Nov 01 2005
Wilson-CIA Cover Up?
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UPDATE:
Our Reader Lucky Bogey has found some possible confirmation of this theory here.
Highly-reliable sources within the Italian intelligence community have confirmed to this Service that the documents — subsequently demonstrated to have been forgeries — introduced by the US and UK governments showing a contact between the Nigerien and the Iraqi governments for the export of uranium were, in fact, produced by the Libyan Government. The documents were used in the State of the Union Address by US Pres. George W. Bush on January 28, 2003, and were widely interpreted as part of the casus belli underwhich the US-led Coalition attacked Iraq in March-April 2003.
…
Loftus: “I was told about this amazing wiretap where British Intelligence overheard a call from North Korea to Libya saying, ‘My god, if the Americans ever go into Iraq, they’re going to find out about our nuclear program. And who’s going to pay all the Iraqi nuclear scientists in Libya if Saddam falls?’â€Shawn: “You’re saying before the war there were Iraqi nuclear scientists working on a potential bomb in Libya before we launched this [war in Iraq]?â€
This is a lot to get through, so more later
END UPDATE
Mac Ranger has been building a case that Joe Wilson’s relations to Niger and the need for him to get there in 2002 were due to some possible dubious CIA-Wilson activities. The details are here and here, but a quick overview is Wilson wanted to start his international trade company, playing on all his government contacts, and Val sent him to Niger in 1999 to get involved in something coordinated with some CIA dealings.
This was a bit of a jump for me so I was not posting on this yet. But I did trip over this interesting detail about the Niger documents – and who might want to make it look like Saddam was buying Uranium from Niger. The source, funny enough, come from this Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld conspiracy theory posted at ex-CIA security agent Larry Johnson’s site. They led me to investigate the claim that the Financial Times had reported the source of the Niger documents claimed it was US and Italian governments which wanted the forgeries:
A French intelligence operation to safeguard Niger’s uranium industry and prevent weapons proliferation, inadvertently led to the forging of documents relating to an apparent clandestine uranium trade with Iraq, western intelligence officials say.
The operation, begun in 1999, reflected concern among several intelligence services that rogue states may have been trying to procure uranium. France was also concerned about the security of its own uranium supplies from Niger, as well as the security of the two French companies that control Niger’s uranium industry. Rocco Martino, an Italian businessman who has admitted that he has made a career out of “selling information”, has held regular meetings with French intelligence officials in Brussels since at least 1999.
Coincidentally, this is the same time Valerie got Joe his first gig to Niger to help start his fledgling business JC Wilson International Ventures (which this blogger sniffed out a while ago). But back to the Financial Times article – which provides clear proof these were not the work of the Bush administration:
According to senior intelligence officials, the forged documents were produced with the involvement of people familiar with Niger, and were created in 2000.
OK, either Bush knew he was going to win the election, 9-11 would happen and he would need one more marginal bit of information beyond the 1999 intel to make the case to go to war in Iraq…
Or the democrats are heading for a political disaster. Shhhh – no one tell them about this article! They just shut down the senate so they could bring up the forged Niger documents.
Anyway, back to the Wilsons. So the forger has this alibi
Mr Martino said the Italian foreign intelligence service, the SISMI, had forged the documents and had arranged for them to be passed to him by an official of Niger’s embassy in Rome.
Yeah, right. Which was what the ex-CIA nutcases were pointing at for proof the pentagon forged the documents (in 2000). BTW, it was the Niger Embassy in Rome which was broken into and had documents stolen which were the basis of the forgeries. Interesting how Martino picked that Niger embassy for his alibi.
Anyway, back to Mac Ranger. He believes we have an ex-diplomat trying to make money in 1998 and 1999, and one of his key market niches is doing business with Niger – which has one real product. And there are indications that the French are concerned about the uranium and whether it is being tracked correctly in 1999 as well. There is also Valerie, now working at a front company for the CIA with an abysmally weak cover (so international intelligence resources can confirm it is a cover easily?) which is charged with monitoring the trade in things like uranium…
If there needed to be forgeries in 1999 and 2000 to implicate Saddam, would they be to make the case for a war in 2003 or to divert attention to Saddam from some other destination and activity? Pre 9-11, pointing to Saddam as a buyer of missing uranium would mean covering your tracks and putting the hounds onto Saddam. So what could possibly need to be covered that the CIA knew about?
