Shopping For Bombshells

I have received, by email, an excerpt from a column which appeared in the Wednesday Wall Street Journal.   Gabriel Schoenfeld was reviewing a new book by BBC security reporter Gordon Corera, Shopping For Bombs, which is about the nuclear network put together by Pakistan's A.Q. Khan.  The excerpt:

By the close of the 1990s, the CIA started to scrutinize [A. Q.] Khan's activities and travels, still without realizing their full importance. One of the more curious details in Mr. Corera's book is that the agency turned to Joe Wilson, the husband of CIA officer Valerie Plame, to investigate some of Khan's African visits. To this end, Mr. Wilson traveled to uranium-rich Niger in 1999, a full three years before he went there to investigate Saddam Hussein's possible attempts to buy "yellowcake" uranium. Mr. Wilson found nothing worrisome in Niger either time.

There is news here, for me anyway - the SSCI told us that the CIA sent Joe Wilson to Niger in 1999 (at his wife's suggestion) but found nothing to report.  This is from p. 49 (of 521) of the .pdf SSCI report, with redactions:

The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA's behalf |xxxxxxx|.  The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region |^ ^ ^ ^ | . Because the former ambassador did not uncover any information about |xxxxx| during this visit to Niger, CPD did not distribute an intelligence report on the visit.

Christoper Hitchens recently pounded the table with the news that Saddam sent a nuclear ambassador to Niger in 1999.  And the story of Khan going to Niger came out in 2000.  However, the notion that Wilson was sent to Niger in 1999 to investigate a Khan connection is news to me.

The SSCI is redacted but may have addressed this (p. 48):

Several analysts interviewed by Committee staff also pointed out that information in the second intelligence report matched ^ ^ ^ H ^ ^ m ^ ^ l B H ^ ^ H H I ^ ^ ^ I • m ^ l reporting from 1999 which showed that an Algerian businessman, Baraka, was arranging a trip for the Iraqi Ambassador to the Vatican, Wissam al-Zahawi, to visit Niger and other African countries in early February 1999.

The Baraka visit was in February; Joe Wilson noted a June 1999 contact in his report (p. 53):

[Former Nigerien Prime Minister Ibrahim] Mayaki said, however, that in June 1999, | ^ ^ ^ H ^ H | ^ m ^ | ^ | businessman, approached him and insisted that Mayaki meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Niger and Iraq. The intelligence report said that Mayaki interpreted "expanding commercial relations" to mean that the delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales. The intelligence report also said that "although the meeting took place, Mayaki let the matter drop due to the UN sanctions on Iraq."

What does it mean?  I would like to start by getting a bootleg copy of the Gabriel Schoenfeld piece before I hazard a guess.

Comments

[MayBee]

Clarice-
Remember a few days ago when you were wondering where to find 'marks'?
Well, I think I've found the place they hang out:

Dailykos!!!
Update [2006-8-31 20:22:35 by Mike Stark]: I just got off the phone - I talked with a friend for about 15 minutes. When I got back, there were about 40 more donations. I'm now at $850!! ....Hi.

I don't quite know how to go about this.

You see, I'm about to ask y'all to trust me. A lot.

As you know, I've been involved in a coupla incidents that resulted in Republicans and their cronies being a little bit embarrassed... more or less...

Recently I've been thinking about how to put these "guerrilla tactics" to use where it matters: winning elections.

After a lot of thinking, I've developed a plan that will impact one election in a big way. Unfortuanately, I can't afford to do it by myself. It will require hundreds of donations. I need, at a minimum, $3,000.

So how do I go about asking you folks to trust me?

Hmmm....Such is the fundraising power/brain power of the nutroots. A virtual goldmine!

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Khan owned a hotel in Timbuktu which is about 450 miles from Niamey. The Niamey Embassy has a walking track they put in for their "Walk to Timbuktu" virtual walking program and according to the article it is 1 million steps from Niamey to Timbuktu. LOL.

I would think information flow between the 2 would be constant as the river connects them and is an active trade route.

[topsecretk9]

So, TS, according to him, he didn't even ask about Pakistan or Khan or attempt to find out what he supposedly was sent to find out in the first place. What a putz!

Well, according to that little bit he wrote. He hasn't said much about the 1999 trip (other than to boast that is was reason for the CIA to choose him for number 2) and the speculation is that it was classified, what about trip 1 in terms of classification vs. trip 2 (no nondisclosure) I don't know, and I can't recall any report (in a paper or Wilson himself) that has described the difference.

When I say --He hasn't said much about the 1999 trip (other than to boast that is was reason for the CIA to choose him for number 2)--

Perhaps this is why the CIA was eager to play up a possible outing breach, --let's not talk about why in the world we would be contracting out to idiots like this ( Cheney --'is this normal, do we usually send idiots por-bono, --again- IS THIS FLIPPING NORMAL, because if it is, we are in worse shape then I ever imagined!!!)

