Niger Intel Accurate (Brits: "no reason at all to change our assessment.")

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 14/07/2003 | Michael Smith

[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.

A further factor in the refusal to hand over the information might have been concern that the US administration's willingness to publicise intelligence might lead to sources being inadvertently disclosed.

US sources also point out that the French government was vehemently opposed to the war with Iraq and so suggest that it would have been instinctively against the idea of passing on the intelligence.

British sources yesterday dismissed suggestions of a row between MI6 and the CIA on the issue. However, they admitted being surprised that George Tenet, the CIA director, had apologised to President George W Bush for allowing him to cite the British government and its claim that Saddam had sought to acquire uranium from Africa in his State of the Union speech last October.

The apology follows the International Atomic Energy Authority's dismissal of documents given to it by the CIA, which purported to prove the link, as fakes.

Those documents have been widely identified with last September's British dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which said Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium ore from an unnamed country in Africa.

British officials admitted that the country was Niger but insisted that the intelligence behind it was genuine and had nothing to do with the fake documents. It was convincing and they were sticking with it, the officials said.

They dismissed a report from a former US diplomat who was sent to Niger to investigate the claims and rejected them. "He seems to have asked a few people if it was true and when they said 'no' he accepted it all," one official said. "We see no reason at all to change our assessment."

The fake documents were not behind that assessment and were not seen by MI6 until after they were denounced by the IAEA. If MI6 had seen them earlier, it would have immediately advised the Americans that they were fakes.

There had been a number of reports in America in particular suggesting that the fake documents - which came from another intelligence source - were passed on via MI6, the officials said. But this was not true.

"What they can't accuse MI6 of doing is passing anything on this to the CIA because it didn't have the fake documents and it was not allowed to pass on the intelligence it did have to anyone else."

[MJY1288]

Ping

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[George W. Bush]

Bush and Tenet should apologize to the British. They insulted British integrity as a competent ally. And they were wrong.

Let me see... Just when did Blair twist Junior's arm behind his back and force him to use this info in the State of the Union speech anyway? Bush is actually admitting something more serious here: that he never had any nuclear evidence in his own hands prior to his beating of the war drums. Now it's time to shift the blame to Britain.

It's shabby treatment of a very loyal ally. And it created another storm of criticism for Blair to handle at home too. I would guess that next time, Blair will think twice about helping us.

Idiots. If they don't shape up, there won't be a second Bush term.

[mystery-ak]

I have to agree...Im still trying to figure out why they claimed those 16 words were a mistake....like I posted on another thread...Rats thrive on others mistakes.

btw...apologizing is a sign of weakness....

[MJY1288]

How is Bush blaming Blair for anything? Tenet said they couldn't vouch for the Brits intel because the details weren't shared, and now we find out why. It's the Democrats who owe an apology to the Brits and our troops. Their smear campaighn is hurting the morale of our troops.

[Grampa Dave]

You have become a joke!

[MJY1288]

"British sources yesterday dismissed suggestions of a row between MI6 and the CIA on the issue. However, they admitted being surprised that George Tenet, the CIA director, had apologised to President George W Bush for allowing him to cite the British government and its claim that Saddam had sought to acquire uranium from Africa in his State of the Union speech last October."

What part of that is hard to figure out?

It appears to me that the Brits see nothing wrong with GWB did and see no kind of rift between us

[Sacajaweau]

bump

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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[MJY1288]

You know what I find so troubling about this story is that the media is still trotting out the already debunked story that Dick Cheney's office sent Joe Wilson to Niger, they still say that the forged document came from the brits, they still say Bush had Joe Wilson's report before the SOTU speech, and they still say that the only intel we had on Saddam's attempt to purchase Uranium from Niger was the forged document. There needs to be a news conference by Bush Tenet and Powell and set the record straight and expose the RATS for what they are

[Grampa Dave]

It is obvious that the leftists and the phoney conservatives have a world wide and a nation wide electronic lynching attempt of our president.

It is impossible to have a press conference yet. We have to let all them make mass fools of themselves, and then we can expose them like Doug Thompson got exposed last week and Joseph Wilson this week.

Jim Rob commented on this team approach from the left wing maggots and the phoney conservative maggots last night on a thread. Here is one of his comments:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/945516/posts?page=80#80

"There is no secret to the fact that the antis have all effectively joined forces. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, etc. Read any Rockwell/Buchanan/Rainmondo/Paleo/Anarchist thread. They all preach the same anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-war, pro-terror message. And they're damn quick to jump on the anti-Bush bandwagon at the slightest drop of any misinformation put out by the New York Times/Washington Post anti-America propaganda machine."

We can see examples of their tag team approach in this thread and other threads with their immediate blame GW BS.

I will followup with another quote from Jim Rob last night!

We will not let the left wing maggots and the "Rockwell/Buchanan/Rainmondo/Paleo/Anarchists" as Jim labels be successful in their electronic lynching attempt of our president.

[concerned about politics]

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.

Yeh, because the French control the Niger mine. Sheesh.

[concerned about politics]

Idiots. If they don't shape up, there won't be a second Bush term.

Yeh. Riiiiiiiight.

[Da Mav]

Press is looking for a way to get back at Bush for making them look like fools so many times during the Battle of Iraq. All the "bogged down", thousands of casualties, millions of refugees, Stalingrad on the Euphrates stories didn't pan out. Americans were laughing at them.

Now they found a story and they are trading it back and forth with mock outrage, the Dem candidates are leaping on, and the conservatives have to fight back.

I agree that apologizing for the SOTU address was a mistake, it just fed the fire. There was nothing, and is nothing to apologize for. The liberals need to sit on it and rotate.

[Grampa Dave]

Here is Jim Rob's second comment last night re the mentally ill axis of evil in America:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/945516/posts?page=40#40

"The anti-Republican/anti-Bush paleocon/paleolibertarian/buchananite/rockwellian/anarchist movement has combined with the Democrat/French/German/Iraq pro-terror axis.

[concerned about politics]

It's the Democrats who owe an apology to the Brits and our troops. Their smear campaighn is hurting the morale of our troops

Yep. They owe us for the "mistake" of bombing the asprin factory, too. Clinton killed innocent people with his little intel "mistake." (Even though he did it to cover his own butt from impeachment. What a dog!)

[alternatives?]

Notice how the media always parses words and chooses sources AGAINST Bush and always selected them FOR Clinton. Everything Bush said is true but it's just that the one source of the CIA had doubts. Bush relied on the Brits and stated so. This made our intelligence look poor and I think that is what Bush apologized for. The Brits had more sources but does the mainline media report this? Which sources does the media keep trumpeting? Anti-Republican. This is true regardless of whether it is environmental, health, or economic issues.

[Sabertooth]

Careful...

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To: George W. Bush

You have become a joke!

7 posted on 07/14/2003 7:26 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Reach out and pound the liberals daily! Become a $/day donor to Free Republic!)
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