Who Forged the Niger Documents?

[Boo Boo]

This snippet is from the edited transcript of an interview of Vincent Cannistaro by Ian Masters that aired on KPFK (Los Angeles) back in April of this year. I just ran across this at AlterNet; hope it hasn't already been posted.

Well, Ambassador Wilson publicly refuted the claims — particularly the 16 words in the President’s State of the Union address that the Iraqis were trying to buy significant quantities of uranium from Niger. That document, I understand, was fabricated ... it originally came out of Italian intelligence, I think SISME, or SISDE—I’m not sure which one.

It was SISME, yeah. ...

During the two-thousands when we’re talking about acquiring information on Iraq. It isn’t that anyone had a good source on Iraq—there weren’t any good sources. The Italian intelligence service, the military intelligence service, was acquiring information that was really being hand-fed to them by very dubious sources. The Niger documents, for example, which apparently were produced in the United States, yet were funneled through the Italians.

Do we know who produced those documents? Because there’s some suspicion ...

I think I do, but I’d rather not speak about it right now, because I don’t think it’s a proven case ...

If I said “Michael Ledeen” ?

You’d be very close . . .

Read the rest at AlterNet:
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21704

[ClintonTyree]

1. Here's all you'll ever need to know.............

about Michael Ledeen........

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/ledeen/ledeen.php

Ledeen has a colorful track record, which has produced substantial grist for the conspiracy mill: He was allegedly tied to the Italian P2 Masonic Lodge, a violent right wing group that was involved in a number of terrorists attacks in Italy in the 1970s the 1980s; in the late 1970s, while P2 was doing its dirty work, Ledeen was working as a consultant to Italian intelligence on terrorism issues; as a consultant to the National Security Council in the 1980s, Ledeen acted as a go-between for Oliver North in the early stages of the Iran-Contra affair, working with the Israeli spy David Kimche to gain the release of U.S. hostages in Beirut through an Iranian arms dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar; he helped promote the "Bulgarian Connection" theory that the KGB was behind the assassination attempt on the pope in 1981; and, more recently, the Sydney Morning Herald reported (August 8, 2003) that Ledeen worked with Pentagon staffers to redevelop the channel to arms dealer Ghorbanifar in support of resistance efforts in Iran. Reported the Herald: " Rhode recently acted as a liaison between Feith's office, which drafted much of the Administration's post-Iraq planning, and Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile groomed for leadership by the Pentagon. Mr. Rhode is a protege of Michael Ledeen, who was a National Security Council consultant in the mid 1980s when he introduced Mr. Ghorbanifar to Oliver North, a NSC aide, and others in the opening stages of the Iran-Contra affair. It is understood Mr. Ledeen reopened the Ghorbanifar channel with Mr. Feith's staff." (9, 10)

[LynnTheDem]

2. Ahmed Chalabi.

Known forger.

[lala_rawraw]

3. an Miller was delivery.. .ta da...

I love it when logic wins over spin:)

[lala_rawraw]

4. Wait, who is Harold Rhode?

[mike_c]

5. all kinds of interesting stuff pops up on Google...

eom

[hootinholler]

7. LaLa, ya seen

This?

Third post, he's in there.

Enjoy,
-Hoot

[clydefrand]

6. George Tennet was a DEM! I'll bet he still is one.

"He was formerly a Democrat, appointed by a Democratic President and he had to stay on in a Republican administration."

So he was trying to go along with Bush, but he couldn't take the lies any more. I hope he told Fitgerald everything!