Niger Intel Accurate (Brits: "no reason at all to change our assessment.")

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 14/07/2003 | Michael Smith

[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."

[Sabertooth]

Since the Cradle of Civilization is in Iraq, who doesn't have cultural ties there?

Actually, the "culture" thing might be the best argument for going into LIberia, though I haven't stayed on top of it either. If we accept the premise that in the post-colonial era, the former colonial powers have certain responsibilities in Africa, then Liberia is about the only place where that might apply to the United States.

That is, if we accept that premise, and I'm not certain that I do.

I'm of the mind that we should have stayed out of Kosovo, though in the interests of full disclosure, I was in favor of Balkan intervention back in the early 90s.

[Madcelt]

Long thread,lots of tentacles. Pull up a chair and enjoy.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944966/posts

[Howlin]

What do we do now ?

Go back to Democratic Underground?

Enjoy your stay here, however long it will be.

[Jim Robinson]

Not really. This afternoon was the end of the seventh full day of this fundraiser and we are now approaching 40%. If you take into consideration the $18,000 plus in monthlies that will be posted later, we're really approaching 70%. Also, we normally receive about $9,000 to $10,000 in checks and most of them will be received and posted during the second or third week of the fundraiser (just posted the first batch today). By the end of this week we should be well over 90% and the fundraiser could be finished by the end of the week-end or perhaps on Monday. This means it will have taken two full weeks to complete, which is right in line with most of our previous fundraisers. There were very few fundraisers in the past that took much less than two weeks to reach the target.

[Torie]

Kosovo is in Europe silly. That was what Kerry said anyway. It sounds a bit ethnocentric to me. Is Kerry a European ethnocentrist?

[Howlin]

Jim, is there a slowdon in FR fundraising?

No, there is NOT. It's wishful thinking.

[MJY1288]

Thanks Jim for clearing that up, Being that this is prime vacation period and you're not far off the mark, I would say this quarter's fundraising is going well.

[Jim Robinson]

Entry I'm about to post to the Moderator log:

DUh troll, replacement4multi, aka taosbum, wokeupdismornin, petenrepeat, birdman2, groundhogday, cayote, itemizer, mondaychild, poppyward, downtheriver, koburnin, proudmary, and dozens of other aliases all the way back to buffalo124 and collin, et al, from over a year ago nuked.

Jim

[b4its2late]

buh bye....

[George W. Bush]

Well. I surely agree (and don't call me Shurley). We went to war ( and I had my little flag in my hand)to "PRE empt" the sorry bastar% from hitting us with NUKES or WMD> BUT IT WAS ALL WRONG. no nukes OR wmd!!! What do we do now ? reparations?

Me too. But I don't regret deposing Saddam one bit, WMD or not. I think we should do the same in Cuba. Shove Fidel against the wall and shoot him and then leave.

The war went well. But we're spending a buttload of money we don't have. And we're in the same old Clinton hellholes like Kosovo and adding Afghanistan and Iraq. And we'll be in those countries for years too. Probably $50 billion a year for Iraq alone.

[UnBlinkingEye]

Bush and Tenet should apologize to the British. They insulted British integrity as a competent ally. And they were wrong.

England has no integrity, nor credibility, even in the modern age they lied us into WWI and laid the foundation for WWII.

Let me see... Just when did Blair twist Junior's arm behind his back and force him to use this info in the State of the Union speech anyway? Bush is actually admitting something more serious here: that he never had any nuclear evidence in his own hands prior to his beating of the war drums. Now it's time to shift the blame to Britain.

It's shabby treatment of a very loyal ally. And it created another storm of criticism for Blair to handle at home too. I would guess that next time, Blair will think twice about helping us.

Blair is a poodle and a disgrace.

Idiots. If they don't shape up, there won't be a second Bush term.

God Bless America!!!

[concerned about politics]

Yes just look at the creeping graph after 8 days of begging

Your extremist left wing website has to support itself with pop up ads. Get a grip, man!

[b4its2late]

It must take them quite some time to think up all those names. But I guess they have nothing better to do. I remember trying to come up with something witty for mine, and it took me a while......at least I consider it witty... LOL!

[justshe]

Have you noticed the slowdowns in FR's fundraising? I think there's a reason. And I think Bush looks like a one-termer.

---

Please see the post from Jim Robinson giving an update of the fundraiser.

REALLY glad you were concerned. How about pitching in with a donation?

[George W. Bush]

Kosovo is in Europe silly.

Yeah, I think we all know that.

But we took the Muslim side in Kosovo. Where are our cultural ties to the Muslim side in an eastern European civil war? It just doesn't parse, even by Dim standards.

[MJY1288]

Well Jim, since we have so many doubters here on FR who fall for the DNC talking points and are even willing to repeat them, I'm gonna send FR another $100.00 for this quarter just for the fun of it, Be back in a few

[Torie]

Blair is a poodle and a disgrace

The problem is that you have dried eyes, that create distorted vision. Get some eye drops.

[concerned about politics]

It must take them quite some time to think up all those names. But I guess they have nothing better to do.

You'd think they'd at least take a few minutes out of their day to SEEK EMPLOYMENT!

[justshe]

THANK YOU!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!