Let’s look at the Senate Iraq report for a possible clue [page 59]:
On November 25, 2002, The Naval [REDACTED] issued a very brief report {Alleged Storage of Uranium Destined for Iraq [REDACTED] that a large quantity of uranium from Niger was being stored in a warehouse in Cotonou, Benin. The uranium was reportedly sold to Iraq by Niger’s President. The report provided the name and telephone numbers for the individual, a West African businessman, who was responsible for coordinating the alleged uranium transaction and indicated that he was willing to provide information about the transaction. CIA’s DO told Committee staff that the businessman has never been contacted and the DO has not made an effort to determine whether this individual had any useful information. The DO told Committee staff that they saw no reason to contact him and noted that “no one even thought to do that.”
Let me try and remember again who was establishing a business of trade in Africa, specifically Niger? Ah, yes – Joe Wilson. And who was in Niger in early 2002? Joe Wilson. And all of a sudden this report comes into the CIA about uranium in a warehouse for Saddam, but the CIA never follows up. We are going to war, the VP is at the CIA asking questions – and a load of uranium in a warehouse is ‘misplaced’.
OK, if – and this is all speculation here folks – Wilson was assisting folks in Pakistan, Libya and the AQ Kahn network in acquiring uranium, and the French were getting close to finding the deal out – some forged documents in 1999 pointing to Saddam would throw them off the trail real nicely. And again, in 2002, when the forgeries were out and there was the build up to war, maybe Wilson went to Niger to establish another cover (shipments to Iraq) or do something else. It would explain why Wilson never gets agitated about the build up to the war until after December of 2002, when the uninvestigated lead shifts attention away from uranium shipments out of Niger and onto something heading to Iraq. The financial Times article gives the impression there were legitimate monitor and control concerns in 1999. That means there could have been something going on for real.
AQ Kahn was still in business in 2001 and 2002 – only to finally be shutdown in late 2003 and early 2004. Why did the CIA miss AQ Kahn for so many years? What was Valerie’s CPD group doing all this time? Was Niger uranium going to North Korea? And when things got dicey why wouldn’t these people pointed the finger at Saddam Hussein?
Is that why Valerie was pushing Wilson to go to Niger the minute the ‘crazy report’ and questions began hitting the CIA about Niger uranium?
He doesn’t want to talk about how the very day that Vice President Cheney’s office asked for more information on a report Saddam was trying to buy nuke bomb fuel from Niger, on that very day, Wilson’s wife wrote a note to her boss saying her husband — Wilson — would be perfect to go to Africa to investigate what she called “this crazy report.â€
Was Wilson quiet about Niger forgeries until the coast was clear – and then got the idea to throw everybody of his trail by using them himself to bash Bush? Did a gullible press get used again?
Interesting theory. And absolutely nothing to back it up!
AJ, if Wilson had anything to do with the illegal sale of yellowcake or forgeries (or whatever), why would he write that op-ed and say, essentially, “Hey! Look over here! Look at me?” I don’t think he’s quite smart enough to play in the league you describe.
However, a couple of years ago at JOM, there was speculation that Wilson/Plame were dupes in a game greater than their own. I think that may very well dovetail into your theory. Wilson can’t keep his mouth shut, he’s not an asset in that regard with respect to high stakes international wmd games, BUT he is enough of a joker with enough entree to be “used” by people who sized up Joe Wilson a long, long time ago.
If, in fact, Wilson, as useful dupe, was at the periphery of some yellowcake transaction (or any other questionable transaction with his middle eastern contacts) he’s got some problems because of his foray into the op-ed pages – he drew too much attention to himself and, perhaps, too much attention to the people with whom he does business.
well thats weird,
LCJ’s blog just went dead, blank or white?—about 2 hours ago he was BLARING in HUGE TYPE something about Cheny?