[topsecretk9]

THAT and I think Tenet knew Armitage was out blabbing to anyone with in earshot that it wasn't his shop that did this Niger trip, it was the stupid CIA -- and I think when Tenet learned it was Army he wrote a note.

[topsecretk9]

BTW...remember that Bush - Kerry debate and someone asked Bush if he could say any mistakes he made?

And Bush responded something like "Yeah, there are a few people I shouldn't have hired" (para out of memory)

Well, Tenet wasn't "hired" on Bush's watch....shot to Powell? (is what I thought at the time)

And I think he was candid and right.

[clarice]

To use a well-known phrase..I heard that, too, ts.

Maybee, darling--what a catch! I'll do the same thing for $2,999. (all you have to do is say I have a plan, trust me?) Guys, I love you but I can't pass up the opportunity.******whoosh********

[Chants]

The Clarice "I'd Look Good in a Bently" Foundation will be Pay-Pal enabled shortly.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Okay, the genesis of both trips reads nearly identical ... Val taps Joe because Joe was going anyway on business trip. The difference, in 1999, Joe and Val are pre-twins, pre-post partum depression. Val was in good standing as far as we know and, according to one of the above quotes, was running somebody or a group involved in the nuclear proliferation area. By 2002, all of that is changed. So, it isn't really her 2002 status that was the sensitive status, but she very well may have been in a far more sensitive roll in 1999. The problem is, the similarities mean that if one is revealed the other becomes questionable if someone were trying to draw conclusions about the spy game going on. In 2002 and 2003, this may have been more important as Khan was still running around. I think they finally arrested him in 2004.

The only thing I can figure is that in 2002, the CIA still did not understand the significance of Khan's network. Surely, if they did by then, they wouldn't be trusting another mission to someone who had been proven so far out in left field in the 1999 trip conclusions. The utter failure of Wilson's reported no finding of 1999 may not have been clear until a couple of years ago.

[clarice]

Thank you, Chants. The name is sheer genius. If Rick drops out you are definitely in my sights for TAC Minister of Finance, babes. Definitely. You have my word on that.

That's one possible explanation, Sara. Here's another, when you don't want something found , send a blind man to look for it.

[clarice]

Thank you, Chants. The name is sheer genius. If Rick drops out you are definitely in my sights for TAC Minister of Finance, babes. Definitely. You have my word on that.

That's one possible explanation, Sara. Here's another, when you don't want something found , send a blind man to look for it.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Here's another, when you don't want something found , send a blind man to look for it.

LOL. That works too.

[topsecretk9]

---The only thing I can figure is that in 2002, the CIA still did not understand the significance of Khan's network. Surely, if they did by then, they wouldn't be trusting another mission to someone who had been proven so far out in left field in the 1999 trip conclusions. The utter failure of Wilson's reported no finding of 1999 may not have been clear until a couple of years ago.--

Sara...that is pretty good, actually. I don't know if I'd give- they didn't understand the significance- but rather didn't WANT to understand - for whatever reason. (many reports of Dutch official saying CIA prevented anyone from pulling Khan in - they wanted to "monitor" him)

But your right to think that because why would they entrust another mission to a guy who was so hopelessly worthless, a zero?

I think Joe and Val considered themselves intel experts extroidinaire ( they were more connected and smarter then everyone) and so Joe came back with the conclusion he and Val discussed ad nauseam (is she supposed to that? - has anyone asked?) and thought he would ::wink::

So who knows,"monitoring" Kahn appears to have been worse, however in docs seized in afghan (01) seem to have been fruitful, sos much so Libya gave it up...maybe they were afraid "doc's" seized in Iraq would be worse? ( ---oooohhhh----saying to myself...the Iraq doc dump)

[Thomas Morrissey]

Here's another, when you don't want something found , send a blind man to look for it.

Not necessarily, there is always the off chance a blind man may stumble onto to it, and find it that way.

Far better to have a corrupt megalomaniac with the intention of ignoring whatever he finds.

[clarice]

Well, Tom , that's a more precise way to put it.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I was reading over Mac's post on 1999. I quibble slightly with only one thing ... I think he limits the scope to an Iraqi deal rather than the broader Khan network. I could believe the whole darn lot of them, including Grossman, were involved in some kind of Pakistan/Niger/French/??? deal. From what I've read, Khan didn't really collapse until Libya spilled all. And Libya didn't do that until after we took Saddam out. The one thing all these people had in common was not wanting Saddam to fall.

