In September 2002, the British government published a white paper in which it made public British intelligence's belief that Saddam had tried to buy uranium in Africa. A month later[October 2002], the CIA received from an Italian source documents purporting to show that Niger and Iraq had done a deal. These turned out to be forgeries.
President Bush mentioned the British findings in his State of the Union address in January 2003. In his leaks to Pincus, and earlier to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Wilson claimed Bush knew this was false
On July 14, 2003, columnist Robert Novak wondered why Wilson...had been selected for the Niger mission. "Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report" he wrote.
In other words two senior administration officials told Novak that Wilson had been sent to investigate a report which the CIA did not receive until 9 months later!
Wilson said in his July 2003 article that he believed the "memorandum" he was sent to investigate was the forgery...although he never saw it. Of course, he knew exactly what it was since his wife had seen it but he couldn't acknowledge that because he wasn't cleared to see it and the CIA, which was sending him to investigate it, didn't disclose the details to him (according to the Senate Intelligence Committee report).
There's the REAL scandal.
bump for later
Please, please, please! I hope Fitzgerald is going all the way back to the Niger trip, it's players, and it's purpose. Oh please!
the forged documents were planted by the French to discredit what was otherwise a good piece of intel about Iraq and Niger.
what are you suggesting, the Plame's CIA group knew the document was going to show this, because they knew it was a plant?
Appears that somebody was worried right after 9/11/01 about Saddam.
Who aside from Saddam had the most to loose if Saddam was dethroned???