[October 2003] The Honorable Mr. Wilson

In 1981, Seyni Kountche, president of Niger, said that his country would "sell uranium even to the devil." He made good on his word, doing business with both Libya and Iraq, and funneling billions in profits into private slush funds to prop up his corrupt regime. A 1993 IAEA report on the Iraqi nuclear program listed 580 tons of natural uranium in Iraq, some of it originating from Niger. Ancient history? Well maybe. (I've certainly written about it before.) But it is useful to remind people, in an age of short-attention spans, that Niger and Iraq were part of a nuclear family dating back to the 1970s.

Joseph C. Wilson probably knew about that previous relationship. He was first in Niger with USAID during the Carter administration, then later in the 1990s as a Clinton National Security Council staffer. He arrived back in the Niger's capital of Niamey in February 2002 on a CIA-sponsored mission to investigate a report that Iraq had bought uranium from Niger in 1999. This trip took place a year before President Bush uttered the so-called "16 words" in his State of the Union address ("The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"). Note that the president accused Iraq of seeking uranium, not actually obtaining it, which is what Wilson was sent to look into. He spent most of his time at the hotel — a fourth-floor suite at the Gawaeye, one report said. He was very open about his mission and its object, and began to take meetings near the pool. "I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people," Wilson wrote in the New York Times last July, "current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." It is unclear with whom Wilson met. No Nigerien officials have admitted to attending those meetings. El Hadj Habibou Allele, who runs COMINAK, the major uranium-mining concern, stated he was never contacted. For their part, the staff at the Gawaeye thought Wilson was a nice guy, and they nicknamed him "Bill Clinton" after his former employer.

Let's concede that the public face of Wilson's mission may not be the whole story. There may have been a secret side to it — a side he may have been oblivious to — that has not yet been reported. It hardly seems credible that Wilson could have single-handedly investigated every aspect of the Niger-Iraq connection spending "eight days drinking sweet mint tea" and talking to people. If Niamey were nurturing such a relationship with Baghdad it surely would have been highly secretive. Uranium trade with Iraq was illegal after all; you could not expect to get a straight answer from anyone involved in it. Moreover, the wounds of 9/11 were still fresh, and this was only a few months after Coalition forces had swiftly overthrown the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. What country was going to freely admit to selling illegal WMD material to the only ruler in the world who openly praised the attacks on the Twin Towers? As noted, Wilson came away with no evidence that the 1999 uranium sale had taken place. But over the last few months, particularly since Wilson's New York Times piece, this very narrow finding has been taken as proof that Iraq never even tried to obtain uranium. That was not the question Wilson was sent to Niger to answer, and his investigation certainly never came close to being that thorough. Yet the press reflexively cites this brief visit as the basis for the definitive answer on the entire Niger uranium controversy. Wilson's purported influence has been inflated to the point where otherwise sensible people (and some not-so) are alleging that the inner circles of the White House had to resort to felonious leaking to discredit him.

The flap about the putative outing of Wilson's wife Valerie Plame as a CIA employee is not the important story in this affair as far as I am concerned. The only reason this incident has any legs is the eagerness of the press to set themselves on scandal autopilot. ""It seems like the good old days, doesn't it?" CNN's Aaron Brown said, hoping perhaps to bring back the good old ratings. But the props have been knocked out from under this manufactured conspiracy. Robert Novak clarified that the information about Ms. Plame was not exactly leaked but arose in the natural course of his interview process. It also appears that she was not an "operative" (a term that Novak innocently misused, implying she was a clandestine service officer), but an analyst, which there is no crime in revealing. So we are left with a leak that wasn't a leak, about a secret agent who was evidently neither secret nor an agent. As for the explosive charge that Karl Rove was the mischievous mastermind behind the whole affair, the Honorable Mr. Wilson simply flat out lied about that one. He blames an "excess of exuberance" at an August 21 forum on intelligence failure, where he stated, "It's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words." Measured words indeed — measured, inflammatory, and false. I have to echo Senator Schumer; it was a dastardly, despicable thing.

