New York Times' Nicholas D. Kristof article on unnamed Wilson saying no WMD got WH going before oped

[papau]

Tweety on hardball seems confused as to why all the get Wilson work that was done in the WhiteHouse before Wilson's NYT op-ed. Well it seems New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote an article that cited an unnamed former ambassador who had gone on a fact-finding mission to Africa and had returned discounting the suspicions of Iraqis buying uranium.
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However, in spring 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the administration’s dire WMD warnings were hollow. Wilson began to speak privately with journalists about his trip.

New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote an article that cited an unnamed former ambassador who had gone on a fact-finding mission to Africa and had returned discounting the suspicions of Iraqis buying uranium. Cheney grew curious about this mission that had been undertaken because of his expressed interest but that had not led to a formal report back to the Vice President.

After figuring out the identity of Kristof’s source, the White House also prepared to retaliate against Wilson, who was emerging as the first Washington establishment figure to accuse the administration of manipulating the WMD intelligence.

The White House was determined to nip in the bud any “revisionist history” about the integrity behind the march to war. In his memoir, Wilson cited sources telling him that a meeting in Cheney’s office led to a decision “to produce a workup” to discredit Wilson.

Lewis Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff, asked Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, a neoconservative ally in the State Department, to prepare a memo on Wilson. Dated June 10, 2003, Grossman’s report included a paragraph, marked secret, that referred to CIA officer “Valerie Plame” as Wilson wife.

On June 11, Libby also heard from CIA official Robert Grenier that Wilson’s wife worked in the CIA unit that sent Wilson to Africa, Grenier later testified.
CIA Director George Tenet also mentioned to Cheney that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and had a hand in arranging Wilson’s trip to Niger. Cheney passed that information on to Libby in a conversation on June 12, 2003, according to Libby’s notes. <snip>



Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/030707.html

[yellowcanine]

1. Busy little beavers, weren't they?

[Old and In the Way]

2. Has Tenet testified or stated this publicly?

"CIA Director George Tenet also mentioned to Cheney that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and had a hand in arranging Wilson’s trip to Niger."

Frankly, I have no issues with Plame suggesting her husband, if, in fact, she did. Her work in the agency would have made her a person who probably would have been consulted and why not suggest someone like her husband who had the resume to make him an ideal candidate to evaluate the evidence? I mean, if the evidence wasn't fabricated, I doubt Joe Wilson would ruin his reputation trying to spin a falsehood that it was.

Still, I'd really like to know the minutae of who and how the decision was made to send Joe....because if it did come from the OVP, that puts an entirely different spin on the whole attack on Wilson/Plame.

[papau]

3. I believe Tenet said he told Cheney - and noted he had not said she chose her husband because that

would not have been possible given her position in the pecking order.