Wilson

Joe Wilson is popping up everywhere again. It's very odd that his story still has traction even though almost every point in it has long been known to be false.

The full bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on prewar intelligence is available at globalsecurity.org at this link.

The account of Joe Wilson's mission begins on page 39. The 3rd paragraph says (brackets with open spaces indicate deleted classified material):

The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA’s behalf [ ] . The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region [ ] . Because the former ambassador did not uncover any information about DELETED during this visit to Niger, CPD did not distribute an intelligence report on the visit

The report also says,

The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador’s wife “offered up his name” and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador’s wife says, “my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.

So, let's be clear.

Wilson claimed the Vice President asked him to go to Niger. That's a lie! His wife did.

Wilson said that he wrote up a report for the Vice President. That's a lie! He gave an oral report to low-level CIA debriefers in his own home with his wife acting as hostess. No report about his trip was ever written up because it was considered so inconsequential.

Wilson claimed that during his trip he exposed certain documents as forgeries. That's a lie! These documents didn't show up till 8 months after his trip. He never saw them, and they were immediately recognized as forgeries by all concerned. They never figured in to anyone's intelligence estimates.

After at first embracing Wilson, Kerry ran away from him as fast as he could lest he be associated with such a blatant liar. Yet now because of propaganda value of the Libby indictment, the Democrats are scurrying to Wilson again.

There's a very interesting article over at RealClearPolitics by Clarice Feldman about the irregularities of the Joe Wilson mission. The insinuation that there was an anti-administration conspiracy within the CIA may be farfetched, but the questions she raises are all very valid.