Posted on 07/14/2003 7:05:02 PM PDT by Pubbie
The French secret service is believed to have refused to allow MI6 to give the Americans "credible" intelligence showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore from Niger, US intelligence sources said yesterday.
MI6 had more than one "different and credible" piece of intelligence to show that Iraq was attempting to buy the ore, known as yellowcake, British officials insisted. But it was given to them by at least one and possibly two intelligence services and, under the rules governing cooperation, it could not be shared with anyone else without the originator's permission.
US intelligence sources believe that the most likely source of the MI6 intelligence was the French secret service, the DGSE. Niger is a former French colony and its uranium mines are run by a French company that comes under the control of the French Atomic Energy Commission.
A further factor in the refusal to hand over the information might have been concern that the US administration's willingness to publicise intelligence might lead to sources being inadvertently disclosed.
US sources also point out that the French government was vehemently opposed to the war with Iraq and so suggest that it would have been instinctively against the idea of passing on the intelligence.
British sources yesterday dismissed suggestions of a row between MI6 and the CIA on the issue. However, they admitted being surprised that George Tenet, the CIA director, had apologised to President George W Bush for allowing him to cite the British government and its claim that Saddam had sought to acquire uranium from Africa in his State of the Union speech last October.
The apology follows the International Atomic Energy Authority's dismissal of documents given to it by the CIA, which purported to prove the link, as fakes.
Those documents have been widely identified with last September's British dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which said Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium ore from an unnamed country in Africa.
British officials admitted that the country was Niger but insisted that the intelligence behind it was genuine and had nothing to do with the fake documents. It was convincing and they were sticking with it, the officials said.
They dismissed a report from a former US diplomat who was sent to Niger to investigate the claims and rejected them. "He seems to have asked a few people if it was true and when they said 'no' he accepted it all," one official said. "We see no reason at all to change our assessment."
The fake documents were not behind that assessment and were not seen by MI6 until after they were denounced by the IAEA. If MI6 had seen them earlier, it would have immediately advised the Americans that they were fakes.
There had been a number of reports in America in particular suggesting that the fake documents - which came from another intelligence source - were passed on via MI6, the officials said. But this was not true.
"What they can't accuse MI6 of doing is passing anything on this to the CIA because it didn't have the fake documents and it was not allowed to pass on the intelligence it did have to anyone else."
If Dck Cheney didn't send Joe Wison, who did? Can you post your fabulous statements from above and give the TRUE answers? I'm still in the process of moving, and haven't been able to keep up with this story.
Then somehow Joseph Wilson was sent to Niger appearantly by the recommendation of his wife "the former Valerie Plame"
Joseph Wilson spent 8 days in Niger and asked some officials about the claim and they all denied it
Wilson came back and gave an oral report to the CIA which they dismissed as not conclusive either way because of course the Niger Officials would deny any claims of illegal Uranium sales to Iraq.
Joe Wilson did all of this back in 2002 and has never made mention of his trip to Niger or his findings in any public speech after that until he published the OP-ED in NYT's.
Some sources are saying that the forged Uranium documents were given to us by Italy (which today they deny) to the State Department and ended up in a U.N. report from the State Department.
The Brittish said they don't care about the forged documents, they have their own Intel from three different sources that backs their claim, but Jack Straw said they can't share the intel with the U.S. "For Good Reasons" (read Jack Straws report)
President Bush tried to use the Brits Intel in a speech in Cincinatti last October and George Tenet suggested that he shouldn't use the "Yellow Cake" claim by the Brits in his speech because of the detail of the claim and because the Brits were not sharing the Intel to back it up.
When the SOTU was being put together they wanted to point out the story of the Yellow Cake Uranium and once again George Tenet struck it down and approved the more vague way it was written in the SOTU speech.
Hind sight is 20/20 and the President had Ari Fleischer send a retraction to the NYT's and the Washington Post just before he left for Africa and in it they explained that they believed what President Bush was factually correct, but the 16 word sentence did not rise to the level of a SOTU speech because the info was second hand.
My guess is that they got word of the coming attack by the Democrats and Joseph Wilson's OP-Ed and wanted to get out in front of it. I think that was a mistake, anytime you admit a mistake it's a sign of weakness, President Bush should have stood his ground and said he was just referencing the Brittish Intel and the forged document was just one piece of the puzzle.
I hope that will help, I think I have the timeline pretty close and the facts are as I know them. I have done extensive searches and read everything I have found at least 3 times, but I'm sure I must have missed a few things since I'm wingin it here :-)
If Saddam is still alive it's because Tenet gave W the info that he was in that restaurant that night.....I wouldn't trust ANY Democrat now...Wilson, Tenet, Plame, or any of the nine dwarfs.
I wonder if it wasn't because we have a mole in the CIA and the Brits were warned about it, and told not to share their info with us. Someone has been leaking stuff to the press from the CIA and I can't help but think it's Joseph Wilson through his wife
Lets see, An Aspirin Factory, Chinese Embassy, 2 failed attemts on Saddam, 1 on Chemical Ali and lord knows how many in Afghanistan
But then your vile posts are gibberish, tainted by all kinds of this childish, irrational codswallop.:-)
I disagree. Everyone should shut up and ride this one out. When asked about the issue the Bush Administration officials should say the march to war was based on a mountain of evidence that reasonable men and women in many nations pointed to a reasonable conclusion that Iraq was pursuing a WMD program. End of statement. No elaboration. Next question.
The next news conference needs to be proof positive, slam dunk, we found the evidence for the WMD. If they cannot produce this in the next 12 months they will pay a political price, whether they deserve it or not.
I concur, Calmer heads prevail
But...perhaps the truth will out soon.
You just exposed your true sentiments. Bush Hater = Clinton Lover.
If the British have proof that Saddam was trying to buy uranium from Niger, they need to put up or shut up. THEIR intelligence people have left OUR president out on a limb so that they can preserve relations with their friends, the French. With friends like the Brits...
BTW, change your handle. You don't deserve our president's name.
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