Let Them Eat Yellowcake - Reflections On A Failed Political Smear

PipeLineNews.org ^ | July 15, 2003 | William A. Mayer

[Helms]

My tale on this is that Dems are desperate not to see Nader or anyone in any way split up the ticket. They are also battling mightily for turnout of the "Dark Side" of their base as the Republicans could further expand there lead in both houses. As Rush has said, in the cloak rooms, they may be freaking.

[cake_crumb]

"yellow cake crumb, you have a sharp eye, I think the typo was corrected on the PipeLineNews.org site, I must have pulled an earlier version, my bad."

NP. This article is otherwise great, and I would love to have as many people read it and burn it into their memories as possible. While only a part or the administration's overall case for military action against Iraq, the entire left is bound and determined to obscess on the smoking WMD gun and ONLY the smoking WMD gun.

[Grampa Dave]

http://www.conservativenews.org/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200307\COM20030714b.html

Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. "I will not answer any question about my wife," Wilson told me.

After eight days in the Niger capital of Niamey (where he once served), Wilson made an oral report in Langley that an Iraqi uranium purchase was "highly unlikely," though he also mentioned in passing that a 1988 Iraqi delegation tried to establish commercial contacts.

CIA officials did not regard Wilson's intelligence as definitive, being based primarily on what the Niger officials told him and probably would have claimed under any circumstances. The CIA report of Wilson's briefing remains classified.

[cake_crumb]

Great find.

There's far more credible intelligence on Saddam's attempts to aquire uranium and the public will know for a VERY long time.

I also need to correct a previous post : I think it might have been El Bodyboy who broke the story on the receipt forgery and DeVillain just ran with it.

[Grampa Dave]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/946194/posts

Niger Intel Accurate (Brits: "no reason at all to change our assessment.")
The Daily Telegraph ^ | 14/07/2003 | Michael Smith


Posted on 07/14/2003 7:05 PM PDT by Pubbie


The French secret service is believed to have refused to allow MI6 to give the Americans "credible" intelligence showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore from Niger, US intelligence sources said yesterday.

MI6 had more than one "different and credible" piece of intelligence to show that Iraq was attempting to buy the ore, known as yellowcake, British officials insisted. But it was given to them by at least one and possibly two intelligence services and, under the rules governing cooperation, it could not be shared with anyone else without the originator's permission.

US intelligence sources believe that the most likely source of the MI6 intelligence was the French secret service, the DGSE. Niger is a former French colony and its uranium mines are run by a French company that comes under the control of the French Atomic Energy Commission.

[jriemer]

Some Namibia facts:

Economy: The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa and the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia also produces large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. About half of the population depends on agriculture (largely subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood. Namibia must import some of its food. Although per capita GDP is five times the per capita GDP of Africa's poorest countries, the majority of Namibia's people live in pronounced poverty because of large-scale unemployment, the great inequality of income distribution, and the large amount of wealth going to foreigners. The Namibian economy has close links to South Africa. Agreement has been reached on the privatization of several more enterprises in coming years, which should stimulate long-run foreign investment.

Unemployment:30% to 40%, including underemployment (Tell Willie Green)

Religons: Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%

International Disputes: None

From CIA - The World Fact Book

[MJY1288]

That looks like Robert Novak's piece in the Washington Post and Human Events

[Grampa Dave]

This was the article that came up first in the search for Valerie Flambea or whatever her name is.

[cinFLA]

I agree that this is a good article, but at least one careless mistake: Bush said "Africa" not "Niger" in SOTU.

Correct. I think I heard that a draft contained Niger but the CIA nixed that specific reference.

[MJY1288]

Out of everything I have read about this story, the thing that bothers me the most is what Jack Straw said about why they wouldn't share the intel with us, his words were "For Good Reasons" (as I explained in private session) we did not share the intel we have with the Americans" that is an eye opening statement about how secure they believe our Intel community is.

[MJY1288]

If you do a GOOGLE search on "Ambassador Joseph Wilson" and then another on "Wilson Plame" oe "Plame Wilson" her name comes up a few times, but always in the same way.

[Tom Bombadil]

..new American imperialism...neoconservatives ...stranglehold ....foreign military adventures....force revolutionary change on the region. ....hawks... conquest, occupation ....handpicked leaders ...vanquished population ...linchpin .... broader assault...new imperialists ....ape .....implanted ....smacking of hubris in the extreme.

Hubris is what wrote this stupidity.

[RobFromGa]

Glad you caught that, will pass it along to Mr. Mayer.

He still hasn't corrected the mistake I noted in post #6 about "the very country mentioned" in SOTU. No country was mentioned in SOTU. He did change "Niger" to "Africa" in the first paragraph.

[justshutupandtakeit]

All this information is available from UN sources (is that too far Right wing?) at http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/nwp2.html.

Lefties read it and weep.

[FairOpinion]

I think the best thing would be to actually quote Bush's SOTU -- since hardly anyone does, and people don't even know what he actually said:

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

[Grampa Dave]

This is excellent what you have posted here!

"I think the best thing would be to actually quote Bush's SOTU -- since hardly anyone does, and people don't even know what he actually said:

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

[Grampa Dave]

The Brits have been super in protecting their sources of intel re not saying who or what country their intel came from.

They probably got this intel from a French connection, who would be placed at peril if the word got out. He still may be at peril do to this exposure.

Last but not least, the Brits and the Israelis who have top notch intel have some real trust issues when we have presidents like Carter and Clinton and $inators like Torracelli (was), Biden, Leaky Leahy, Carl Levin and other rats who would sell out our country to stay in power. These rats would have no problem destroying the intel of Britain or Israel or Italy.

[johnqueuepublic]

Nice edit.

[johnqueuepublic]

I dunno here is the statement from sotu

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

Saddam, yooranium, Afreeeeka

Seems all in order to me

[johnqueuepublic]

Gee Rob I must be thicker than usual, now i get it....