While the Justice Department is spending taxpayer money to placate the president's critics — who of course will never be placated — perhaps they could come up with answers to some truly salient questions, such as why was Wilson chosen for this mission, and who at CIA chose him? His experience in the country was certainly a qualifying factor, but shouldn't a critical intelligence mission of this nature be entrusted to someone with more investigatory experience? And what else was being done (if anything) to attempt to corroborate the suspected 1999 uranium sale? The U.S. government had an extraordinary array of technical and human resources at its disposal to disentangle the many facets of the alleged uranium connection. "Guy at pool-side" is only one of the many techniques. Finally, assuming the 1999 transfer of uranium did not take place, was Iraq putting out feelers to Niger in the last few years to reopen the channel, as British intelligence concluded? Wilson's cursory, candid, and unclassified investigation did not disprove this allegation, or even pretend to. In my opinion, the only scandal here is the lack of sophistication with which the Niger uranium question was addressed. This was amateur hour. It is no way to run a war.

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Could minor Ambassador Joe Wilson himself have been the source in blowing his own Wife's "cover" (even if she had not been a covert CIA agent at the time of the alleged "leaks")?

It is distinctly possible, (though it may be unlikely that Joe Wilson himself directly was NY Times Judith Miller's source), since Joe Wilson himself evidently routinely bragged openly to strangers about her CIA employment, prior to such "cover" being "blown" in the press.

Here's an example of Joe's apparently routine and open bragging about Valerie being a "CIA agent," which became known directly to me over a year ago:

He certainly bragged about it per a famous and highly reliable source's (named below) account of his own face-to-face encounter with Amb. Joe Wilson prior to Valerie Plame's "outing" as a CIA agent/employee.

Based upon a personal conversation (we were in a small group eating; it was NOT an "off the record") I had with eminent historian Victor Davis Hanson (we were at a luncheon table together during a trip to Europe), it appeared entirely possible that Joe Wilson himself was the (or one source, if not the original one) possible source in revealing his own wife's status as a CIA agent or employee.

Victor Davis Hanson (Wilson presumably knew Victor Davis Hanson wrote regularly for NRO (National Review Online), had done OpEds for the Wall street Journal, and other publications, and had his own Website with a widespread following) said he (VDH) & Joe Wilson were both in the same "Green Room" before a televised debate-discussion on Iraq, etc. and Joe first warned the TV make-up person not to get powder on his $14,000 Rolex watch, then he bragged to Victor about several things (possessions and trips to Aspen, etc.), like his expensive car (I think it was a Mercedes), and then bragged about his beautiful ("hot") wife who, Joe Wilson said (braggingly) was a CIA operative.

I asked Victor Davis Hanson Why he didn't write up this account.(?) He replied that Joe Wilson would probably simply deny it, since only he (VDH) & Joe Wilson were in the Green Room together before the broadcast.

However, it is now easy to surmise that Joe Wilson is a crass, materialistic, self-promoting, vain, egotistical, bragaddocio-opportunist, so this account is perfectly consistent with Valerie Plame's TWO photo shoots in Vanity Fair.

The Tuwaitha nuclear facility, 12 miles south of Baghdad, was left unguar=
ded=20
after Iraqi troops fled the area on the eve of the war. It is thought to =
have=20
contained hundreds of tons of natural uranium and nearly two tons of low-
enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons=20

U.S. troops didn't secure the area until April 7. By then, looters from=20
surrounding villages had stripped it of much of its contents, including u=
ranium=20
storage barrels they later used to hold drinking water.=20

People suffering from symptoms of radiation sickness started showing up a=
t the=20
hospital closest to the nuclear site as early as two months ago, two doct=
ors=20
interviewed by The Associated Press said Saturday. Their numbers have sin=
ce=20
grown considerably.=20

"Some 30 to 40 patients suffering from bloody diarrhea visit our hospital=
every=20
day, probably due to their exposure to nuclear radiation," said Bassim Ab=
bud, a=20
physician at the Mada'in General Hospital, about 9 miles from the Tuwaith=
a=20
nuclear facility.=20

