WHY did bushCo try to discredit Wilson in 2003 when TENET in OCTOBER 2002

[LynnTheDem]

warned bush NOT to use the "Niger yellowcake" bullshit in his speech? bush's speech was adjusted, the Niger "yellowcake" bullshit was removed.

Yet bush put it BACK into his January 2003 speech.

BUSH KNEW the "Niger yellowcake" was bullshit. TENET, the man BUSH REWARDED, had told him so.

So just WHY did bushCo bother attacking Joe Wilson in 2003 for what anyone who read real actual non-rightwingnut bullshit media ALREADY KNEW A YEAR PREVIOUSLY had been debunked as total fraudulant bullshit?

[Carolab]

1. They are "writing their own reality", remember? n/t

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Hmm

double double back stab :evilgrin: Well Chimp is simple Bring em on.
Might be the moron was set for a fall. Let see how it play out hey.

How to be President without being elected?
Nixon lights the way hey

[James T. Kirk]

3. Do you have links to the speeches that mention "Niger yellowcake"?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. State of the Union 2003, about 2/3-3/4 of the way down. Link here.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." (The term yellowcake is not used, but this is the reference.)

[James T. Kirk]

13. Oh, so he didn't actually say "Niger" or "yellowcake" in the speech.

Huh! I wonder if Hussein did seek uranium in Africa.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide. " - Bush 2003

I wonder if that IAEA stuff was made up, too.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. Ummm... you are passing off Bush quotes as the gospel truth? ??? ???

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. Self deleted dupe

[Maddy McCall]

15. Speaking of links, what are you linking to in your sig?

Seriously, before I alert on you, would you tell me what you are linking to in your sig?

[radfringe]

4. for what anyone who read real actual non-rightwingnut bullshit media

the vast majority of people do not read/watch/listen to real actual non-rightwingnut bullshit media -- toss in short memories and that's why they could get away with it

plus - the inital stories about the Niger documents being forged were quickly buried by the media

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Probably because Wilson published an Op/Ed in NYT about it.

[bklyncowgirl]

8. Wilson was throwing a wrench into the works.

They started going after him when he began leaking info to reporters during the buildup to the war.

When he went public they went ballistic.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Sid Blumenthal Spells it Out Nicely...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/071405K.shtml

This snippet really caught my interest:


Fitzgerald sought testimony from Cooper because he had published an article on the Wilson case, citing anonymous White House sources. Miller had published no article at all. Apparently, another witness gave up Miller's name to the prosecutor under questioning. Who that witness might be and under what circumstances he cited Miller is unknown. (In the run-up to the war, Miller's articles on WMD were crucial in creating a political atmosphere favorable to the administration's case. But her articles were later revealed to be false, based on disinformation, and the Times published a long apology.)

Both Cooper and Miller argued that they were entitled to journalistic privilege to protect their sources. But the court ruled against them. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan's opinion suggested that the prosecutor's case had deepened and widened.

In discussing the sealed affidavit filed by Fitzgerald, and not privy to the defendants, Hogan stated that the "Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this case and the investigation as a whole. The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government's focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation." Judge Hogan concluded that "the subpoenas were not issued in an attempt to harass the , but rather stem from legitimate needs due to an unanticipated shift in the grand jury's investigation."



They might have attacked the messenger one time too many.

Stay tuned

:popcorn:

[hootinholler]

10. I don't think it was *co as much as Cheney...

Tenet got a hush-medal, but who knows what Valerie was onto tracking dual-use stuff. Her organization needed to be dismantled.

As to who did what well, that's what I think.

-Hoot

[Cocoa]

11. Rove himself gives the simple answer to your question

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak18jul18,0,4779848.story?coll=la-home-headlines

A source directly familiar with information provided to prosecutors said Rove's interest was so strong that it prompted questions in the White House. When asked at one point why he was pursuing the diplomat so aggressively, Rove reportedly responded: "He's a Democrat." Rove then cited Wilson's campaign donations, which leaned toward Democrats, the person familiar with the case said.

[LizW]

12. They were protecting Bush and Cheney from exposure

Bush, Cheney, Rice and Powell knew that the Niger story was false. But they figured that Joe Average American didn't know. Somewhere I've read speculation that they latched onto the nuclear imagery because they knew it would scare people the way the run-of-the-mill WMDs couldn't. It was just too good, they couldn't let it go.

This was a carefully constructed lie that included the aluminum tubes, the uranium, Evil Saddam, mad Iraqi scientists, the killer drones that could somehow fly to the United States, and the "45 minutes" claim, that they glommed all together to form a scary threat that would stampede average Americans to war.

Judith Miller was a huge part of that and that's why she's sitting in jail not talking. There's NO WAY she goes under oath.

A lot of this Wilson attack was about timing. Wilson's article came just at the moment when the press was paying attention and questioning the "16 words". Remember, their whole defense to the "16 words" story was, "No one in our circles knew the story was false. The CIA didn't tell us." (Rice) Even though Wilson never said that Cheney sent him, his article made clear that the CIA sent him at Cheney's request, and it would only be logical that the CIA reported back to Cheney what Wilson learned in Niger. And in the week between Wilson's article and Novak's, the press was actually begining to make that connection. Russert asked Cheney about it, and Cheney had to lie baldfaced on NBC and say he had never seen any report.

(An aside: About Cheney's lies. I've always thought Cheney was a bad liar, but now I've decided there's a method to it. When he tells a lie, he shields the important lie with a huge, ridiculous, easliy disproved lie. Then the big, ridiculous lie gets all the attention, and the important lie goes unchallenged. Just my theory.)

Timing is everything when you have to "kill a story before it kills you".

The first attack on Wilson (Novak's article) was limited. It's biggest point was that Wilson's wife sent him to Niger. The main message intended by that was that the White House didn't send him. Cheney's first interview consisted of "I don't know who Joe Wilson is, and I never saw any report. The message they were trying to spread was that Cheney didn't know. Which, of course, means that Cheney DID know.

The attack on Wilson is not about killing the Niger forgery story, but about protecting Cheney and Bush from being revealed as KNOWINGLY using false information to scare Americans into supporting their war.