CIA didn't get disputed documents until February 2003 after Bush claim

Boston Globe ^ | 7-16-03 | John J. Lumpkin

[mikenola]

WASHINGTON (AP) When the Bush administration issued its pre-war claims that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, the CIA had not yet obtained the documents that served as a key foundation for the allegation and later turned out to be forged, U.S. officials say.

[mikenola]

Not sure if this qualifies as "breaking news"...

It seems to me , with all media attention, someone could locate the folks involved and determine whether or not Saddam did try to get yellowcake Uranium from Niger. If we could get a positive answer, that would quash all the liberal political haymaking out of this issue.

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[The Great RJ]

In listening to ABC evening news tonight the reporters were almost foaming at the mouth reporting that President Bush used these obviously phony documents as the basis to go war with Iraq. How anyone could seriously believe that President Bush and his advisors are that stupid is beyond me.

[Timesink]

Not sure if this qualifies as "breaking news"...

It would be perfect for the "DNC Talking Point Faud of the Day" topic, if we had one. Boston Globe = New York Times = Ground Zero for the Destroy Bush Brigade.

[Dog]

They can't claim Bush knew the uranium story wasn't true because the CIA didn't get the document until after the SOTU.

[Timesink]

They can't claim Bush knew the uranium story wasn't true because the CIA didn't get the document until after the SOTU.

LOGICALLY they can't. POLITICALLY you can be 100% certain they will.

[Dog]

I know...... but doesn't this shoot their theory to hell?

[GraniteStateConservative]

The issue is that France shared intelligence with the UK and refuses to allow the UK to share it with us. We can't independently confirm it. It's true to us only because we believe the word of Blair and Straw. The WH merely said that the standard for SOU speeches is independent confirmation and we couldn't meet that standard with the uranium claim.

[prognostigaator]

"After the CIA received the documents, the government provided them to the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, which quickly determined them to be forgeries."

Since when does the UN do anything quickly......

[MJY1288]

LOL, Something tells me that the nine clowns out on the campaign trail trashing GWB are gonna empty the ServiBar in their rooms when they get all the news that is breaking today :-),

[Howlin]

Ahem...check the date:

Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake
The Washington Post ^ | March 8, 2003 | Joby Warrick

Posted on 03/08/2003 9:54 AM EST by AzJohn

Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake
U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 8, 2003; Page A01

A key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons program appears to have been fabricated, the United Nations' chief nuclear inspector said yesterday in a report that called into question U.S. and British claims about Iraq's secret nuclear ambitions.

.....

Knowledgeable sources familiar with the forgery investigation described the faked evidence as a series of letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central African nation of Niger. The documents had been given to the U.N. inspectors by Britain and reviewed extensively by U.S. intelligence. The forgers had made relatively crude errors that eventually gave them away -- including names and titles that did not match up with the individuals who held office at the time the letters were purportedly written, the officials said.

"We fell for it," said one U.S. official who reviewed the documents.

A spokesman for the IAEA said the agency did not blame either Britain or the United States for the forgery. The documents "were shared with us in good faith," he said.

[KellyAdmirer]

The line in the SOU speech was perfectly accurate. "The British have determined...." Turned out the British maybe were wrong or a bit hasty, but that is an issue of credibility for the British, not for us.

[Dog]

I heard the FBI is now heavily involved in this case.....they want to know who put out these forgeries.

[Dog]

I have been out of the loop today what breaking news??

[Timesink]

I know...... but doesn't this shoot their theory to hell?

Yup.

[MJY1288]

You need to read some of the articles posted in the breaking news column. Some big news coming out

[AndyMeyers]

How could the President's SOU speech be the basis for going to war with Iraq when the vote by Congress to authorize the action against Iraq took place about three months before the SOU speech?

How does Bush quoting a possibly discredited British claim compare with Clinton wagging his finger at the American Public and telling us "I did not have sex with that women Ms. Lewinski, not one time"? Or his purjury before a Grand Jury? Some of the Senators taking Bush to task voted to aquit Clinton. They have no credibility.

[cyncooper]

Ping a ling, Fascist Slayer. You said the forged documents were in hand in the fall of 2002, and I pointed out it was after the SOTU speech. Guess what?!:

When the Bush administration issued its pre-war claims that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, the CIA had not yet obtained the documents that served as a key foundation for the allegation and later turned out to be forged, U.S. officials say.

The CIA didn't receive the documents until February 2003, nearly a year after the agency first began investigating the alleged Iraq-Africa connection and a short time after it assented to language in President Bush's State of the Union address that alleged such a connection, the officials said.

[Mo1]

They can't claim Bush knew the uranium story wasn't true because the CIA didn't get the document until after the SOTU.

True .. but it still won't stop them

[Dog]

I see the person you pinged signed up a couple of days ago....is it giving you any trouble???