The International Atomic Energy Agency sent a team to Iraq (news - web si=
tes)=20
earlier this month to see if any of the uranium was missing, fearing it h=
ad=20
been stolen in the chaos of the war. The experts found most of the uraniu=
m on=20
or near the site, diplomats said Friday.=20

Plastic bags containing the uranium were found on the ground where the lo=
oters=20
emptied out the barrels and some bags apparently spilled, the diplomats s=
aid=20
from Vienna,where the U.N. agency is based.=20

The mission =97 whose scope was restricted by the U.S.-led interim admini=
stration=20
of Iraq =97 was not allowed to give medical exams to Iraqis reported to h=
ave been=20
sickened by contact with the materials, the diplomats said.=20

But two doctors at the closest hospital to Tuwaitha said suspicions of=20
radiation poisoning were aroused as early as April 16, when 13-year-old I=
ltifat=20
Risan came to the hospital with a severely bleeding nose.=20

Dr. Jaafar Naseer said he diagnosed symptoms of radiation. He said Iltifa=
t had=20
used a blue plastic barrel that her brother had brought from the facility=
for=20
washing clothes.=20

"We gave her treatment for her symptoms," and sent her to a larger hospit=
al in=20
Baghdad for further treatment.=20

A week later, another patient, Hassan Oda, a 35-year-old electrician came=
to=20
the hospital with white spots on his skin after installing a generator wh=
ich he=20
had stolen from the Tuwaitha.=20

"If we had a medical survey in the whole region, we would have many simil=
ar=20
cases," Naseer said.=20

Abbud, who has been treating more recent cases, said the soaring temperat=
ures=20
of summer could explain some of the diarrhea complaints. But it was unlik=
ely to=20
be the cause this time, since the standard tests for parasites administer=
ed to=20
diarrhea patients proved negative.=20

"Some people were subjected to radiation after emptying the barrels," Abb=
ud=20
said, resulting in skin problems, respiratory ailments and bloody noses. =
"We=20
have no particular measures to take. We just diagnose them and send them =
to=20
Baghdad hospitals."=20

He said after people were warned against using the contaminated equipment=
, some=20
of the barrels were collected at a secondary girls school, where they rem=
ained=20
while the girls returned to school for their final exams. U.S. military e=
xperts=20
involved in the cleanup offered to buy back the barrels at $3 each.=20

"Symptoms may appear after months or years. Radiation can have genetic ef=
fects=20
and could result in cancer tumors," he said.=20

******

Greenpeace radiation experts have found abandoned uranium
yellowcake and radioactive sources scattered across the
community. Much of the material was looted from the facility by
villagers who used it for house building and water and food
storage. They did not realise the potential danger. In a week long
survey, as well as the yellow cake canister, Greenpeace
uncovered:

radioactivityin a series of houses, including one source
measuring 10,000 times above normal;
anothersource outside a 900 pupil primary school measuring
3,000 times above normal;
localswho are still storing radioactive barrels and lids in their
houses;
anothersmaller radioactive source abandoned in a nearby
field ;
consistentand repeated stories of unusual sickness after
coming into contact with material from the Tuwaitha plant;
several objects carrying radioactive symbols discarded in the
community.

http://tinyurl.com/d8r39

According to the Senate Intelligence Committee report, Plame told her superiors in 1999 that her husband should be sent to Niger on another mission because he was "about to take a business trip there." Later, in her 2002 memo suggesting her husband again for a mission to Niger, she told her superiors that he should go on this mission because he knows the Prime Minister and the Minister of Mines and can use his business contacts to get information.

What business did Joe Wilson have in Niger in 1999? It's been documented that the only exports from Niger are livestock, cowpeas, onions, and uranium. How did he know the Minister of Mines in 2002? Could his trip have been arranged by his wife to cover up what they both knew Niger was doing with uranium and Iraq? Was he involved with it himself and suddenly had to do some fast CYA when he realized the U.S was going after Iraq and its WMD program? Could his column in the NYT have been a setup to reinvent himself as a "whistleblower" and thus prevent the CIA from firing Plame and exposing both of them?

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