My theory (#42)is that this was a collaborative effort by the French and CIA coordinated by Wilson. Jacqueline, (Joe's his second wife), was a French diplomat and may have provided the connections for Wilson to see the forged documents that were supplied by the French through the Italians. In other words it is possible that Wilson knew that the docs were forged because he was privy to the information that French wanted to discredit the British info on Saddam shopping for yellowcake and that Wilson's objective was the same. The French just happen to manage the yellowcake production in Niger.
Therefore, Wilson did not lie when he said he saw the documents.
Per a thread by Fedora:
French intelligence soon began a campaign to discredit the US case for war against Iraq. In 1999, French intelligence had begun investigating the security of uranium supplies in Niger, where uranium production was controlled by a consortium led by the French mining company COGEMA, a division of the French state-owned nuclear energy firm AREVA. At that time, Italian businessman Rocco Martino provided French intelligence with genuine documents revealing that Iraq was planning to expand trade with Niger. French intelligence took an interest in the documents and asked Martino to provide more information. In 2000 he used a contact in the Niger embassy in Rome to provide French intelligence with documents purporting that Iraq had purchased uranium from Niger. These documents were later exposed as forgeries;
< snip >
Since it is now also known that French intelligence was trying to push Martino’s forgeries on US and British intelligence, as simultaneously the Democratic National Committee was planning to discredit President Bush’s Iraq policy by accusing his administration of manufacturing evidence against Hussein’s regime, heightened suspicion is cast on Wilson’s use of the Niger investigation to discredit the Bush administration’s case for war.
What Wilson Didn’t Say About Africa
Also, Rocco only "procured" the documents, he did not forge them. Fitzgerald went to Italy to investigate the Niger Embassy (in Rome) burglary...where the letterhead and seals for the forgeries were stolen. Ex-CIA agent (and coincidentally, an advisor to the Vatican in Rome),Vincent Cannistraro has stated that Alan Wolf and Duane Clarridge were the actual forgers, but his account is the only one available that I can find on the subject. He has also pointed the finger at Michael Ledeen, but Ledeen has publicly made a statement that he had nothing to do with it and demanded an apology from Cannistraro.
In addition, despite what the MSM is reporting, the Italians released a press report yesterday saying they had nothing to do with the forgeries:
Italy denies role in fake documents on Iraq
This was also backed up by Rocco here
Cannistraro's "theory" falls apart when you consider that he:
1) blamed SISME (the Italians), which has proven to be wrong
2) bases his assumptions on a Dec 2001 Ledeen meeting, when Cannistraro himself was in Rome in Nov 2001, which would make him just as suspect.
I also discovered that Cannistraro worked directly with Clarridge during Iran Contra, so he has alot of nerve bringing that up in connection to Ledeen. Another interesting tidbit (#47) that I discovered is that Wolf and Clarridge worked with Aldrich Ames, who outed Plame to the Russians in the 90's. Coincidence? I think not. Cannistraro trying to kill two birds with one stone to cover his own carcass seems to be the more likely answer. Equally suspicious is the Hersch article, where Cannistraro and another unnamed agent state the exact route the documents took and Cannistraro actually admits that he called the CIA about the documents before they were proven to be false. This begs the question...just how did Cannistraro know about the documents before they were vetted? Sounds a whole lot like Wilson's slip-up about seeing the documents.
Hersch also claims in the above linked article:
Another explanation was provided by a former senior C.I.A. officer. He had begun talking to me about the Niger papers in March, when I first wrote about the forgery, and said, “Somebody deliberately let something false get in there.” He became more forthcoming in subsequent months, eventually saying that a small group of disgruntled retired C.I.A. clandestine operators had banded together in the late summer of last year and drafted the fraudulent documents themselves.A more reliable source, Joe diGenova claims it was a possible CIA coup as well. As does James Lewis in two articles, here and here
Two other names just crept into this...Niger Ambassador Adamou Chekou, who was in charge at the Embassy when the break-in and forgeries occurred and Wissam al-Zahawiah, Iraqi Ambassador to the Holy See. Seems Italian Intelligence was eavesdropping on these two and discovered their "hotline".
Did you read that carefully. Holy See? As in Vatican? Where Vincent Cannistraro is the security advisor?
"Did you read that carefully. Holy See? As in Vatican? Where Vincent Cannistraro is the security advisor?"
Yes, I saw that. Wasn't he the one that spoke out early and often against the war in Iraq? It will take me a bit to follow all of the links you have provided. Very good work there! I will get back to you after reading it all.
Did you read that carefully. Holy See? As in Vatican? Where Vincent Cannistraro is the security advisor?
I'm going to add another name, this one from the Food-for-Oil bribery lists:
Father Jean-Marie Benjamin. He's a French priest and sanctions-buster who organized flights into Iraq when Saddam opened the airport; he also did some Ritter-style documyths inside Iraq to help propagandize against sanctions; he's come up with a number of books to do the same; he also works out of the Vatican, and claims in the Vatican newspaper Zenit that just days before 9/11 he got wind of the 9/11 hijacking plot while attending a wedding. And he is still involved with European leftwing groups which are backing the insurgency.
