I think the rats need some help with their timeline since they left so much out...
1980s : (NIGER SELLS URANIUM TO IRAQ)
1991 : (NIGER : CORRUPTION IN URANIUM SALES INVESTIGATION) In 1991, the reformist National Conference in Niger established that [Prime Minsiter Seyni] Kountche used billions in profits from uranium sales as a private slush fund, distributed to cronies, the military, and the secret police. -------- "Uranium-Gate? Some context," by James S Robbins, NRO, JULY 9, 2003
2001 early : (ARRANGED DATE THAT NIGER WAS TO SEND SEVERAL TONS OF 'PURE URANIUM' - PROBABLY YELLOWCAKE- TO IRAQ, ACCORDING TO LATER NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE- THE NIE) the [Oct 2002] NIE says that "A foreign government service reported that as of early 2001 Niger planned to send several tons of 'pure uranium' (probably yellowcake) to Iraq. As of early 2001, Niger and Iraq reportedly were still working out arrangements for this deal, which could be for up to 500 tons of yellowcake. We do not know the status of this arrangement."
That foreign government service is of course the British, who still stand by their intelligence. In the next paragraph, the NIE goes on to say that "Reports indicate Iraq also has sought uranium ore from Somalia and possibly the Democratic Republic of the Congo." It then adds that "We cannot confirm whether Iraq has succeeded in acquiring uranium ore and/or yellowcake from these sources." This information, by the way, does not come from the White House [it reportedly comes from NIE, which is meant to be the best summary judgment of the intelligence community] - "CIA Intelligence Report Believed Niger Story was Accurate in Oct," The Wall Street Journal , July 17, 2003
JUNE 2001 : (CIA MAN LARRY C JOHNSON TELLS US THAT TERRORISM THREAT IS OVERBLOWN - Later he would ally himself with Wilson)
SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 : (TRUTHOUT.ORG,.COM, AND .NET IS REGISTERED BY "MARC ASH" THE DAY BEFORE THE 911 ATTACKS; WOULD PLAY ROLE IN NIGER/IRAQ/WILSON/PLAME/T J WILKINSON / URANIUM FLAP)
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (WTC & PENTAGON ARE ATTACKED WITH HIJACKED AIRLINERS, ANOTHER AIRLINER IS BROUGHT DOWN BEFORE REACHING ITS TARGET WHEN PASSENGERS FIGHT BACK)
2001 late : (FIVE MONTHS BEFORE FORMER AMBASSADOR TO GABON, JOE WILSON, IS SENT TO NIGER, ITALY PASSES TO THE UK INFORMATION ABOUT SUSPECTED ILLICIT TRADE IN NIGER URANIUM INVOLVING LIBYA, IRAN, N KOREA AND CHINA - NOTE THAT THIS INTEL IS NOT THE LATER "FORGED NIGER DOCS" OF NIGERFLAP WILSON/PLAME FAME) Information gathered in 1999-2001 suggested that the uranium sold illicitly would be extracted from mines in Niger that had been abandoned as uneconomic by the two French-owned mining companies - Cominak and Somair, both of which are owned by the mining giant Cogema - operating in Niger.
"Mines can be abandoned by Cogema when they become unproductive. This doesn't mean that people near the mines can't keep on extracting," a senior European counter-proliferation official said. He added that there was no evidence the companies were aware of the plans for illicit mining.
When the intelligence gathered in 1999-2001 was thrown into the diplomatic maelstrom that preceded the US-led invasion of Iraq, it took on new significance. Several services contributed to the picture. The Italians, looking for corroboration but lacking the global reach of the CIA or the UK intelligence service MI6, passed information to the US in 2001 and to the UK in 2002. -- "Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war'," by Mark Huband, FT, (Financial Times UK), Published: 06/27/04, Last Updated: June 27 2004 21:56, http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373295039&p=1012571727085
(* Note that this info refernced above is NOT the famous forged docs of Wilson-Plame fame)
2002 or earlier : (UK EAVESDROPPING CENTER GCHQ & THE FRENCH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE INTERCEPTS COMMUNICATIONS SUGGESTING IRAQ WAS SEEKING A URANIUM SUPPLIER) The UK eavesdropping centre GCHQ had intercepted communications suggesting Iraq was seeking clandestine uranium supplies, as had the French intelligence service. -- "Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war'," by Mark Huband, FT, (Financial Times UK), Published: 06/27/04, Last Updated: June 27 2004 21:56, http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373295039&p=1012571727085
FEBRUARY 1, 2002 : (BEGINNING DATE FOR SAVING WHITE HOUSE MESSAGES REFERRED TO IN 2003 WILSON LEAK PROBE...) FEBRUARY 2002 : (WILSON CAMPAIGN DONATION TO HILLARY CLINTON) Wilson donated $1,000 to Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) PAC just before leaving for Niger in February 2002- (Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org , Accessed 9/29/03; Political Money Line, www.tray.com, Accessed 9/30/03; FOX’s “Fox And Friends,” 9/30/03) via - "SAY IT AIN’T SO JOES? Joe Lieberman & Joe Wilson Make Bold Assertions That Facts Don’t Support, "RNC Research, Republican National Committee, October 5, 2003
FEBRUARY 12, 2002 : (PLAME SENDS A MEMO TO A DEPUTY CHIEF IN THE CIA'S DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS CONCERNING HER HUSBAND- JOSEPH WILSON ) "...The report states that a CIA official told the Senate committee that Plame "offered up" Wilson's name for the Niger trip, then on Feb. 12, 2002, sent a memo to a deputy chief in the CIA's Directorate of Operations saying her husband "has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity." The next day, the operations official cabled an overseas officer seeking concurrence with the idea of sending Wilson, the report said. - by Sue? in the Washington Post, July 2004 via 36 posted on 07/10/2004 3:18:38 PM PDT by Shermy
FEBRUARY 13, 2002 : (DEPUTY CHIEF IN THE CIA'S DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS CABLES AN OVERSEAS OFFICER SEEKING CONCURANCE WITH THE IDEA OF SENDING WILSON TO NIGER)from the Washington Post, July 2004 via 36 posted on 07/10/2004 3:18:38 PM PDT by Shermy
FEBRUARY 2002 : (WILSON ARRIVES IN NIGER, BUT NO NIGERIEN OFFICIALS SAY THEY ATTENDED MEETINGS WILSON SAID HE HELD) He [Joseph C. Wilson] arrived back in the Niger's capital of Niamey in February 2002 on a CIA-sponsored mission to investigate a report that Iraq had bought uranium from Niger in 1999. This trip took place a year before President Bush uttered the so-called "16 words" in his State of the Union address ("The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"). Note that the president accused Iraq of seeking uranium, not actually obtaining it, which is what Wilson was sent to look into.
