Whistleblower on Uranum Claims Accuses White House of 'Dirty Tricks'

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I posted excerpts from Joseph Wilson's public disclosure of the facts in the Niger uranium investigation here last month. In the interim it seems that Wilson is fallingvictim to a typical administration smear campaign, even as Bush pretends to shrug off the contradictions and implications as if they were nothing.

If they're nothing, then why the retaliation? Hmmmmmmm.

Phaedrus

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Whistleblower on Niger uranium claim accuses White House of launching 'dirty-tricks campaign'
By Kim Sengupta
The Independenthttp://news.independent.co.uk


The former American diplomat who exposed false claims that Iraq was trying to purchase uranium from Niger has accused members of the Bush administration of a dirty tricks campaign against him.

The revelation of Joseph Wilson's investigation in the African state forced President George Bush to retract claims about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium made in his State of the Union speech two months before the war began.

The Administration is alleged to have leaked the name of Mr Wilson's wife, an undercover CIA operative in the field of weapons of mass destruction, with the aim of discrediting him. It is said that Mr Wilson was selected to go on the trip to Niger last year only after his wife, Valerie Plame, suggested him.

US intelligence officials and the Democrats are furious about the move, arguing that it jeopardises Ms Plame's work and undermines her husband. They have called for an inquiry.

Her identity was revealed by Bob Novak, a syndicated columnist, who said that he was given the information by "two senior administration officials". They told him that Ms Plame had suggested to her CIA colleagues that her husband should be sent on the mission.

His report was followed by allegations on neo-conservative websites that Mr Wilson was an opponent of the Iraq war, and had an interest in refuting the threat from Saddam Hussein's WMD.

Mr Wilson said yesterday that the naming of his wife had parallels with the disclosure of the identity of the British scientist David Kelly, the source of BBC allegations that the British government "sexed up" an dossier on Iraqi weapons.

"The Administration in Washington came in saying they were going to restore honour and dignity to the presidency," Mr Wilson said. "They have shown no sign of it so far.

"This is highly damaging to my wife's career, and could be seen as a smear against me."

But it was also about discouraging "others who may have information embarrassing to the administration from coming forward," he said.

"It is absolutely untrue that my wife was responsible for my trip to Niger. I met a number of senior members of staff to discuss the visit."

Democrats have criticised the White House over disclosing Ms Plame's identity, and Senator Charles Schumer of New York has urged the FBI to investigate.

Former US intelligence officials have also attacked the Administration for the leak, saying it put Ms Plame at risk.

Frank Anderson, the former CIA station chief for the Near East Division, said: "When it gets to the point of an administration official acting to do career damage, and possibly endanger someone's life, that's mean, that's petty, it's irresponsible, and it ought not to be sanctioned."

Mr Wilson, a former US ambassador to Gabon, revealed his Niger mission, undertaken last year, in a recent article in The New York Times. He reported to the State Department and the CIA that tales of Iraqi purchases of Niger uranium were without credence but it was still used by Mr Bush in his speech, though attributed to Britain.

Mr Bush said: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has acknowledged that the CIA told Britain that there was no evidence of Iraq attempting to acquire uranium from Niger. The Government insists, however, that it has "separate intelligence" about Iraq's attempts to acquire African uranium. Ministers have refused to state what that is.
 

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Looks like it's official ...

From MSNBC

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
CIA seeks probe of White House

Agency asks Justice to investigate leak of employee’s identity


WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the White House broke federal laws by revealing the identity of one of its undercover employees in retaliation against the woman’s husband, a former ambassador who publicly criticized President Bush’s since-discredited claim that Iraq had sought weapons-grade uranium from Africa, NBC News has learned.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Full story is here.


Phaedrus
 

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Monday Sept. 29, 2003; 11:41 p.m. EDT
Novak: Wilson's Wife Not a Covert CIA Agent

The wife of Bush-bashing former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Joe Wilson is apparently not a covert CIA operative or an undercover agent, though she's been described that way repeatedly since the CIA asked for an investigation on how her identity was made public.

According to columnist Robert Novak, who revealed Mrs. Wilson's name in his July 14 column, sources at the CIA expressly told him she was not a spy.

"According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative, and not in charge of undercover operatives," Novak told his audience on CNN's "Crossfire."

"So what is the fuss about?" he asked, then wondered aloud, "Pure Bush-bashing?"

In fact, in a little-noticed line in the initial Washington Post report on the announcement of the CIA's request for an investigation, the paper noted that "the CIA has declined to confirm whether she was undercover."

Still, hours after Novak went public with a clarification of Mrs. Wilson's status, she was described as a "undercover agent" by former White House chief of staff David Gergen in an interview with Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren, and as a "covert agent" by MSNBC's Chris Matthews.


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Wilson's wife works in an extremely sensitive area of research for the CIA, working with WMD detection, classification, etc. As such virtually anything that she touches in her day-to-day life is most likely either top secret or at the very least closely guarded.

It is irresponsible for whomever leaked this information to have done so, and possibly illegal depending upon the nature of the leak and the extent to which the CIA is willing to divulge the nature of Ms. Plame's work.

That's not "Bush-bashing." But what might be considered "Bush-ass-kissing" is the idea that it is alright to just blow off the exposure of a potentially sensitive CIA employee's position, when such exposure becomes one more item in a very long list of complaints against members of the Bush administration

I add the stipulation because as much as I detest the traitor Bush, I am increasingly convinced that he is less the central player in the ongoing incompetence and malfeasance of his administration than he is the mascot.


Phaedrus
 

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He's the figurehead, a guy like him with his diminished mental capacity, he's just a pawn for the wolves all around him. He follows orders and takes his Prozac and lives his little fantasy of being called by God to fight armageddon. In reality, he's more like the antichrist than any savior, but to think he's masterminding everything here is beyond laughable.
 

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Interesting ... AG Ashcroft has recused himself from the probe into the Plame leak. No real reason is given; instead the DoJ has run spin on Ashcroft's behalf, stating that there is no reason for him to do so, but that the thought he should anyway for "appearances."

Well, if the incumbent administration knows anything, it's the importance of keeping up appearances.
icon_rolleyes.gif



Phaedrus
 

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Ashcroft did the right thing.

This Joe Wilson guy is a former Clinton nut sucker anyway...Its just a big fabrication of another non story the NY Times is trying to come up with since other fabrications Haliburton, and the Baghdad museum.

I hope they spend as much time with the leak about the democratic liars memo about the 9/11 investigation,in their attempt to use the report purposfully for political gains.
 

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Patriot

You might well be right -- I do disagree, but you might be proven right as the facts become apparent. Let me ask you one thing though: given that President Bush has gone on record numerous times as calling the situation things like "a very serious matter" and saying that it was imperative to America that we "get to the bottom of this," he would at least on the surface seem to be expressing genuine concern. Given your position on the matter, are you willing to acknowledge that your beloved Bush is just paying lip service to the cameras like the hypocrite he is?

Just curious. Because, seriously, Ashcroft, Bush and friends do not seem to be taking this matter even a little bit lightly. So if I'm understanding your position correctly, you think that they're just playing out a little puppet show in order to garner points in the media, right?


Phaedrus
 

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Phaed...Yes I agree..On the otherhand Ashcroft recused himself and they brought in a completley independent investigator....I think one reason for this is that the investigator will not find anything.But the Bush et al. already knows this,but by bringing in this independent and having him come to the conclusion will look much cleaner politically than if Ashcroft had done it....Bottom line is the administration already knows where they are going with this.
 

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