
Posted Thursday, Jul. 17, 2003
Has the Bush Administration declared war on a former ambassador who conducted a fact-finding mission to probe possible Iraqi interest in African uranium? Perhaps.

Former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson raised the Administration's ire with an op-ed piece in The New York Times on July 6 saying that the Administration had "twisted" intelligence to "exaggerate" the Iraqi threat. Since then Administration officials have taken public and private whacks at Wilson, charging that his 2002 report, made at the behest of U.S. intelligence, was faulty and that his mission was a scheme cooked up by mid-level operatives. George Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, took a shot at Wilson last week as did ex-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Both contended that Wilson's report on an alleged Iraqi effort to purchase uranium from Niger, far from undermining the president's claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq sought uranium in Africa, as Wilson had said, actually strengthened it. And some government officials have noted to TIME in interviews, (as well as to syndicated columnist Robert Novak) that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These officials have suggested that she was involved in her husband's being dispatched Niger to investigate reports that Saddam Hussein's government had sought to purchase large quantities of uranium ore, sometimes referred to as yellow cake, which is used to build nuclear devices.

In an interview with TIME, Wilson, who served as an ambassador to Gabon and as a senior American diplomat in Baghdad under the current president's father, angrily said that his wife had nothing to do with his trip to Africa. "That is bulls__t. That is absolutely not the case," Wilson told TIME. "I met with between six and eight analysts and operators from CIA and elsewhere [before the Feb 2002 trip]. None of the people in that meeting did I know, and they took the decision to send me. This is a smear job."

Government officials are not only privately disputing the genesis of Wilson's trip, but publicly contesting what he found. Last week Bush Administration officials said that Wilson's report reinforced the president's claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa. They say that when Wilson returned from Africa in Feb. 2002, he included in his report to the CIA an encounter with a former Nigerien government official who told him that Iraq had approached him in June 1999, expressing interest in expanding commercial relations between Iraq and Niger. The Administration claims Wilson reported that the former Nigerien official interpreted the overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales.

"This is in Wilson's report back to the CIA," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters last week, a few days before he left his post to join the private sector. "Wilson's own report, the very man who was on television saying Niger denies it...reports himself that officials in Niger said that Iraq was seeking to contact officials in Niger about sales."

Wilson tells the story differently and in a crucial respect. He says the official in question was contacted by an Algerian-Nigerien intermediary who inquired if the official would meet with an Iraqi about "commercial" sales — an offer he declined. Wilson dismisses CIA Director George Tenet's suggestion in his own mea culpa last week that the meeting validates the President's State of the Union claim: "That then translates into an Iraqi effort to import a significant quantity of uranium as the president alleged? These guys really need to get serious."

Government officials also chide Wilson for not delving into the details of the now infamous forged papers that pointed to a sale of uranium to Iraq. When Tenet issued his I-take-the-blame statement on the alleged Iraq-Niger uranium connection last week, he took a none-too-subtle jab at Wilson's report. "There was no mention in the report of forged documents — or any suggestion of the existence of documents at all," Tenet wrote. For his part Wilson says he did not deal with the forgeries explicitly in his report because he never saw them. However, Wilson says he refuted the forgeries' central allegation that Niger had been negotiating a sale of uranium to Iraq. Wilson says he explained in the report that several Nigerien government signatures would be required to permit such a sale — signatures that were either absent or clearly botched in the forged documents.

Administration officials also claim that Wilson took at face value the claims of Nigerien officials that they had not sold uranium ore to Saddam Hussein. (Such sales would have been forbidden under then-existing United Nations sanctions on Iraq.) "He spent eight days in Niger and he concluded that Niger denied the allegation." Fleischer told reporters last week. "Well, typically nations don't admit to going around nuclear nonproliferation,"

For his part, Wilson says that the Administration conflated the prior report of the American ambassador to Niger with his own. Wilson says a report by Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick, the American ambassador to Niger, addresses the issue of Nigerien government officials disputing the allegation. Wilson says that he never made the naïve argument that if Nigerien officials denied the sales, then their claims must be believed.

A source close to the matter says that Wilson was dispatched to Niger because Vice President Dick Cheney had questions about an intelligence report about Iraq seeking uranium and that he asked that the CIA get back to him with answers. Cheney's staff has adamantly denied and Tenet has reinforced the claim that the Vice President had anything to do with initiating the Wilson mission. They say the Vice President merely asked routine questions at an intelligence briefing and that mid-level CIA officials, on their own, chose to dispatch Wilson.

In an exclusive interview Lewis Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff, told TIME: "The Vice President heard about the possibility of Iraq trying to acquire uranium from Niger in February 2002. As part of his regular intelligence briefing, the Vice President asked a question about the implication of the report. During the course of a year, the Vice President asked many such questions and the agency responded within a day or two saying that they had reporting suggesting the possibility of such a transaction. But the agency noted that the reporting lacked detail. The agency pointed out that Iraq already had 500 tons of uranium, portions of which came from Niger, according to the International Atomic Energy Administration (IAEA). The Vice President was unaware of the trip by Ambassador Wilson and didn't know about it until this year when it became public in the last month or so. " Other senior Administration officials, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, have also claimed that they had not heard of Wilson's report until recently.