He spent most of his time at the hotel — a fourth-floor suite at the Gawaeye, one report said. He was very open about his mission and its object, and began to take meetings near the pool. "I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people," Wilson wrote in the New York Times last July [2003], "current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." It is unclear with whom Wilson met.
No Nigerien officials have admitted to attending those meetings. El Hadj Habibou Allele, who runs COMINAK, the major uranium-mining concern, stated he was never contacted. For their part, the staff at the Gawaeye thought Wilson was a nice guy, and they nicknamed him "Bill Clinton" after his former employer.
Let's concede that the public face of Wilson's mission may not be the whole story. There may have been a secret side to it — a side he may have been oblivious to — that has not yet been reported. It hardly seems credible that Wilson could have single-handedly investigated every aspect of the Niger-Iraq connection spending "eight days drinking sweet mint tea" and talking to people. If Niamey were nurturing such a relationship with Baghdad it surely would have been highly secretive. Uranium trade with Iraq was illegal after all; you could not expect to get a straight answer from anyone involved in it. Moreover, the wounds of 9/11 were still fresh, and this was only a few months after Coalition forces had swiftly overthrown the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. What country was going to freely admit to selling illegal WMD material to the only ruler in the world who openly praised the attacks on the Twin Towers?
As noted, Wilson came away with no evidence that the 1999 uranium sale had taken place. But over the last few months, particularly since Wilson's New York Times piece, this very narrow finding has been taken as proof that Iraq never even tried to obtain uranium. That was not the question Wilson was sent to Niger to answer, and his investigation certainly never came close to being that thorough. Yet the press reflexively cites this brief visit as the basis for the definitive answer on the entire Niger uranium controversy.
Wilson's purported influence has been inflated to the point where otherwise sensible people (and some not-so) are alleging that the inner circles of the White House had to resort to felonious leaking to discredit him. - "The Honorable Mr. Wilson. Frog-marching into the history books.," National Review Online, NRO, October 01, 2003, 8:38 a.m. by James Robbins *
* "...After eight days in the Niger capital of Niamey (where he once served), Wilson made an oral report in Langley that an Iraqi uranium purchase was "highly unlikely," though he also mentioned in passing that a 1988 [I believe this should be 1998] Iraqi delegation tried to establish commercial contacts. CIA officials did not regard Wilson's intelligence as definitive, being based primarily on what the Niger officials told him and probably would have claimed under any circumstances. The CIA report of Wilson's briefing remains classified. - From "Mission to Niger by Robert Novak, excerpt posted on FreeRepublic on 10/03/2003 9:58 PM PDT by Shermy
APRIL 26, 2002 : (CIA INSPECTOR GENERAL BRITT SNIDER RESIGNS - HIREES ACCESS TO CLASSIIED INFO IN QUESTION) Washington: A congressional investigation of the intelligence failures surrounding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been thrown off course by the sudden resignation of a former CIA official hired to lead the inquiry but criticized for being too cozy with his former employer. L. Britt Snider, former inspector general at the CIA, resigned under pressure Friday, less than three months into a high-stakes probe designed to determine why the nation's spy agencies failed to pick up any warning of the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. ...But congressional sources confirmed that Snider was forced out amid growing concerns over his management of the investigation, ranging from the tone of his leadership to his decisions on personnel. Several sources said Snider's resignation was sparked by troubling questions that surfaced in recent weeks about whether one or more of his hires lacked proper security clearances to view classified material. ... Several GOP members, including Kyl and Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate committee, expressed doubts about Snider because of his close ties to CIA Director George J. Tenet. Snider had served as a special counsel to Tenet at the CIA, and was general counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee when Tenet was its staff director in the late 1980s and early 1990s. http://216.239.35.100/search?q=cache:dOSoOu8a48AC:www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/3164021.htm+members+2002+%22Senate+intelligence%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
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