There are many details to this whole Niger story that lead down a black hole. Here are just a few of the details that stick out to me.
– Fitzgerald chosen to lead the investigation into the leak. Fitzgerald prosecuted UBL in US Federal Court and had access to a number of top level suspects including Ramzi Yousef and the Blind Sheikh.
– The very well connected Bob Novak, perhaps the most high profile political writer in the nation, writes the first public column mentioning Plame by name.
– Right after the leak the Libyans give up their nuke program
– Soon after the Libyan 180 the AQ Khan network begins to unravel
– the only alleged crimes committed are perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice
The more details that come out about this story the more it looks like a spook operation from the very beginning. You go to to war in Iraq as part of the WMD investigation into the black market for these weapons.
We know a few western intelligence agencies were already watching the Niger uranium mines. The Italians, British, French, and Americans all had their suspicions about the mines. Rocco Martino says he was on retainer with the French and the Italians as part of this operation. The IAEA “knew” the documents were forgeries almost immediately.
Either the standard view of intelligence operations is highly overstated or the participants in this game are incredibly naive.
AJ
DID YOU HIT A NERVE???
Larry C. Johnson just removed his blog!!!!!!!
I just searched, previous searches and they come up only cached in type
The main site is all white . But the article about the Niger forgery that AJ linked is still there. Save it to your desktops ASAP
All the information about Wilson’s business dealings is not a surprise to me. All you have do is read what this guy writes. He is so sanctimonious and hypocritical.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson reminds me of that Ambassador Joseph Davies we had in Moscow during Stalin. He never noticed the purges and the government-orchestrated famines because he was able to buy art the communists stole from the Czar, the churches and people at bargain-basement prices.
If Wilson turns out to be tied-in to the trafficking of uranium or to the forged documents, that’s going to be a real shocker.
Saddam bought lots of media, officials and politicans in other countries. I expect he had a few American turncoats in his pockets as well.
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Like Paul Harvey says: “Now we know the rest of the story!†President Bush is the master of Trick or Treat! While he has been hard at work defending our country as the Commander-in-Chief, the MSM have been duped and side tracked on Joe Wilson’s misadventures. The below WP story shows us both how the left can tell their side and not see the big picture. I wonder if the FBI report on the Wilson’s activities will be entered into evidence at Scooter’s trial.
Is this the Able Danger linkage back to ChinaGate that we have been looking for?
Libyan Arms Designs Traced Back to China
Pakistanis Resold Chinese-Provided Plans
By Joby Warrick and Peter Slevin – Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 15, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42692-2004Feb14?language=printer
Investigators have discovered that the nuclear weapons designs obtained by Libya through a Pakistani smuggling network originated in China, exposing yet another link in a chain of proliferation that stretched across the Middle East and Asia, according to government officials and arms experts…… The Chinese designs were later resold to Libya by a Pakistani-led trading network…..
….. Weapons experts in Libya also found large amounts of equipment used in making enriched uranium, the essential ingredient in nuclear weapons. That discovery helped expose a rogue nuclear trading network that officials say funneled technology and parts to Libya as well as Iran and North Korea. A central figure in the network, Pakistani metallurgist Abdul Qadeer Khan, acknowledged in a televised confession last month that he had passed nuclear secrets to others…..
— Such a relatively simple design also might be coveted by terrorist groups who seek nuclear weapons but lack the technical sophistication or infrastructure to build a modern weapon, said one Europe-based weapons expert familiar with the blueprints. While such a bomb would be difficult to deliver by air, “you could drive it away in a pickup truck,”
Leslie writes: “if Wilson had anything to do with the illegal sale of yellowcake or forgeries (or whatever), why would he write that op-ed and say, essentially, “Hey! Look over here! Look at me?†”
Here is what I think. He knows the government is onto him.
