Posted on 07/10/2004 1:49:22 AM PDT by thoughtomator
Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, was specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly.
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Wilson's assertions -- both about what he found in Niger and what the Bush administration did with the information -- were undermined yesterday in a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report.
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(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
My, my; aren't WE full of ourselves.
And big Kerry supporter!
You don't have to look far:
Consider Kerry's foreign policy advisers. Ask the candidate's supporters, and the advisor they mention first is Joe Wilson, the Clinton-era National Security Council member who investigated claims that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy weapons-grade uranium from Niger. Wilson won battle stars from progressives for going public with his findings, which contradicted the Bush administration's claims. Wilson's wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, was outed by a White House source or sources as a consequence.
The Ron Ridenhour Award for Truth-Telling, awarded to an individual or organization that has brought an important issue to light. Winner Joseph Wilson , former ambassador to two African nations - Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe - and the senior American diplomat in Baghdad during the first Gulf War, was recognized for challenging the assertion in President Bush's State of the Union address that Iraq had sought to purchase significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Wilson investigated the charge at the request of the CIA on a trip to Niger and reported back that it was "highly unlikely." Wilson's revelation called into question the Bush Administration's truthfulness, and undermined its claim that it had ample evidence to justify an invasion of Iraq.
"Thanks to Joseph Wilson and those like him, we have access to truth instead of 'spin,' " said Fertel Foundation president Randy Fertel. "His courageous act came at a high personal cost, when this career diplomat and his wife were attacked by the conservative press. However, in the spirit of Ron Ridenhour and My Lai, the benefits of his action to foreign policy and to our democracy were great."
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My gosh, this is like shooting fish in a barrel:
Any goodwill that has come my way, and there has been an overwhelming support from Republicans who are highly indignant about this as well as some Democrats, but any goodwill accrues to my wife. Not to me. And my wife has made it very clear thatshe has authorized me to say thisshe would rather chop off her right arm than say anything to the press and she will not allow herself to be photographed [italics Chatterbox's]. So while I believe she would make a wonderful politician, it is tough to run a campaign if you're not talking to the press and you're not being photographed [italics Chatterbox's].
Joseph Wilson on Meet the Press, October 5.
Vanity Fair, January 2004 (on newsstands today). The photograph, by Jonas Karlsson, was taken Nov. 8 and "styled by" Ann Caruso. Hair, makeup, and grooming by Terri Grauel for T.H.E. Artist Agency.
Fiestaware glazes.
Do they have a bankrupt uranium? BU?
What does that mean?
The main thought that comes to mind is that you have nothing substantive to offer. Only a prsonal attack. One that's about as helpful as the "gee whiz" and "Bush is on fire" postings being discussed.
According to News Max, President Bush was advised after his innauguration to get rid of the Clinton cling-ons, but he was sold on this "Uniter" idea. It may have worked in Texas, but I don't think he was prepared for the partisan poison, and downright HATE that the Democrat Party has for the Republicans in Washington. They are drunk with power, and National Security takes a backseat to their social agenda.
It was a grave mistake to keep the likes of Richard Clarke and George Tennet. The "Good Guys" left in disgust during the Clinton Adm. (Exmp. James Woolsey and Gary Aldrich). George Bush better toughen up, and fast, or I fear we will lose our country!
According to WHO at NewsMax?
And for your information -- and so I'll know that you know -- it is IMPOSSIBLE to fire civil servants, which is exactly what Bill Clinton made almost all of his polical appointees as he was walking out the door.
You were the one who threw in a gratuitous personal attack about your fellow Freepers.
If you think the live threads lack "substance," perhaps you, with your vast knowledge, should join them and set everybody straight, rather than sneering at the people who post on them -- and behind their backs, to boot.
That does seem to be the problem.
Thanks for the civics lesson. So you're saying Bush couldn't fire George Tennet?
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/10/1/170318.shtml
Yes, thanks for the post!
Good grief. I remember when we first heard about this. Ack
Scary, huh?
Heads of agencies such as the CIA can be fired. That's why Bubba was able to get rid of folks like William Sessions when he and Hillary rolled into town. I think the whole National Security Council can be changed at the whim of the President.
Bush didn't want to fire Tenet...he didn't want Tenet to go now, but finally accepted his resignation.
I'll take President Bush's judgement over Newsmax any day.
As to others, Richard Clarke, for one, was taken out of the loop almost immediately--Rice was informed of his gigantic ego on January 21, 2001, hence his pique and subsequent declining to attend meetings in favor of gathering material for his eventual book. Perhaps he should have been let go sooner, but he was demoted.
I don't think they believed him. Rather, they were willing to join in the plot to spread falsehoods. There has been enough information there from the beginning to set the story straight and discern he was embellising at the very least. Only those who willfully wished to present a certain scenario (Bush lied!) pushed the Wilson story.
One thing is certain, those who brayed the loudest about it haven't said a peep about the documentation that has firmly established beyond any doubt that Wilson was lying. Chris Matthews and Tim Russert spring to mind.
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