More interesting connections.
Here’s what I think I know:
Joe Wilson met his first wife, Jacqueline Gregoire, during his stint at the US Embassy in the Congo. The Congo, at that time, was being run by then French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua (of Oil-for-Food scandal fame) as his own private banana republic. Gregoire was, at the time, the French Embassy’s “cultural attache”, which is standard official cover for spies reporting back to the DGSE. (Confirmed, oddly enough in a travel book called “Equator” by Thurston Clarke which has nothing to do with espionage, but in which he is quite charmingly grilled over what he has heard during his visit by a beautiful, French, “cultural attache” while in Gabon, a country which we will come back to in a minute).
Wilson then finds himself on the eve of the first Gulf War as acting Ambassador to Iraq when Gillespie returns to the US for a vacation. According to Wilson’s own words, he dined with “Saddam’s principal arms buyer in Paris” the night before the US attack. I thought I’d pinned down the guy’s name once, but I know he’s linked to Marc Rich of last minute pardon fame.
He then ended up as Ambassador to another French banana repbulic - Gabon - famous for its role in the French “Affaire Elf” where the French oil giant laundered money through its African subsidiaries (principally Gabon) to give to politicians (notably, Chirac).
After being dumped from the Africa Desk of Clinton’s NSC, he starts his own company. Meanwhile his wife is quite literally on the French payroll as a registered lobbyist for Gabonese President for Life (or as long as the French military props him up) Omar Bongo.
He then meets Plame at a reception at the Turkish Embassy. On the third date, she informs him that she works for the CPD at CIA. Immediately, (and by immediately I mean within just weeks) he dumps Gregoire and marries Plame. After all, if you are a French spy and want to know what the US knows about French nuclear proliferation, what better way to find out than marrying someone who knows.
The rest, as they say, is history. But look at it this way:
The French did not want Saddam ousted
a) because their politicians were becoming rich off of Oil-for-Food, and
b) because if they could end the blocade leaving Saddam in power it would mean $billions in oil development contracts.
The French had great leverage over Turkey because they held the “European Union” card over them. I’m sure they played that card to the hilt in getting them to refuse to allow the US to launch from Turkey.
Speaking of the French, we had an employee out of Oak Ridge get nabbed a while back for stealing equipment relating to uranium enrichment. He was going to sell it to the French.