Posted on 07/17/2004 4:30:30 PM PDT by Shermy
Ping. I gave it a shot.
Very well done!
ping to you guys too.
The TPM Interview with Ambassador Joseph Wilson
We owned the 20,000 American troops that participated in the operation until they got down to Bosnia, when they became part of a NATO operation which was under the command of George Joulwan in his NATO hat--it's a little complicated for people who don't have the business to understand. George and I went down to--General Joulwan and I--went down to Geneva and we spoke with the UN Humanitarian organizations early on and we set up a liaison office so that we could marry up, to the best--to the largest extent possible, the civilian and military cultures that would be involved in this. And George used to brief this. He used to have a slide--two slides--one that was a big "M" little "c" and the other which was a big "C" little "m." Now the point he tried to make with that was when you do these sort of operations you go in big military--the military takes care of all the tasks that it can take care of so long as the situation is insecure. But the military also works very closely with a small civilian component for the humanitarian relief activities that the civilian component can deliver more efficiently than the military can and for which the civilian component is in fact organized to do. As the situation becomes more secure and the civilian component can operate in relative security, you grow the civilian component as you're shrinking the military component. So some of those tasks that the military is taking in the first place are shifted over to the civilian.
Here he takes a simple concept that could be explained in one sentence and manages to turn it into a pedantic lecture. He seems to be in the habit of using verbal distraction to deflect and confuse and intimidate. Cutting through his words to their lack of substance like you're doing here is precisely what's needed to counter that tactic.
tHIS WILSON AFFAIR IS TAKING TOO MUCH INC AS IT IS. THEY SHOULD GIVE IT A REST.
"SO WILSON WENT NIGER TO FIND OUT IF SADDAM PURCHASED URANIUM, HE FOUND NOTHING TO PROVE SUCH ALLIGATIONS."
Would he want to find proof?
THE ADMINISTRATION'S ATTACK DOGS WENT AFTER HIM.
Maybe. But didn't he first? Isn't he a Kerry attack dog?
HE SHOULD HAVE LIED AND SAID YES SADDAM PURCHASED ENOUGH URANIUM TO MAKE A THOUSAND BOMBS SO MAY BE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO SECRETARY OF STATE?
How would that get him to be Secretary of State under Kerry? What would he do to be Secretary of State under Kerry?
"SO WILSON WENT NIGER TO FIND OUT IF SADDAM PURCHASED URANIUM, HE FOUND NOTHING TO PROVE SUCH ALLIGATIONS."
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
No. He went to see if they TRIED to do so. Big difference.
HE FOUND NOTHING TO PROVE SUCH ALLIGATIONS.
Nothing to prove he bought uranium, yes. But again, that was not the point. According to the Senate Report his work bolstered the case that he attempted.
HE SHOULD HAVE LIED AND SAID YES SADDAM PURCHASED ENOUGH URANIUM TO MAKE A THOUSAND BOMBS SO MAY BE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO SECRETARY OF STATE?
No, he should have told the truth, which as that while Saddam did not succeed in purchasing uranium, it was not for a lack of trying. Then he could have refrained from accusing Bush of lying about the same.
tHIS WILSON AFFAIR IS TAKING TOO MUCH INC AS IT IS. THEY SHOULD GIVE IT A REST.
On this we agree. The ink used to print his books was a total waste.
ping
Family reqires my attention ... Will be back A.M. tomorrow.
Thanks for the ping.
bump
great post, worth bookmarking.
I guess you haven't been following this. Wilson lied. Wilson was working for Kerry when he made up this story. His original report only bolstered tha assertions that were made regarding Iraq attempting to buy uranium from Niger.
Good job Shermy. Wilson's style of writing in so stilted that it's boring. Maybe that's the idea.
"British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa".
Funny how Joe Wilson thinks "British Government" means "Joe Wilson", "recently sought" means "purchased", and "Africa" means "Niger".
Even if one of these assumptions were true (the only one that I would concede is the the President was alluding to Niger when he mentioned "Africa"), it still shouldn't have been the trigger for Joe Wilson to done what he did.
That is unless, of course, that was the point from the start?
Follow me...Wilson was and is not a Bush supporter. Nor was he nor is he an Iraq war supporter. He had made no secret of that well before he was sent to Iraq.
Could it be possible, probable, and even reasonable to conclude that Wilson was sent to Niger to do nothing else than to find nothing?
It is fact that he never ventured out while he spent his 8 days in Niger. The sipping mint tea with government officials is well known and Wilson didn't deny this. He is said to have met with a few people and asked a question, "Has anyone tried to buy uranium from you"? Now, mind you, that buying yellowcake, alone, has some very serious implications and actions from the international community...for both the buyer and seller...none of which are desirable.
He goes there, "finds" nothing, and comes back and says "found nothing".
So, what spoiled the plans?
Well, the MI-6 had been investigating too. And, OVER AND ABOVE THE FORGED DOCUMENTS, they found credible evidence that Saddam TRIED TO aquire (not that they actually did acquire, but tried to acquire) yellow cake from an African country.
Well, the President wasn't supposed to say anything like that in the State of the Union. Wilson was sent with the expressed purpose of finding nothing. When the President cited the British intelligence, Mr. Wilson immediately assumed he was referring to his "in-depth investigation", as opposed to, um, I don't know, THE BRITISH investigations.
This is how much of a pompous ASS this Wilson character is. Your typical "world-and-universe-revolves-around-me-so-anything-that-is-said-around-me-must-be-talking-about-me"-type guy. You know, the type of guy you always wanted to punch out when you were growing up.
So, his panties go into a wad and straight up his crack. Why?
Any reasonable person would have looked at the statement and said, "Well, I didn't find anything in Niger, but the British must have found something there or elsewhere in Africa". A phone call to someone would have made it simple that "Hey Joe, we weren't using your report, we have other intelligence". If Joe Wilson was such an dutiful public servant as he makes himself out to be, that would have been what he would have done and he would have been satisfied with that result.
But, of course, he didn't do that?
He griped to the media. He griped louder. He wrote an op-ed column in the New York Times calling the President of the United States, in no uncertain terms, a liar.
Conincidentally, Wilson's accusation is THE cornerstone for the "Bush Lied!" mantra. When "they" say "Bush lied about WMD", they are talking about the SOTU address and the British intelligence/Africa reference.
But, what was Wilson's greatest folly? He failed to read the "16 words", plain and simple. If he would have listened to the actual words that were spoken (or read them later), there is NO WAY that he should have or could have concluded that the President was talking about Joe Wilson, a purchase of uranium, or Niger specifically.
Unless, of course, he had a reason all along. Perhaps that's why he was selected to go to Niger in the first place?
This is a fundamental job requirement if you plan to associate the word Ambassador with your name.
La Lettre du Continent
18 mars 2004
Joseph Wilson
Ancien conseiller Afrique de Bill Clinton et ancien ambassadeur au Gabon, Joe Wilson pourrait devenir le conseiller Afrique de John F. Kerry, s'il rentre à la Maison Blanche. On se rappellera également que le très francophile Joe Wilson a, le premier, dénoncé la manipulation des services américains reprise par George Bush sur la vente supposée d'uranium nigérien à l'Irak (LC Ndeg.433).
www.africaintelligence.fr
Thank you, Shermy, this is impressive work.
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