The Facts Keep “Dribbling” On Wilson’s Parade

Republican National Committee ^ | August 2, 2004

[RWR8189]

THE FACTS KEEP “DRIBBLING” ON
WILSON’S PARADE

Dropped By The National Media Now That His Claims
Have Been Debunked, Wilson Tells His Story To
“The Georgetowner”
______________________________________________________________

JOSEPH WILSON: “It’ll take a little while to get on top of it. But it will also encourage people for the facts to come dribbling out. And, as they come dribbling out, it will rebound against the administration.”  (Beth Solomon, “High Value Target,” The Georgetowner, 7/21/04)

HERE ARE SOME FACTS WILSON DIDN’T LIKE “DRIBBLING” OUT

Senate Intelligence Committee Unanimously Concluded That Wilson’s Report “Lent More Credibility” To CIA Reports On Iraqi Attempts To Purchase Uranium From Africa.  “Conclusion 13. The report on the former ambassador’s [Wilson’s] trip to Niger, disseminated in March 2002, did not change any analysts’ assessments of the Iraq-Niger uranium deal. For most analysts, the information in the report lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal, but the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) analysts believed that the report supported their assessment that Niger was unlikely to be willing or able to sell uranium to Iraq.”  (Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq,” U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

Independent British Government Inquiry Has Concluded Uranium Claim Was “Well-Founded.”  “We conclude that, on the basis of the intelligence assessments at the time, covering both Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the statements on Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from Africa in the Government’s dossier, and by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, were well-founded. By extension, we conclude also that the statement in President Bush’s State of the Union Address of 28 January 2003 that: ‘The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,’ was well-founded.”  (Lord Butler Of Brockwell, “Review Of Intelligence On Weapons Of Mass Destruction,” Report Of A Committee Of Privy Counsellors To The House Of Commons, 7/14/04)

Last Fall, British Parliamentary Inquiry Determined British Dossier’s Uranium Claim Was “Reasonable.”  “The British government inquiries also disclosed new intelligence about Iraq’s alleged attempts to purchase uranium in Africa … The president used the British dossier to support the 16-word statement in his 2003 State of the Union address … [The British Secret Intelligence Service] had two independent sources for reporting the uranium purchase attempts, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee report: One source provided the information in June 2002 and the other just as the dossier was being finalized that September. One of the two was described as ‘documentary evidence.’ … [T]he committee said that after questioning the SIS ‘about the basis of its judgment,’ it had determined the dossier statement on Iraq seeking uranium in Africa was ‘reasonable.’”  (Walter Pincus, “U.S.-British Differences Show Iraq Intelligence Gap,” The Washington Post, 9/30/03)

Three European Intelligence Services Were Aware Of Possible Iraq-Niger Trade.  “The FT has now learnt that three European intelligence services were aware of possible illicit trade in uranium from Niger between 1999 and 2001. Human intelligence gathered in Italy and Africa more than three years before the Iraq war had shown Niger officials referring to possible illicit uranium deals with at least five countries, including Iraq.”  (Mark Huband, “Evidence Of Niger Uranium Trade ‘Years Before War’,” Financial Times, 6/27/04)

WILSON’S RESPONSE TO THE FACTS?

Wilson Attacks The Media, Saying They “Let Us Down” Before Iraq War.  “I think the press let us down … I wonder about the real lack of investigative journalism, the willingness to be intimidated by the White House, the willingness the buy hook-line-and-sinker the administration’s line. … Where are the Bob Woodward’s of this generation?”  (Beth Solomon, “High Value Target,” The Georgetowner, 7/21/04)

And Claims It’s All A Republican “Smear Campaign.”  “This is a premeditated defamation campaign being carried out by the Republican National Committee, which is sending blast-faxes out to everybody three or four times a day. It is a smear campaign.”  (Beth Solomon, “High Value Target,” The Georgetowner, 7/21/04)