Oh, yeah... he also worked for the UN at one time:
1983 - 1988 : (FATHER JEAN-MARIE BENJAMIN WORKS FOR THE UN) ([Fr. Jean-Marie Benjamin] Benjamin, by the way, is a remarkable Renaissance figure. A classical music composer, he worked for the United Nations from 1983 to 1988, and in 1983 composed the official UNESCO hymn. --- in "And tonight’s guest is … Vatican plays host to an uneasy world," Vatican Correspondent, John Allen, http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/word0221.htm as retrieved on Jun 28, 2004
JUNE 25, 1998 : (BAGHDAD, IRAQ : IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE HOLY SEE WISSAM CHAWKET AL-ZAHAWIE ATTENDS SCREENING OF FATHER JEAN-MARIE BENJAMIN'S ANTI-SANCTIONS PROPAGANDA FILM "IRAQ SOLIDARITY ACTION" - THE FILM FEATURED A MESSAGE FROM VATICAN ENVOY TO IRAQ ARCHBISHOP GIUSEPPE LAZZAROTTO DENOUNCING EMBARGO ON IRAQ) The Vatican's envoy in Baghdad has once again lashed out against the international embargo on Iraq. In a video message, played at the screening of a new documentary on the effects of that embargo, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto called upon Christian to show their solidarity with the people of Iraq.
The documentary film, "Iraq Solidarity Action," was produced by Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, a French-born priest serving the diocese of Rome. It was screened today in the presence of the Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Wissam Chawket al-Zahawie.
In his video message to the film audience, Archbishop Lazzarotto urged all Christians to "multiple their gestures of solidarity," in order to break through "the isolation created by the embargo." Those who travel to Iraq, he said, would find their a rich culture which deserves understanding and preservation.
The practical effects of the embargo, the papal nuncio continued, have not been changes in government policy, but rather the death of the society's most vulnerable people. As a result, he reported, people are losing their confidence in the future. The best hope for the Iraqi people, he said, would lie in a return to the normal life they enjoyed before the Persian Gulf War. - "Vatican envoy in Iraq denounces embargo again," CWNews.com, June 25, 1998,
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/old_site/papalvisit2.html via 12 posted on 08/01/2003 1:28 PM PDT by Shermy
DECEMBER 1998 : (FATHER JEAN-MARIE BENJAMIN IS IN BAGHDAD, MAKES ANOTHER "DOCUMENTARY" CALLED "IRAQ : JOURNEY TO THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM," THIS ONE WHINING ABOUT DEPLETED URANIUM SHELLS) he [Jean-Marie Benjamin] was in Baghdad during the bombing and, after an international enquiry, made a new documentary entitled: "Iraq: journey to the forbidden kingdom" dedicated to the living conditions of the Iraqi population and the impact of radioactive contamination on the population and the environment due to the use of weapons containing depleted uranium.---- Source : http://www.benjaminforiraq.org/homeGB.htm
And one of Benjamin's associates, with whom he traveled the mideast and Iraq, is a Catholic archbishop who at one time was nailed by the Israelis for sneaking arms to the Palestinians- Hilarion Capucci.
And then in Italy is the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance led by a guy named Kubaisey; it is a leftwing group of Iraqis based in Europe with whom Benjamin is also associated. They supply the insurgency...
There is also another Iraqi official who worked out of Rome, teaching diplomat's kids or some such thing...disappeared right before 911. He had allegedly met with some of the hijackers and had been in Prague- and no, I'm not talking about the infamous Iraqi intel officer al Ani. Can't think of the name right now but maybe I will later.
And there is this bit o' information:
1997 - [2001] : (MEDIA : ABC NEWS'S COKIE ROBERT'S MOTHER CORRINE "LINDY" C. BOGGS IS APPOINTED US AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN BY CLINTON) http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a4ff9356402.htm
Interesting thread on Cokie/Clinton connection. Clinton drove Boggs to catch the fateful plane. Cokie's mother succeeded dad Bogg in 1973-90. In '97, Clinton appointed mom Amassador to Vatican. Interesting, today Kerry tells Pope to take a flying leap. DC is such a soap opera.-- 140 posted on 03/29/2004 11:52:13 AM PST by mtbopfuyn
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Boggs may have been the father of Cokie Roberts, can't really remember. His aircraft was presumed to have gone down in Alaska, I think. He is Cokie's father, and his plane went down over Alaska October 16th, 1972, never found. I don't have a handle on his Vietnam War position. He was a member of the Waren Commission. 33 posted on 03/23/2004 11:59:33 PM PST by Sabertooth
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Boggs was Cokie Robert's father. He has been mentioned as a "person of interest" by the VVAW. Cokie's brother now works in a big outfit PRing the Saudi royal family. Cokie's ABC-TV husband is often heard mornings giving left biased "news" on the WABC 770am NYC talk radio C&K between 5am-10am M-F. Know any VVAW pilots who would know about messing up an aircraft landing gear? 71 posted on 03/24/2004 10:41:04 PM PST by devolve