It is filled with disinfo that can only have come from the rogue CIA and/or State staffers many of us have surmised are behind this story. I can't believe I missed that this article is of interest to the grand jury. I did note they want to know not just about Plame, if anything, but about Wilson and his trip.
Now, some comments about this July 2003 article taken from my vantage point of today:
FOLLOW THE YELLOWCAKE ROAD
How did a story that much of the national-security apparatus regarded as bogus wind up in the most important speech of Bush's term?
~snip~
I note that what we now know is the one thing the 9/11 Commission said had NOT been disproven was the Iraq seeking uranium story. Contrary to what anonymous sources were whispering to reporters, this intelligence was not flawed or widely disputed or disbelieved.
Finally, late in 2001, the Italian government came into possession of evidence suggesting that Iraq was again trying to purchase yellowcake from Niger. Rome's source provided half a dozen letters and other documents alleged to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials negotiating a sale. The Italians' evidence was shared with both Britain and the U.S.
What we knew, even when Wilson and anonymous sources were hinting that part of the basis for Wilson's Niger sojourn were these documents was that we did not come into possession of those documents until well AFTER Wilson's February 2002 trip. In fact, the documents were not given to our Embassy in Rome until October 2002.
When it got to Washington, the Iraq-Niger uranium report caught the eye of someone important: Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, told TIME that during one of his regular CIA briefings, "the Vice President asked a question about the implication of the report."
For a long time the media and Wilson supporters hinted darkly that Libby might be the "leaker" of Plame's name. Cooper and other reporters have now admitted to the grand jury that Libby never mentioned Plame to them (he more than likely did not know about Wilson or his trip, much less why or who suggested him for it).
Greg Thielmann, then a high-ranking official at State's research unit, told TIME
Thielmann has popped up in several anti-administration articles especially around the time of this article.
at the very moment that the Administration was gearing up to make its case for military mobilization, the yellowcake story took on new life. In September, Tony Blair's government issued a 50-page dossier detailing the case against Saddam, and while much of the evidence in the paper was old, it made the first public claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. At the White House, Ari Fleischer endorsed the British dossier, saying "We agree with their findings."
And at the very moment the Wilson story was getting rolling--the original "Bush lied" story--the anti-Blair "Sexed-dossier" story was getting rolling. Funny how to this day this yellowcake story STILL has not been disproven though you'd never guess that fact from this July 2003 article.
So interesting. I'm going to look up the Appellate ruling again and make a note of the subpoena making reference to this article. This is a MOST interesting find. Thanks for the ping.
A couple of things might have been copied from one of those Seymour Hersh ramblings. But clearly there's some new insider stuff in this article.
What sources? "Two senior administration officials" "another official" "an intelligence official"
Lots of packaged leaks right after Wilson's piece, and before Novak's.
"For a long time the media and Wilson supporters hinted darkly that Libby might be the "leaker" of Plame's name. "
I've thought the clamor was propelled by the outrage and egotism of Wilson. Funny if it turns out that the leakers are his gabby friends.