[Steve_Seattle]

"I think it's a waste to use who sent Wilson in the "Wilson lied" argument because he did say publicly that the CIA sent him, not Cheney."

Belated reply: In at least one speech, Wilson said that "the government, not the CIA" sent him, which is a strange way of putting it. The implication, I think, is that "the government" = "the Bush administration" = Cheney. So, without saying it directly, he is trying to make as close a connection possible between his mission and the White House. But even Gingrich had it wrong, as far as I can tell, when he went on Fox the other night and said that Wilson "lied" by claiming Cheney sent him to Niger. As you and others have pointed out, Wilson may never have said it directly; it was an inference drawn in some of the early media accounts.

[RWE]

My local newspaper the Santa Maria Times, had a timeline for all this and the first entry went something like this:

Feb 2002
The Bush Administration asks Joseph Wilson to travel to Niger to investigate the purchase of uranium by Saddam Hussien.