Actually Wilson never ever mentioned forged documents until after the fact, in an effort like other dems were doing, to use them in retrospect and deceptively insinuate they related to his trip and "findings", not in advance.
BTW, I believe it was very early March 2003--just on the eve of war, that the IAEA announced they had discovered the documents were forged. (They did not appear on the scene at all until showing up in Italy in October 2002, but still weren't in U.S. hands at that time, contrary to the implication of the article. Wilson went to Niger in February 2002). See the Tenet statement at #129 where he states Wilson never mentioned documents.
Thanks for the valuable info, Cyncooper. Everything about the Plame-Wilson saga stinks to high heaven. I hope the grand jury is looking into more than just the narrow question of who may have leaked her name to Novak (if it was, indeed, a bona fide leak as opposed to an innocent mention in passing without thinking of the implications).
MARCH 7? , 2003 Friday : (IAEA'S EL BARADEI SAYS DOCS ARE FORGED) The head of the U-N nuclear agency says allegations that Iraq recently attempted to import uranium from Niger are unfounded. V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida reports from Washington. Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency says his organization remains willing to examine fresh evidence relevant to efforts by Iraq to illicitly import nuclear material from Africa. But speaking before the U-N Security Council Friday, Mr. ElBaradei dismissed documents provided by what he said were "a number of states" pointing to an agreement between Niger and Iraq for the sale of uranium between 1999 and 2001.
Mr. ElBaradei says his agency reviewed correspondence from the government of Niger to compare the format, contents and signatures with those of the alleged uranium procurement-related documentation. He says after thorough analysis, the I-A-E-A now believes documents which formed the basis for the claims of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger, are in fact not authentic and the allegations are unfounded.ElBaradei also told the Council the I-A-E-A discussed the charges with Iraq and Niger, both of which denied any such activity took place. He said Baghdad suggested the visit by an unidentified Iraqi official to a number of African countries, including Niger, in February 1999, might have given rise to the allegations.
U-S officials have acknowledged seeing documentation purporting the existence of a secret agreement concluded in the summer of 2000 under which Niger was to provide Iraq with 500 metric tons of concentrated uranium ore. The officials who told VOA of the agreement acknowledged there was no evidence any of the material was ever shipped to Iraq. They also cautioned the transaction may have been a scam conducted without the knowledge of Niger's government by individuals out to make a quick profit. But these officials noted Niger did sell uranium ore to Iraq in the early 1980's --- a fact that was documented by the I-A-E-A.
One intelligence source who spoke to V-O-A said Friday that given control by a French firm over Niger's uranium mines, perhaps the original allegations about a new deal with Baghdad were an attempt to embarass the government of France. But the source made clear the documents were not fabricated by the United States. France has been a strong critic of possible U-S military action against Iraq because of its programs for developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
The United States included charges that Iraq attempted to procure uranium from Niger in a fact sheet issued last December questioning the credibility of Baghdad's claims about its disarmament efforts. A State Department official told V-O-A Friday the I-A-E-A's assertion that such allegations are unfounded did not undercut the overall credibility of U-S charges about Iraq's failure to disarm. Mr. ElBaradei said in his report Friday that his agency's inspectors have found no evidence or plausible indications of the revival of a nuclear progam in Iraq. - VOA News Report, V-O-A Correspondent ALEX BELIDA, 03/07/03, via http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/iraq-030307-2d189eab.htm. *
* Freepnote : "Freeper Dog pointed out something very interesting on that thread. The IAEA is the organization that identified the documents as forgeries. Who specifically within the IAEA? Mr. Jacques Baute of France."
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As a sidenote, this article says the alleged agreement between Niger -or persons within Niger- and Iraq was concluded in the summer of 2000. As I previously posted, the French priest Father Benjamin -well acquainted with the Iraqi diplomat associated with Niger, Wissam Zahawie- also ran his sanctions-busting aid flights to Iraq in the summer of 2000, as did the Russians.