You know, it galls me when I hear stories about Ambassador Joseph Wilson writing an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times after the war began, an op-ed piece exposing the fraud of the claim about Iraq getting uranium from Niger. It doesn’t gall me because the Bush administration subsequently targeted Joseph Wilson for personal destruction for the sin of embarrassing the White House. That irks me, yes, but it’s not what really galls me. No, what really galls me is that in the media and in the popular mind, Ambassador Wilson’s Op-Ed piece in the summer of 2003 marks the date on which Bush’s claim regarding Iraq, Niger and Uranium was debunked.
Hogwash. Bush’s critical assertion about Iraq and WMDs had already been debunked before the war began.
The International Atomic Energy Agency released a report on March 7 2003, before George W. Bush’s war began, that read as follows:
The IAEA has made progress in its investigation into reports that Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger in recent years. The investigation was centred on documents provided by a number of States that pointed to an agreement between Niger and Iraq for the sale of uranium between 1999 and 2001.
The IAEA has discussed these reports with the Governments of Iraq and Niger, both of which have denied that any such activity took place. For its part, Iraq has provided the IAEA with a comprehensive explanation of its relations with Niger, and has described a visit by an Iraqi official to a number of African countries, including Niger, in February 1999, which Iraq thought might have given rise to the reports. The IAEA was also able to review correspondence coming from various bodies of the Government of Niger, and to compare the form, format, contents and signatures of that correspondence with those of the alleged procurement-related documentation.
Based on thorough analysis, the IAEA has concluded, with the concurrence of outside experts, that these documents – which formed the basis for the reports of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger – are in fact not authentic. We have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are unfounded. However, we will continue to follow up any additional evidence, if it emerges, relevant to efforts by Iraq to illicitly import nuclear materials.
There you have it. And yet George W. Bush not only went ahead to his unnecessary war of choice, but the American people followed him, even though this information was available to all looking for it. We know that George W. Bush is a war-o-holic. But what about the rest of us? Are we sheep? Perhaps so. That would make it all the more important for us to find a wise and attentive shepherd in 2008.
(Source: The Status of Nuclear Inspections in Iraq: An Update, March 7 2003)
