Book Names Iraqi in Alleged '99 Bid to Buy Uranium (joe wilson LIED ! )

And here is Straw's reference to it:

Excerpt:

"But, as CNN have reported, Ambassador Wilson's report also noted that in 1999 an Iraqi delegation sought the expansion of trade links with Niger -- and that former Niger government officials believed that this was in connection with the procurement of yellowcake.

"Uranium is Niger's main export. In other words, this element of Ambassador Wilson's report supports the statement in the government's dossier.

~snip~

41 posted on 04/30/2004 2:55:52 PM PDT by cyncooper

I thought you were basing your whole view of this on the idea that B-Bob skulking around trying to buy nuke material is realistic.

For this conversation I take no position on whether it's "realistic". (Though I do find it somewhat odd that because he's "Baghdad Bob" you think he's inherently incapable of uttering the sentence "Can we make a deal for some uranium?") Let us just agree that it either (A) happened or (B) didn't.

If (A), then Bush's "16 words" are proven correct by Joe Wilson himself, despite Joe Wilson's earlier accusations.

If (B), then Joe Wilson and/or his source are thus proven unreliable, in which case we are left with no good basis for the "16 words" controversy to begin with.

That is all I am saying. Understand now?

Was this the only Nigerian that provided Wilson with any information? I don't know. It seems that your post assumes this.

Not at all. The super-sleuth Wilson may have had a zillion other sources (though I doubt it). All I assume is that this official in particular either (A) told Joe Wilson, on his initial trip, about this approach - and Wilson has therefore been lying to us ever since; or (B) said to Joe Wilson "nope, nobody approached me" - which claim Wilson then partially relied upon to spark the controversy - but now has changed his tune (in which case his reliability is suspect and the controversy has no merit).

Keep in mind that Iraq only needs to approach one Nigeran to make "the Niger claim" true. It doesn't need to approach ALL of them. So Wilson's other sources are immaterial if this guy is telling the truth. Or if he's not telling the truth how can we trust his initial claim "nobody approached me" in the first place?

Understand NOW?

But anyone who thinks they can blow open a whole story or assert "case closed" on an issue by pointing to some comment in a newspaper article [bla....]

To be perfectly honest I don't assert "case closed" based on this article. I believe that "Saddam sought uranium from Niger" was already known to be the truth by anyone with half a brain, based on many other sources, and that the main value of this particular story is to expose Joe Wilson as the disingenuous fool that he is. As for proving "the Niger claim" it's really sort of just icing on the cake.

42 posted on 04/30/2004 3:01:58 PM PDT by Dr. Frank fan

Frankly, there is a lot missing - like the key part: why did the Nigerian "interpret the overture as an effort to purchase uranium." I mean, did B-Bob say he wanted to talk about trade while drawing the international symbol for radioactivity on a bar napkin? I don't know.

P.S. Just so you know, uranium is BY FAR the primary export of Niger. Unless Iraq was interested in buying livestock (which comes in a distant second), the notion that they wanted uranium would have been the ONLY reasonable inference here. That should clear up your confusion about that.

43 posted on 04/30/2004 3:04:31 PM PDT by Dr. Frank fan

As the oil-for-food scandal unfolds, we might remember that Joeseph C. Wilson was active in EPIC (Education for Peace in Iraq) which expressed concern for the children that were suffering due to the sanctions imposed on Iraq. It's difficult to understand how anyone so familiar with conditions in Iraq could have been unaware that millions was being skimmed off the oil-for-food program by Saddam and 270 other individuals or groups.

44 posted on 04/30/2004 3:06:59 PM PDT by Ben Hecks

Thanks for the reminder. Hmmmmmmmmm

45 posted on 04/30/2004 3:10:21 PM PDT by cyncooper

Sounds to me as though he's trying to pull a 'woodward!'
Bad mouth Bush all over the media of those who never read,
TV etc, encouraging the 'RATs to buy his book, when if fact,
the book itself is pro-Bush so GOP readers, who actually read books, will buy it. Trying to have it both ways.
I, for one, would buy nothing from either one of these phonies. Show them that the MSM doesn't determine your vote! Vote Bush 2004. Vote to exterminate the 'RATs from the Senate!

46 posted on 04/30/2004 3:40:02 PM PDT by SouthCarolinaKit

"I'll bet his wife is really a waitress or something."

Yeah, probably the one Chris Dodd and Teddy Kennedy made a waitress sandwich with.

47 posted on 04/30/2004 3:40:19 PM PDT by mass55th

omigod. what kind of *bread* would that sandwich be?

banana nut?

48 posted on 04/30/2004 3:52:37 PM PDT by smonk

To: SouthCarolinaKit

yeah, see your point.

dickie clarke really didn't seem to give a crap about
the difference between right and wrong; but he did
manage to come up with the best book marketing ploy
in the history of hype.

49 posted on 04/30/2004 3:54:50 PM PDT by smonk

sheeeeesh. who ISN'T dirty-to-the-bone over this
oil-for-food scandal? next thing you know, coffee
anan's son will be a major contributor to the jauques
carrie campaign.

50 posted on 04/30/2004 3:57:00 PM PDT by smonk

Let's put the emphasis where it belongs -- DICK Clarke

51 posted on 04/30/2004 4:04:32 PM PDT by doug from upland (Don't wait until it is too late to stop Hillary -- do something today!)

52 posted on 04/30/2004 4:05:47 PM PDT by jmstein7 (Real Men Don't Need Chunks of Government Metal on Their Chests to be Heroes)

Well, you have the UN oil-for-food program now exposed as a weapon of mass corruption. And yet the world's media looks on uncurious, we hear more blather about need for more UN involvement in Iraq as if they are magic pixie dust of inegrity and credibility.

With that going on, anything is possible.

So, yes, the sun rises in the West. The world is turned upside down.

53 posted on 04/30/2004 4:26:20 PM PDT by WOSG (http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com - I salute our brave fallen.)

agree with every syllable.

I guess bush is hesitant to be overly critical of the
UN lest the media throw off whatever pretense of
impartiality may remain and REALLY put a pasting
on him.

54 posted on 04/30/2004 4:31:52 PM PDT by smonk

"That's according to a new book Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador who was sent to Niger by the CIA in 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq had been trying to buy enriched "yellowcake" uranium. "

If this is going to be the "big" story about "Joe's" book, I must say I am disappointed. Now old "Joe" made the claim that he did not know who sent him to Africa and would not recognize them "IF" he met them on the street.

Now I took this to mean that was the reason he did not report back to anyone but the NYTimes about his "tea" sipping adventure hoping to bump into those that selll "yellowcake", those 10 days in Africa.

55 posted on 04/30/2004 4:38:55 PM PDT by Just mythoughts

How about a double agent? HMMMMMMMMM

56 posted on 04/30/2004 4:39:13 PM PDT by tiki

To: ravingnutter

"The agent was NOT Baghdad Bob."

Thank You! I was wondering! sending Baghdad bob to do anything other then report twisted news stories didn't make sense.

57 posted on 04/30/2004 5:01:47 PM PDT by Steve Van Doorn

Bagdad Bob served as Ambassador to Sweden,Burma,the UN and as Foreign Minister after Tarik Aziz'92 to 2001.He then became Minister of Information.

58 posted on 04/30/2004 5:50:01 PM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

To: Steve Van Doorn

59 posted on 04/30/2004 5:50:54 PM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)

I had a humorous thought.

If you were reviewing Baghdad Bob's resume, *would you believe it*???

60 posted on 04/30/2004 5:54:58 PM PDT by WOSG (http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com - I salute our brave fallen.)

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