The first public mention of Wilson's mission to Niger, albeit without identifying him by name, was in the New York Times on May 6, in a column by Nicholas D. Kristof. Kristof had been on a panel with Wilson four days earlier, when the former ambassador said State Department officials should know better than to say the United States had been duped by forged documents that allegedly had proved a deal for the uranium had been in the works between Iraq and Niger.
Wilson said he told Kristof about his trip to Niger on the condition that Kristof must keep his name out of the column. When the column appeared, it created little public stir, though it set a number of reporters on the trail of the anonymous former ambassador. Kristof confirmed that account.
The column mentioned the alleged role of the vice president's office for the first time. That was when Cheney aides became aware of Wilson's mission and they began asking questions about him within the government, according to an administration official.
Another suspicious character is Greg Thielmann, who incidentally was with INR, where the State Dept. memo came from. He is now touring with Wilson on the anti-war circuit:
Greg Thielmann served as Director of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research until his retirement in September. Mr. Thielmann has come forward recently to join Ambassador Wilson in denouncing the Bush administration's justifications for war in Iraq.And McGovern's name is mentioned there as well. Can we say...CIA coup?
"The first public mention of Wilson's mission to Niger, albeit without identifying him by name, was in the New York Times on May 6, in a column by Nicholas D. Kristof. Kristof had been on a panel with Wilson four days earlier"
AND, what goes almost wholly unnoticed everywhere, that panel discussion was held for the SENATE DEMOCRATIC POLICY COMMITTEE - i.e., according to the (left wing) blog below (referencing the Vanity Fair article), TWO MONTHS before Valerie Plame was supposedly 'outed' she was attending PARTISAN meetings of the Demagogues with her lowlife husband, plotting with Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times and various Demagogue Senators to launch the highly partisan campaign against the current administration.
Can anyone find out more about this "Senate Democratic Policy Committee" and who might be involved besides the obvious suspects??? This May 2003 meeting might help to make the case that Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame had launched themselves into a partisan melee with the MSM that led directly to her name becoming known to MSM reporters, regardless of what her covert or non-covert status with the CIA may have been.... seems that she and Joe actively created the conditions which brought her into the light.....