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To: Enchante
If any one of the following is indeed true, it would prove beyond a shadow of doubt (what is obvious to those willing to think) that Joe Wilson's absurd 'mission' was a set-up, designed to come up with only one (wrong) answer.

Disagree. Wilson did not come up with any conclusive answer. In fact, according to the Senate Intelligence Report, Wilson brought back denials of any Niger-Iraq uranium sale, and argued that such a sale wasn't likely to happen. But the Intelligence Committee report also reveals that Wilson brought back something else as well -- evidence that Iraq may well have wanted to buy uranium. Wilson reported that he had met with Niger's former Prime Minister Ibrahim Mayaki, who said that in June 1999 he was asked to meet with a delegation from Iraq to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between the two countries.

Based on what Wilson told them, CIA analysts wrote an intelligence report saying former Prime Minister Mayki "interpreted 'expanding commercial relations' to mean that the (Iraqi) delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales." In fact, the Intelligence Committee report said that "for most analysts" Wilson's trip to Niger "lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal."

Senate Intelligence Report

I still say that Wilson's second trip to Niger at CIA expense was the same as the first one, i.e., a contrived boondoggle by Wilson and his wife to have the USG pay for his trip to conduct personal business. It was only after the fact that Wilson saw an opportunity to use the trip to further his own ambitions, which included helping Kerry defeat Bush. There is also no doubt that the CIA felt that they were being used as the scapegoat for 9/11 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq based on the "slam dunk" conclusion that Iraq had WMD. The Wilson trip could thus be used by the mid-level CIA types against Bush.

30 posted on 05/09/2006 10:32:03 PM PDT by kabar
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To: kabar
"Disagree. Wilson did not come up with any conclusive answer."

Oh, I certainly agree with you there - if anything his oral report lent some modest support to the concern that Iraq WAS interested in uranium from Niger..... BUT I was referring above to how he has portrayed his bogus 'report' in his July 6, 2003 NY Times op-ed and in many media appearances - he has left the public and the MSM with the overriding impression that he thoroughly debunked the possibilty that Iraq was seeking uranium at all.
31 posted on 05/09/2006 10:43:38 PM PDT by Enchante (General Hayden: I've Never Taken a Domestic Flight That Landed in Waziristan!)
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