Joe Wilson - back in the news

The other night I happened to catch a snippet of The Daily Show and there was Joe Wilson - he of "no uranium in Africa" fame. At first I thought it was a rerun, but lo and behold, it the real Joe in real time - well, close to real time maybe. It seems the occasion of his recent appearance on this program, and his recent appearances in the news, is the release of his new book,"The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity".

By now we must all know that "the lies that led to war" are all about the sixteen words in 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.''

Because those sixteen words are factually correct, they are often included verbatim in these efforts to peddle the "Joe Wilson - whistle blowing patriot" theme. Then they are followed by the favored interpretation. Here is how the New York Times sees it in its glowing review of Wilson's new book:

He called his government contacts, but he ''wouldn't learn for six months that the country referred to in the British claim was, in fact, Niger,'' a fact the British still refuse to declassify and admit.

Concerned that Bush had ''deceived the nation and the world'' in going to war in Iraq, and after the president announced the ''mission accomplished'' in Iraq, Wilson began speaking out, quietly at first.

So we're suppose to believe George Bush lied in his State of the Union address by including those sixteen words, even though the British stand by their intelliegence. And we're also supposed to believe Joe Wilson's finding that, "...it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place" somehow contradicts the statement made by George Bush in his State of the Union, that Hussein "sought" uranium from Africa. We're suppose to believe these things when according to George Tenet, Wilson reported on his return from Niger that there was such an attempt.

He reported back to us that one of the former Nigerien officials he met stated that he was unaware of any contract being signed between Niger and rogue states for the sale of uranium during his tenure in office. The same former official also said that in June 1999 a businessman approached him and insisted that the former official meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Iraq and Niger. The former official interpreted the overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales.

That sounds like confirmation to me. But it gets even better. Joe Wilson, himself, in his book identifies the Iraqi delegate who made the overture.

It was Saddam Hussein's information minister, Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf, often referred to in the Western press as "Baghdad Bob," who approached an official of the African nation of Niger in 1999 to discuss trade -- an overture the official saw as a possible effort to buy uranium.

That's according to a new book by Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador who was sent to Niger by the CIA in 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq had been trying to buy enriched "yellowcake" uranium.

So Mighty Joe Wilson in an exhaustive eight day investigation reveals:

1. George Bush was lying about Iraqi attempts to procure uranium in Africa.

2. Iraq was probably trying to procure uranium from Africa.

3. Baghdad Bob was the Iraqi official who was making the overtures.

And let's not forget the New York Times who complain about the Brits who refuse to declassify their intelligence and admit facts about the country from which Iraq was trying to get the uranium. This would presumably buttress the argument that George Bush was lying when he said Iraq sought uranium from Africa, after Iraq sought uranium from Africa.

What a thoroughly entertaining story this continues to be. Puzzles abound. What CIA agent would possibly be at liberty to write a New York Times editorial about what he found on an investigative mission, as Joe Wilson was able to do? And such an editorial! One that contradicts the boss's very important speech! How did the CIA arrange things so that all that could happen? According to George Tenet,

CIA’s counter-proliferation experts, on their own initiative, asked an individual with ties to the region to make a visit to see what he could learn.

Note the words: "at their own initiative". Was it planned that Big Joe got the call to go to Niger because he would be free to go public later on? Did Joe know before he went to Niger, what he was going to report when he came home? Did the "counter-proliferation experts" also know it? We have a grand jury investigation going on to determine who revealed the name of Joe's wife Valerie, identifying her as a CIA operative, to Robert Novak. Is it possible that Valerie was a counter-proliferation expert? Little hope has been held out that a culprit will be identified, but I have no doubt that it will be a thoroughly entertaining revelation if there is one.