Posted on 11/21/2005 2:28:31 PM PST by Fedora
I think her name, per se, didn't mean anything much to him back then. He mentioned it only as a detail in a larger story. The whole notion that her name was mentioned to "punish" Joseph Wilson is a pure fabrication cooked up by David Corn (and possibly some co-conspirators in setting up President Bush). It quickly became the media's template for the story, and they have never abandoned it.
Yes. I imagine Novak's reporting what either Rove and/or CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told him there; they in turn probably got their information from either Tenet or someone in CIA who had been assigned to dig up the records on it.
I agree.
Kudos for the great research!
Oh, I forgot to say good job!
Ping
Outstanding writing. The folks at AJ Strata's and Mac Ranger have the highest praise for your work, and so do I.
I wonder who will play Joe in the movie?
B&B
So much detail, you seem like the internet version of J. Bower Bell.
I agree that some relatively minor editing would make this much more readable. There's also some redundancy: it would be better to use quote snippets as they are needed to build an argument rather than regurgitate large swaths of Wilson's lies and then follow up with the more targetted snippets. That said, this is an impressive compilation and I hope Fedora will figure out a way to get it published so that a wider audience than FR can view it. It's the most authoritative piecing together of all the various strands of evidence that I have yet seen and takes care not to overclaim what can be deduced from the available evidence: in particular, the puzzle regarding motivation for the original forgery lies in its essential elements being put into play in January 2001. Elsewhere on FR, sorry I can't remember where, there's a nice riff on how the French might be implicated in an effort to forestall a CLINTON invasion of Iraq--i.e., tracing the genesis of this plot back as far as 1998. I think more could be said about the possibility that Jacquelyn Wilson actually enabled/encouraged her husband to pursue his affair and eventual marriage to Valerie Plame. There certainly was some very odd timing going on in 1997-1998 and this theory is consistent with the curious appearance of the second Mrs. Wilson's phone number at a house bought by the newly married Plame/Wilsons.
I think Wilson had business interests in Niger, but these were inextricably wrapped up in French business interests in uranium: as the Oil-for-Food scandal showed, the French were shameless about enabling Saddam to persist in his defiance of UN resolutions because they profited so heavily from his perfidy. They had means, motive and opportunity to profit from Saddam's nuclear aspirations and Wilson was uniquely positioned to facilitate this by assisting them in covering up what was really going on.
That's interesting--hadn't heard that. Might shed some light on Wilson's first Niger trip and Martino's early forgeries.
Thanks; glad to hear that kind of feedback from them, as their work has come highly recommended to me, also.
Movie version of Joe, LOL--hmmm. . .I'm recalling this episode of "X-Files" where Mulder's body got switched with that of a really obnoxious agent who was cheating on his wife, selling government secrets, and otherwise making a jerk of himself. I think that actor would have some experience playing the right type of character :-)
btt
I think you'll find when all is said and done, this is one of the biggest NON-stories in history. Fedora knew the comment was tongue-in-cheek. You have obviously had a humorectomy recently. Get well soon.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Zahawie's trip was in 1998, I think...
Bookmark for later read (when I have a lot of time)!!!!
You're correct that it wasn't 1988 (it was 1999), and that was one thing about Novak's article that struck me, too, but that's what it said, at least in the version I found. Maybe there was a typo somewhere.
Thanks so much for all this work. I just knew you would have something like this eventually. I am definitely saving this one. It's a good thinkg I check on what you have to say from time to time or I would have missed it!
They plot and work in the shadows, like busy little roaches wallowing in their own pridefulness .. and I'll believe to my dying day that it's because their egos were crushed at the revelation of their own incompetence at missing the many attacks. They just couldn't stand the public humiliation in their allegedly lofty and vital positions.
I'm putting my faith in Porter Goss's fumigation machine for at least some level of order to be brought to bear.
The leak part of the story is, indeed, a huge non-story. The part about the Niger trip, forged documents, and Wilson's collusion with reporters to damage the Bush administration is big, but it will never get the kind of coverage and investigation it warrants.
As for your comment being tongue-in-cheek, perhaps if it has been accompanied by a wink symbol instead of a end-scarcasm tag, those of us who don't know you would have understood. It helps to bear in mind that the internet is a one-dimensional communications medium and, as such, it increases the potential for misunderstandings between people.
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