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<p>WASHINGTON &mdash; Those were "the 16 words" in a momentous message to a joint session of Congress that were pounced on by the wrong-war left to become the simple centerpiece of its angry accusation that "Bush lied to us" — or, as John Kerry more delicately puts it — "misled" us into thinking that Saddam's Iraq posed a danger to the U.S.</p>

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." — George W. Bush, State of the Union address, Jan. 28, 2003 WASHINGTON — Those were "the 16 words" in a momentous message to a joint session of Congress that were pounced on by the wrong-war left to become the simple centerpiece of its angry accusation that "Bush lied to us" — or, as John Kerry more delicately puts it — "misled" us into thinking that Saddam's Iraq posed a danger to the U.S. The he-lied-to-us charge was led by Joseph Wilson, a former...

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERSFROM: GARY SCHMITTSUBJECT: Iraq's Attempts to Acquire Uranium from NigerIn his 2003 State of the Union speech, President Bush said "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Since then, this statement has been criticized by Former Ambassador Joe Wilson and others as relying on flimsy or non-existent intelligence. Today, however, the British government released a report titled "Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction,"* which, on page 125 (paragraph 503), states: "From our examination of the intelligence and other material on Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from...

Like Sherlock Holmes' dog that did not bark, the most remarkable aspect of last week's Senate Intelligence Committee report is what its Democratic members did not say. They did not dissent from the committee's findings that Iraq apparently asked about buying yellowcake uranium from Niger. They neither agreed to a conclusion that former diplomat Joseph Wilson was suggested for a mission to Niger by his CIA employee wife nor defended his statements to the contrary. Wilson's activities constituted the only aspects of the yearlong investigation for which the committee's Republican chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts, was unable to win unanimous agreement....

July 15, 2004 -- One year ago this week, Democratic politicians and much of the media were in a frenzy of Bush-bashing: They'd found the smoking gun proving that the president deceived America into waging war on Iraq. Their "evidence"? These 16 words from the 2003 State of the Union Address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Demonstrably false, they huffed, citing the claims of Joseph Wilson, a former diplomat sent by the CIA to Africa in 2002 to investigate the issue. A New York Times editorial raised sinister allegations...

In other words, the British Government did learn that Saddam Hussein did seek significant quantities of uranium from Africa......

LAST YEAR at this time, the media were in full scandal mode over 16 words that President Bush had spoken nearly six months earlier. "The British government has learned," Bush had said in his State of the Union address in January, "that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." A furor erupted over that statement when a CIA consultant and ex-diplomat named Joseph Wilson, who had gone to Niger in 2002 to look into the matter, publicly claimed that the charge wasn't true. The White House agreed that the line shouldn't have been in Bush's speech, but...

Bush's State of the Union speech redeemed July 11, 2004 BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement Do you remember a year ago when the Democratic National Committee was putting out press releases headlined ''President Bush Deceives The American People"? Yawn. What's new? But last summer the Bush Lie Of The Week was all to do with Saddam trying to buy uranium from Niger. CNN and Co. replayed endlessly the critical 16 words from the president's 2003 State of the Union Address: ''The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Sixteen words that...

I cannot get the image to copy. It's HUGE. If you've got the time go to saloncruise.com. Right there on the front page is a picture of Wilson with book. Then go to speakers section and you will see the blurb about the 16 words. Do you think we ought to notify Saloncruise of their "error".

Do you remember a year ago when the Democratic National Committee was putting out press releases headlined ''President Bush Deceives The American People"? Yawn. What's new? But last summer the Bush Lie Of The Week was all to do with Saddam trying to buy uranium from Niger. CNN and Co. replayed endlessly the critical 16 words from the president's 2003 State of the Union Address: ''The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Sixteen words that could break a presidency! Bush ''misled every one of us,'' huffed Sen. John Kerry. ''It's beginning...

LAST YEAR at this time, the media were in full scandal mode over 16 words that President Bush had spoken nearly six months earlier. "The British government has learned," Bush had said in his State of the Union address in January, "that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." A furor erupted over that statement when a CIA consultant and ex-diplomat named Joseph Wilson, who had gone to Niger in 2002 to look into the matter, publicly claimed that the charge wasn't true. The White House agreed that the line shouldn't have been in Bush's speech, but...

Britain's Financial Times reported Wednesday that an official British government inquiry into the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq has concluded that Britain's MI-6 was correct to conclude that Saddam Hussein's regime had sought to buy uranium ore from Niger. If so, this gives the lie to the charge that "Bush lied!" when he said in his 2003 State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." The July 7 FT story by Mark Huband follows his article from the previous week, which revealed that "a key...

LAST YEAR at this time, the media were in full scandal mode over 16 words that President Bush had spoken nearly six months earlier. "The British government has learned," Bush had said in his State of the Union address in January, "that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." A furor erupted over that statement when a CIA consultant and ex-diplomat named Joseph Wilson, who had gone to Niger in 2002 to look into the matter, publicly claimed that the charge wasn't true. The White House agreed that the line shouldn't have been in Bush's speech, but...

Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission Report Disputes Wilson's Claims on Trip, Wife's Role By Susan Schmidt Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 10, 2004; Page A09 Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, was specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly. Wilson last year launched a public firestorm with his accusations that the administration had manipulated intelligence to build a case for war. He has...

Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, was specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly. -------- snip! ---------- Wilson's assertions -- both about what he found in Niger and what the Bush administration did with the information -- were undermined yesterday in a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report. ...

Illicit sales of uranium from Niger were being negotiated with five states including Iraq at least three years before the US-led invasion, senior European intelligence officials have told the Financial Times. Intelligence officers learned between 1999 and 2001 that uranium smugglers planned to sell illicitly mined Nigerien uranium ore, or refined ore called yellow cake, to Iran, Libya, China, North Korea and Iraq. These claims support the assertion made in the British government dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme in September 2002 that Iraq had sought to buy uranium from an African country, confirmed later as Niger. George...

Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war' By Mark Huband Published: June 27 2004 21:56 | Last Updated: June 27 2004 21:56 When thieves stole a steel watch and two bottles of perfume from Niger's embassy on Via Antonio Baiamonti in Rome at the end of December 2000, they left behind many questions about their intentions. The identity of the thieves has not been established. But one theory is that they planned to steal headed notepaper and official stamps that would allow the forging of documents for the illicit sale of uranium from Niger's vast mines. The break-in is...

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Lawmakers in the West African nation of Niger, the world's number three producer of yellowcake uranium, voted Saturday to join an international treaty calling on signatories to ensure the protection of their nuclear materials. Niger's president has 15 days to reject the bill or sign it into law. The bill calls for adherence to the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. The treaty, adopted in Vienna, set technical standards for protecting plutonium and enriched uranium -- the material used in making nuclear bombs -- during transport. Niger signed the treaty in 1985, but...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the alleged improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July. Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News. In July of 2003, syndicated columnist, Robert Novak wrote a piece entitled "Mission to Niger" in which he discussed retired diplomat Joseph C. Wilson's investigation into possible Iraqi purchases...

DES MOINES, Jan. 3 — Senator John Kerry reached into the past on Saturday with an endorsement — and a 10-minute song of tribute — from Peter Yarrow, a member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. But the mini-celebrity moment took a turn when Mr. Yarrow, a peace activist since before the two men met protesting Vietnam, was asked if he was disturbed that Mr. Kerry voted in favor of war in Iraq. "Absolutely!" Mr. Yarrow shouted to a questioner, and he raised his hands to try to command the attention of reporters and Kerry supporters at the...