Wilson is beating his chest and bellowing like Tarzan as a legal defense strategy because he suspects that he is being investigated for a crime. It is all bluff.
He is depicting himself as a high-minded, patriotic dissident who is unafraid to speak the truth to power. Then when the boom comes down he will claim that he is really being framed and persecuted by the vindictive Bush regime.
But he is badly overplaying his role because even I see through it.
That Washington Post article cited above speaks on an invisible middleman:
“As for who delivered the material to the Libyans, a European official who has studied the question said the connection to the Khan network was indirect. “The middleman is quite invisible. The middleman has covered his tracks very well.” ” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42692-2004Feb14?language=printer
But that article was written on 2-14-04.
Maybe the invisible middleman’s tracks aren’t so covered anymore.
Lucky Bogey writes:
“I wonder if the FBI report on the Wilson’s activities will be entered into evidence at Scooter’s trial.
Is this the Able Danger linkage back to ChinaGate that we have been looking for?”
Is there a published article that says the FBI has a report on Wilson?
Can you explain what you are talking about when you mention an Able Danger link to China??
Snapple: AD was shut down due to Chinese links to Condi it was believed. This article explains Chinagate.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13516
The SSCI Report Page 72 Footnote 9: “In March 2003, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Rockefeller, requested that the FederalBureau of Investigation (FBI) investigate the source of the documents…..
Fitz also has a separate investigation and I would assume the FBI would look into Wilson and his wife’s tax return and bank statements. Remember that Plame front company was called Brewster-Jennings & Associates who donated to the DNC. I would think this is a violation of Fed Electiion Commission law to report false information. How could the Wilson’s donate to the DNC for a company that did not exist?
Thanks for the link. That sure is a complicated story.
Would the FBI would just volunteer information it has about Wilson for Libby’s trial? The FBI probably doesn’t give out FBI files unless they are going to make a case against someone.
[…] Do the Democrats not ask the same questions as the rest of us or do they just pretend none of this stuff exists? As I eluded to at the beginning of this post, AJStrata did a great job highlighting some interesting information about Joe Wilson’s previous trip to Niger in 1999: In a previous post I noted the strange coincidence that the Niger Forgeries were possibly made in the 1999-2000 timeframe (before Bush was even elected), which was also coincidental with the Iraqi trade commission trip to Niger, and Joe Wilson’s first trip to Niger for the CIA. Joe Wilson had just left the US government and started JCWilson International Ventures, Inc – which specialized in trade with African countries. […]
The Council has spoken!
The Watcher’s Council has announced its selections for the posts of the last week most deserving of recognition. The winning Council post was Strata-Sphere’s “Wilson-CIA Cover Up?”. In second place was Dr. Sanity’s &#…
[…] Meanwhile AJ Strata, who is the third part of the PLAMEGATE HOLY TRINITY – the other two being Mac’s Mind and Tom Maguire, talks some more about Joe Wilson, in Niger, in 1999, and you have to read it all. Seriously, read it all. Here is an excerpt: […]
[…] Bring. It. On. Suckers. […]
The Watcher’s Council Has Spoken!
Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest to see what are some of the most link-worthy posts from the conservative side of the ‘Sphere.
[…] The November 4 results can be found here. The Council winner was The Strata-Sphere with Wilson-CIA Cover Up?, while in the non-council category the victor was Cathy’s World for And Another Thing. […]
[…] So here are the Watcher’s Council Results from November 4. Council Links Wilson-CIA Cover Up?: The Strata-Sphere Command Hallucinations: Dr. Sanity Egypt and the Copts: “Kith and Kin”: Gates of Vienna 2,000 U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq: The Glittering Eye AlitodissentedinCasey!! : New World Man Reforming the Imperial Judiciary: Eric’s Grumbles Before the Grave Sometimes Pinching Yourself Doesn’t Work: Right Wing Nut House *The* Quintessential — Nay, Definitional Twit: e-Claire Disturbing Words –- Disturbing Reality: Rhymes With Right […]