Hey, Bassfire, Boazo, PrimeChoice; can you change those wheels of cheese into YELLOWCAKE??
Posted on 10/25/2005 2:04:14 PM PDT by Renfield
Russo Martino, the man behind the forged documents indicating Saddam had purchased uranium from Niger, which Joseph A. Wilson falsely claimed he had seen and warned the Administration about, has come forward and admitted that he did this in the pay of France to undermine the British and American justification for the war in Iraq:
The man, identified by an Italian news agency as Rocco Martino, was the subject of a Telegraph article earlier this month in which he was referred to by his intelligence codename, “Giacomo”.
His admission to investigating magistrates in Rome on Friday apparently confirms suggestions that – by commissioning “Giacomo” to procure and circulate documents – France was responsible for some of the information later used by Britain and the United States to promote the case for war with Iraq.
Italian diplomats have claimed that, by disseminating bogus documents stating that Iraq was trying to buy low-grade “yellowcake” uranium from Niger, France was trying to “set up” Britain and America in the hope that when the mistake was revealed it would undermine the case for war, which it wanted to prevent.
Italian judicial officials confirmed yesterday that Mr Martino had previously been sought for questioning by Rome. Investigating magistrates in the city have opened an inquiry into claims he made previously in the international press that Italy’s secret services had been behind the dissemination of false documents, to bolster the US case for war.
According to Ansa, the Italian news agency, which said privately that it had obtained its information from “judicial and other sources”, Mr Martino was questioned by an investigating magistrate, Franco Ionta, for two hours. Ansa said Mr Martino told the magistrate that Italy’s military intelligence, Sismi, had no role in the procuring or dissemination of the Niger documents.
I think the MSM will cover this story the way they cover every other story--by blaming Bush! The MSM will find some moonbats to allege that Bush either prompted the french to do this, or that Bush knew about the forgeries. Alternatively, the MSM will play up only 1/2 the story, and claim that the case for the war was based on "documents we now know to be forged".
You beat me to it by 3 posts.
I remember some Freepers speculating just that, that France was behind it in an effort to undermine the President and the war. I wish I could remember which Freepers; they deserve to be recognizes, IMO.
Oh, and I wonder when the NYT, Newsweek, CBS et all will report on this development. Oh, that's right...never.
Ping for jaw-dropping...
You know-- I started posting that I thought this sounded like a BS story, but as I got to thinking about it, it started sounding more plausible. Those ridiculous French would probably play these kinds of petty games just for the shear joy of being able to say "gotcha!" to the hated US/UK.
I've mentioned the French connection several times, but I could have sworn I saw it posted here from the earliest news stories.
Hey, Bassfire, Boazo, PrimeChoice; can you change those wheels of cheese into YELLOWCAKE??
So have I. Just last night on another thread. France set us and the Brits up.
GMTA !
no news here. soon after the Niger story broke, John Batchelor and Loftus said the documents were planted by the french as a poison pill to discredit what was otherwise a legit story. that's been the truth all along - the administration was too quick to pull back on the Niger story, it was true.
yes, I've been posting it (among others) all along. but the first place I heard it was from Batchelor.
It was. All of us knew about this long ago, but it doesn't hurt to have it repeat, especially now.
See my link in #31 on this thread...it was a CIA/French coup.
"Story? What story...?"
somebody set us up the forgery!
Didn't we know this 2 years ago?
We haven't heard anything about Porter Goss for months now. The media have stopped screaming about how mean he is to their favorite leakers. I wonder what the significance of that is? Maybe like the dog that didn't bark in Sherlock Holmes?
I doubt whether Fitzgerald will get into any of this extended territory, although it's basic to understanding what Plamegate is about, unless Goss decides to work with him in some way. Usually the CIA protects its own. I sure wish they would act a little differently this time. Bringing the traitors up on charges would help clear the air.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.