Let's get out there with this theory - we will start out slowly, and see where we end up.
First, "THE CIA LEAK: ROGUE AGENCY?"
article by Congressman Peter King, (R, NY), who sits in the International Relations Committee.
In a similar theme, an interesting guess about what motivated the leakers - they were trying to get people to look at the process by which the CIA pitched VP Cheney's request to an untrained amateur.
Now, let's reflect - if the leakers were trying to get people to ponder the motives and methods of the CIA, and were having any success at all, the results should appear in Novak's column as an attempt to discredit both Wilson's report, and the CIA process. And it would tie in to the "News Management" theory I have been touting.
Reading the rest of Novak's column with that in mind, it is clear that it does. His conclusion:
The story, actually, is whether the administration deliberately ignored Wilson's advice, and that requires scrutinizing the CIA summary of what their envoy reported. The Agency never before has declassified that kind of information, but the White House would like it to do just that now -- in its and in the public's interest.
Ahh, the WH is pressuring the CIA to declassify the Wilson report, so we can see who is lying. Well, George Tenet had already given us this on July 11, which Mr. Novak knew:
The same former official also said that in June 1999 a businessman approached him and insisted that the former official meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss “expanding commercial relations” between Iraq and Niger. The former official interpreted the overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales.
Hmm, Iraqi contacts in 1999? Surely that deserves a more careful look, as the WH seemed to want.
But what do I see in Mr. Novak's column?
Wilson made an oral report in Langley that an Iraqi uranium purchase was "highly unlikely," though he also mentioned in passing that a 1988 Iraqi delegation tried to establish commercial contacts.
1988? Ancient history, that is before Desert Storm. NO! It is almost surely a typo - the IAEA also mentions a 1999 trade visit.
But it is quite likely that Novak's attack on Wilson and the CIA misfired, in large part because he mis-typed his best bullet. The WH spinners were left grappling with Ambassador Wilson's counterattack, rather than generating interest in a "1988" trade mission. Whoa.
Doesn't excuse anything, of course. But it does enhance the "news management" theory, and leaves us with a clue about what went wrong.
Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger was in February 2002. Did they send the wrong guy to the wrong place?
Lead from the Top
"The D.O. thought this smelled," an official said about the Directorate of Operations, the espionage arm of the agency. "Rather than waste a lot of time and collect on this caper, this was a way to find out quickly if it merited more effort."
">http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:K0nfgaVO8jAJ:groups.yahoo.com/group/DRUMnewz/message/3781+Wissam+al-Zahawie&hl=en&ie=UTF-8"> Wissam al-Zahawie
“In February 1999, I was instructed to visit four West African countries to extend an invitation on behalf of the Iraqi President to their heads of state to visit Baghdad," Mr Zahawie wrote in an account of his experiences. "Niger was my first stop." He went on to Burkina Faso, Benin and Congo-Brazzaville, but the President of Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was the only one to accept.
November 2001
Last November Kenyan authorities arrested five Iraqi men, attempting to travel to the Congo on fake passports, on suspicion of being terrorists. Officials were unable to say last week whether the men had been deported or were still in custody.
November 2002
This followed the arrest of five people who have since appeared in court. One of them is a citizen of Democratic Republic of Congo, a resident of Kimara, Makambo Mayunga (30). Others are taxi driver Yasini Ramadhani (27) of Mburahati Kwa Jongo, Eva Kleruu (39) an economist of Upanga, a businessman of Arabic origin, Said Nassor Ally (32) who is living at Sharif Shamba, Dar es Salaam and a fisherman of Kigamboni kwa Ulanga, Musa Rajabu Mapusa (49).
July 2003 – The Perfect Storm
Posted by: You smell that? | October 03, 2003 at 07:37 PM
This is good page.
Posted by: Alex | December 24, 2003 at 11:20 AM