The post by ravingnutter that Peach mentions can be found here: post #42 of the thread Times Trashfest: The Trashing of Judith Miller . You should also compare your timeline with the Wuli's thread: Joe Wilson's Lies, A Timeline - Who Forged the Documents? (Vanity) , which is the most complete time-line I've seen on when the CIA got various reports that Saddam was trying to procure uranium from African countries (NB: not only Niger). Wuli's thread will give you the dates when Wilson was in Niger and when the CIA received the forged documents that were then handed on to the IAEA. Just as 's comments Wilson's journey predated the documents by some 8 months.
Okie01's question is excellent. I hadn't seen that statement by Wilson, but it confirms my own belief that Wilson was not a witting part of a plot, rather a fool, that unknown to himself ran the errands of a foreign country whose politics were not exactly in sync with the US Government.
Of course if more facts are revealed regarding Jacqueline Marylene Giorgi (thanks Verginius Rufus) I may have to change my mind.
What is clear though is that the French government would have done (and probably did) everything in its powers to stop the war and protect its present and future profits in Iraq. Total or Elf Acquitaine has always been a tool of French foreign policy. (We probably wouldn't have had an EU in its present form if it hadn't been for Elf - thank you so much for that one (/sarcasm).
Where is ravingnutter these days? His post indicates that someone warned him off this story. Did he take the hint and decide to stop posting?