Well, at least for me, the clicher was that Mr. Wilson himself acknowledged, his so-called "investigation" was nothing more than, in his own words, "eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people" at the U.S. embassy in Niger.
Yep. I can picture it in now........
"So, tell me the truth, Jamal, did Saddam Hussein ever try to buy yellowcake from you guys?"
"Why, of course not, Joe!"
"I didn't think so. Here ya go, Jamal, have some more mint tea."
"So, tell me the truth, Jamal, did Saddam Hussein ever try to buy yellowcake from you guys?"
"Why, of course not, Joe!"
"I didn't think so. Here ya go, Jamal, have some more mint tea."
That is exactly how George Tenet characterized the trip. Here's his statement that basically says this was a big joke (I would love to know when Tenet found out about this trip. He was not involved in setting it up):
Text of CIA Director George Tenet's statement
EXCERPT:
Because this report, in our view, did not resolve whether Iraq was or was not seeking uranium from abroad, it was given a normal and wide distribution, but we did not brief it to the President, Vice-President or other senior Administration officials. We also had to consider that the former Nigerien officials knew that what they were saying would reach the U.S. government and that this might have influenced what they said.