The Niger forgery caper began as the result of an investigation by the French into illicit uranium mining and smuggling in 1999 - 2001. Not to defend that scumbag Wilson, but the people he spoke to may not have known about that and probably wouldn't tell him if they did:
European intelligence officers have now revealed that three years before the fake documents became public, human and electronic intelligence sources from a number of countries picked up repeated discussion of an illicit trade in uranium from Niger. One of the customers discussed by the traders was Iraq.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.
Little known fact. Joe's ex-wife is French. Joe's company brokers deals for the President of Niger.