NO WONDER WILSON’S ATTACKING THE MEDIA …

Financial Times Reported New Evidence That Iraq Attempted To Obtain Uranium Yellowcake From Africa.  “Until now, the only evidence of Iraq’s alleged attempts to buy uranium from Niger had turned out to be a forgery. In October 2002, documents were handed to the US embassy in Rome that appeared to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials. When the US State Department later passed the documents to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, they were found to be fake. US officials have subsequently distanced themselves from the entire notion that Iraq was seeking buy uranium from Niger. However, European intelligence officers have now revealed that three years before the fake documents became public, human and electronic intelligence sources from a number of countries picked up repeated discussion of an illicit trade in uranium from Niger. One of the customers discussed by the traders was Iraq. These intelligence officials now say the forged documents appear to have been part of a ‘scam’, and the actual intelligence showing discussion of uranium supply has been ignored.”  (Mark Huband, “Evidence Of Niger Uranium Trade ‘Years Before War’,” Financial Times, 6/27/04)

The Washington Post Reported That Wilson’s Various Charges “Were Undermined” By “Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report.”  “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. Wilson last year launched a public firestorm with his accusations that the administration had manipulated intelligence to build a case for war. He has said that his trip to Niger should have laid to rest any notion that Iraq sought uranium there and has said his findings were ignored by the White House. 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. The panel found that Wilson’s report, rather than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts. And contrary to Wilson’s assertions and even the government’s previous statements, the CIA did not tell the White House it had qualms about the reliability of the Africa intelligence that made its way into 16 fateful words in President Bush’s January 2003 State of the Union address.”  (Susan Schmidt, “Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission,” The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

NBC News Reported On “Cracks In His Story.”  NBC’S BRIAN WILLIAMS: “NBC News ‘In Depth’ tonight: New questions about a Washington insider, a diplomat named Joe Wilson, who turned against the war in Iraq. He claims that in order to punish him, the Bush White House outed his wife by blowing her cover at the C.I.A. and endangering her life. Joe Wilson’s story was everywhere a while back. He even wrote a book about it. Now he’s defending cracks in his story that has to do with a trip he made to the nation of Niger and claims that Iraq tried to buy uranium. Here’s Andrea Mitchell.”  (NBC’s “Nightly News,” 7/15/04)

The Wall Street Journal Noted Recent Reports “Exposed His Falsehoods.”  “After U.S. and British intelligence reports exposed his falsehoods in the last 10 days, Joe Wilson is finally defending himself. We’re therefore glad to return to this story one more time, because there are some larger lessons here about the law, and for the Beltway media and Bush White House. Mr. Wilson’s defense, in essence, is that the ‘Republican-written’ Senate Intelligence Committee report is a partisan hatchet job. … But the fact is that the three most damning conclusions are contained not in Chairman Pat Roberts’s ‘Additional Views,’ but in the main body of the report approved by Mr. Rockefeller and seven other Democrats.”  (Editorial, “Mr. Wilson’s Defense,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/20/04)

[driftless]

I think everyone knows how this, like Sandy Burglar' escapades, has become a nonstory in the press. But what do you expect from a liberal press that treats the spectacle of a scoundrel like Al Sharpton speaking at the Dem convention as if he was a legitimate voice? I still can't get over the fact that a fullblown criminal like Sharpton is considered to be a "leader" by Big Media. Where's the outrage?

[driftless]

I think everyone knows how this, like Sandy Burglar' escapades, has become a nonstory in the press. But what do you expect from a liberal press that treats the spectacle of a scoundrel like Al Sharpton speaking at the Dem convention as if he was a legitimate voice? I still can't get over the fact that a fullblown criminal like Sharpton is considered to be a "leader" by Big Media. Where's the outrage?

[cyncooper]

The RNC is not letting Joe Wilson go uncommented upon.

Good.

[maica]

Where's the outrage?


In the Kerry bounce?

[syriacus]

I still can't get over the fact that a "fullblown" criminal

I like to think of Sharpton as a "Fumbletown" criminal.

He can stay in the game as long as he continues to hang around inept people who keep dropping the ball (and have no real goals in mind, anyway).

[satchmodog9]

what a tool and you can take that any way wou like

[Fedora]

Ping.