Posted on 09/16/2003 9:35:53 PM PDT by Pikamax
CORRECTIONS Tuesday, September 16, 2003; Page A02 A Sept. 15 article on Vice President Cheney's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" mischaracterized the vice president's response to a question about releasing information on Saudi Arabia's ties to al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 hijackers. The article quoted Cheney as saying, "I don't want to speculate" about the ties, and said that the vice president went on to say that Sept. 11 is "over with now, it's done, it's history and we can put it behind us." The article implied that Cheney agreed with this point of view. In fact, in his full remarks, the vice president took the opposite view and argued that it is important, in discussing alleged Saudi connections to the hijackers, not to release information that would jeopardize the United States' ability to fight terrorism.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Wrong! You really need to do some more reading.
Article bookmarked for the next time someone on FR goes nuts over a Washington Compost article filled with unamed sources and conservative base dividing innuendo.
Fleischer Says Bush Did Not Have Facts On Niger Uranium Before Sou Address
President Bush did not know, Fleischer said, that British information indicating Iraq had received uranium from Niger was wrong before he gave his January 28, 2003, State of the Union Address in which he said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Fleischer was responding to questions about a July 6 op-ed article in the New York Times by former U.S. Ambassador to Gabon Joseph Wilson, who also was interviewed July 6 on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Wilson, a career diplomat who served in the U.S. foreign service from 1976 to 1998, was asked by the Central Intelligence Agency to investigate reports that Niger sold Iraq processed uranium in the 1990s that could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Wilson traveled to Niger in February 2002 to investigate purported sale uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- from Niger to Iraq in the late 1990s. Through further processing of the yellow granular solid, yellowcake can be used in fuel rods for nuclear reactors or in nuclear weapons. Niger is the world's third-largest producer of mined uranium.
"He [Wilson] is saying that surely the vice president must have known, or that the White House must have known, [about his conclusion] but that's not the case prior to the State of the Union," Fleischer said.
In his op-ed piece, Wilson said, "It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." Wilson also said that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney asked the CIA if Niger had sold uranium to Iraq. Wilson said his negative answer was given months before Bush announced in his State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein sought uranium from Africa.
"The vice president's office asked a serious question," Wilson said. "I was asked to help formulate the answer. I did so, and I have every confidence that the answer I provided was circulated to the appropriate officials within our government."
Fleischer said the vice president's office knew nothing of Wilson's trip to Niger until the media reported the story.
"The vice president's office did not request the mission to Niger," Fleischer said. "The vice president's office was not informed of his mission. He was not aware of Mr. Wilson's mission until recent press reports accounted for it."
It is now old news that the report saying Iraq acquired uranium yellowcake from Niger is false, Fleischer said, but "The information about the yellowcake and Niger was not specifically known prior to the State of the Union by the White House."
"We've acknowledged that the information turned out to be bogus involving the report on yellowcake," Fleischer said. "That's not new. Dr. Rice has said it repeatedly. I've said it repeatedly." Committees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are investigating pre-war intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Really? Then you should have no problem providing confirmation of this.
Ahh, yes. The famous 16 words from the President's SOTU address. You'll notice there's no mention of yellowcake. The above quote was and still is correct.
My question to all you good folks, what really hurts our ability to fight a war on terror, the truth or a lie?
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