[blake6900]

One other point not picked up by the MSM is the fact that while we know Tenet and Cheney were not responsible for sending Joe Wilson to Niger, it's never really been explained who actually made the decision to send him there and why it was necessary in the first place, particularly someone of such relatively high visability. The president said what he said in his state of the union address and then the CIA sends someone over to Niger to prove it? Methinks some anti-Bush folks were out to get 'em.

[Lancey Howard]

The president said what he said in his state of the union address and then the CIA sends someone over to Niger to prove it?

Wilson went to Niger BEFORE the SotU Address. Wilson's initial op-ed piece in the LA Times, written right after he returned from Niger, said that Iraq may indeed have attempted to purchase yellow cake uranium. It wasn't until months later that he shopped around an entirely different op-ed piece, scooped up (naturally) by the New York Times, that spun 180 degrees from what he had initially opined. This was right after he joined the Kerry campaign.

[okie01]

The president said what he said in his state of the union address and then the CIA sends someone over to Niger to prove it

The timeline:

1. March, 2002: the CIA sends Wilson to Niger.

2. January, 2003: the President's SOTU, with the "16 words".

3. June, 2003: Wilson's op-ed in the NYT, claiming his "sweet mint tea mission" of the previous year had found no evidence of what the President claimed.