After he submitted his report in March 2002, Wilson says, his interest in the topic lay dormant until the State of the Union address in January 2003. In his speech, the President cited a British report claiming that Hussein's government had sought uranium in Africa. Afterward, Wilson says, he called a friend at the Africa bureau of the State Department and asked if the reference had been to Niger. The friend said that he didn't know but, says Wilson, allowed the possibility that Bush was referring to some other country on the continent. Wilson says he let the matter drop until he saw State Department spokesman Richard Boucher say a few months later that the U.S. had been fooled by bad intelligence. It was then that Wilson says he realized that his report had been overlooked, ignored, or buried. Wilson told TIME that he considers the matter settled now that the White House has admitted the Bush reference to Iraq and African uranium should not have been in the State of the Union address.

[Darkwolf377]

It was then that Wilson says he realized that his report had been overlooked, ignored, or buried. Wilson told TIME that he considers the matter settled now that the White House has admitted the Bush reference to Iraq and African uranium should not have been in the State of the Union address.

I guess he decided it's no longer settled.

http://dailyhowler.com/dh072004.shtml

I never claimed to debunk Bush’s claim, Wilson says.

(excerpt)

I went to great lengths to point out that mine was but one of three reports on the subject. I never claimed to have “debunked” the allegation that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. I claimed only that the transaction described in the documents that turned out to be forgeries could not have occurred and did not occur.

Amazing, isn’t it? I never claimed to have “debunked” the allegation that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa! Readers, what has the last year been about if Wilson didn’t claim to debunk Bush’s claim? (Think hard—we know you’ll come up with something.) Let’s compare two important statements—Bush’s famous 16 words, and Wilson’s amazing new admission:

BUSH: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

WILSON: I never claimed to have “debunked” the allegation that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa.

Finally! This is what we’ve always told you—Wilson had no way of knowing if the 16-word statement was right or wrong. He had no way to debunk it! But throughout his thrilling and best-selling book, he calls this statement a “lie-lie-lie-lie,” over and over and over again. But then, grinding overstatement like that has been the problem with Wilson all along (as the three senators correctly note). And now, alas, Dems will start to pay a price for investing so much in his presentations. (END EXCERPT)

[lugsoul]

Perhaps you missed the title of the thread, and the document. After you read that, perhaps you'll want to respond again.

The answer to your question is YES - it is flatly untrue that "Wilson Insisted The Vice-President's office Sent Him To Niger," and that the quoted statements support such a claim.

You seem to be completely missing the point. The issue is whether Cheney (or his office) sent him or someone within CIA sent him. It is clearly the latter, and Wilson has never claimed otherwise.

[Polyxene]

"There's so much smoke Joe and Val MUST be trying to hide something.....Wonder what it is?"

Can you say backfire? Boomerang? INCOMING!! Everybody duck!!

[Darkwolf377]

You seem to be completely missing the point. The issue is whether Cheney (or his office) sent him or someone within CIA sent him. It is clearly the latter, and Wilson has never claimed otherwise.

At the behest of the VP's office--which gave him "credibility" because he was not on some partisan maneuver--which he clearly was.

You are picking at the tiniest, most inconsequential elements of this for the sake of some weird argument.

Wilson was attempting to imply that he was an "insider"--he has said most of his friends are Republicans, he supported the first Gulf War, etc. And that what led to him going to Niger was the VP's office--OBVIOUSLY implying that the VP believed in him.

You don't get that? You don't see that Wilson was trying to say--without explicitly saying it--"Hey, I'm no hack--I'm an INSIDER who innocently went ot Niger and found out the Administration was WRONG! And they ignored me, ME! And insider sent by the VP's office!"

If you are so easily duped, good luck to you--you have a hard life ahead. But the rest of us who can think know what someone is trying to do with language. Or are you going to argue that Wilson is some innocent who doesn't understand diplo-speak?

Go ahead and be willingly duped, for whatever reason you want to believe Wilson. But your whole argument here is a prissy obsession about the phrasing of a subject line, whereas the actual item is 100% true by your own admission.

[FreedomCalls]

He specifically says the CIA sent him.

The question is not about who ordered his tickets or who made his hotel reservation or who paid his travel voucher. The question is about whether anyone in the White House knew about Wilson's report before purposely ignoring his "facts" and sexing up the State of the Union address with those 16 words. That's why Wilson claims the Office of the Vice President knew of his trip and his trip was to answer whether those words were correct or not as least in his view. Wilson clearly believes that the Office of the VP initiated the chain of events that led to his trip and by inference it received his oral report afterward debunking any Niger sales of uranium to Iraq. When intelligence analysts got Wilson's report they thought it supported the contention that Iraq sought to purchase uranium from Niger. Whether or not that was briefed directly to Cheney we do not know, but Wilson believes he debunked any memo purporting to show Iraq actually purchased uranium in Niger. He thinks he was selected at the CIA to answer that question and he did so, but was purposely ignored at the White House so they could sex up the SOTU address. He's wrong.