[clarice]

Tp puzzle this out, we have to start with what we do know.
1. France oversaw the Niger mines.
2. Niger is poor and corrupt.
3. France is untrustworthy and was dealing with Saddam and getting rich off the OFF program,
4. France had a deal whereby it was promised huge petro concessions when sanctions were lifted and they were about to be when we dug in, forced the UNSC resolutions and then went to war after France double crossed us.
5. Libya's uranium exceeded the amount which had been accounted for.
6. Where did they get it?
7. Khan was buzzing around Niger like crazy in 1999.That same year, Wilson visited Niger twice--once with Alamoudi, once for the CIA.
8. In 2001 the head of Iraq's nuke program visited Niger for trade purposes, Niger's only trade being cowpeas and uranium, we assume foodstuffs were not on his mind.
9. Wilson was linked with Alamoudi at least one of whose companies was caught in the OFF scandal.
10. Niger is not the only country in Africa Iraq was tryng to get uranium from.
11. At the same time, Wilson set up a big African trade safari for Clinton--which seems to have greatly enriched William Jefferson who records still haven't been made available to investigators. Who else has been on the African gravy train? Pols? Businesses? businesses with prominent pols and former officials connected to them?

Add to the knowns list as you wish. Once we have knowns to work with , we might be able to figure this out.

[sam]

More of your tax dollars at work.

08/31/06 Reuters: Anger boils in Iraq's "town of martyrs"

08/31/06 StarTribune: Two soldiers with Minnesota ties killed in Iraq

08/31/06 Centcom: TWO SERVICEMEMBERS DIE IN AL ANBAR AUG. 30

08/31/06 Reuters: Rocket barrage kills 50

08/31/06 AP: 3 bombs explode in Baghdad, killing 20

08/31/06 StarTribune: Soldier from Minnesota-based brigade is killed in Iraq

08/31/06 VOI: U.S. sniper kills family of four in Ramadi

08/31/06 AP: Gunmen kill member of the oil ministry's security service

08/31/06 Reuters: Car bomb kills four police commandos in Baghdad

08/31/06 Reuters: Roadside bomb wounds 8 in Baghdad's Mustansiriya District

08/31/06 Reuters: Bomb explodes at wedding party - 1 killed, 8 wounded

08/31/06 Reuters: Car bomb kills 1, wounds 15 in Baghdad

08/31/06 Reuters: Former Iraqi Air Force commander killed

08/31/06 Xinhua: Body of Iraqi judge found north of Baghdad

08/31/06 MNF: 1/34 BCT Soldier killed by an IED

08/31/06 LaTimes: 2 Marines admit to abducting, killing Iraqi

08/31/06 AP: Suicide car bomb kills two in Baghdad

08/31/06 Reuters: British diplomats survive Baghdad bombing

08/31/06 ellsworthmaine: Blue Hill Soldier Wounded By Roadside Bomb

[topsecretk9]

SAM • SAM • SAM • SAM *

HOW COME YOU DIDN'T POST THIS TONIGHT?????????

I THOUGHT YOU REALLY CARED? OH, you don't care about this HORROR????

National Guardsman Brutally Attacked In Pierce County

POSTED: 4:33 pm PDT August 30, 2006
UPDATED: 6:15 pm PDT August 30, 2006

PARKLAND, Wash. -- The Pierce County Sheriff's Department is searching for five people who allegedly attacked a uniformed National Guardsmen walking along 138th Street in Parkland Tuesday afternoon.

The soldier was walking to a convenience store when a sport utility vehicle pulled up alongside him and the driver asked if he was in the military and if he had been in any action.

The driver then got out of the vehicle, displayed a gun and shouted insults at the victim. Four other suspects exited the vehicle and knocked the soldier down, punching and kicking him.

“And during the assault the suspects called him a baby killer. At that point they got into the car [SUV - ahem] and drove off and left him on the side of the road,” Detective Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

The suspects were driving a black Chevy Suburban-type SUV.

“This is something new for us, we have not had military people assaulted because they were in the military or somebody's opposition to a war or whatever,” Troyer said.

The driver is described as a white male, 25-30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, heavy build, short blond hair, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, and armed with a handgun.

The vehicle's passengers are described as white males, 20-25 years old. Some of the suspects wore red baseball hats and red sweatshirts during the attack.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and charging of the individuals involved. Informants can call 253-591-5959, and callers will remain anonymous.

OH and, SAM?? Kiss my ever-loving ASS!

[topsecretk9]

Sam

BABY KILLER????

[larwyn]

tops,
I am really strangling laughing just thinking of the email list of all whom I have invited to our "salon" for intelligent sleuthing and surmising and imagined Michael Barone looking in to find:
OH and, SAM?? Kiss my ever-loving ASS!

and:
Sam

BABY KILLER????

posted in bold by our super sleuth!!
Tears are running down my face in laughter!!

[Bob]

"Mr. Libby then allegedly disclosed Ms. Plame's identity to journalists and lied to a grand jury when he said he had learned of her identity from one of those reporters. Mr. Libby and his boss, Mr. Cheney, were trying to discredit Mr. Wilson; if Mr. Fitzgerald's account is correct, they were careless about handling information that was classified."

Now if you can make your way through the rest of the usual crap you'll get to the http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101460.html>WAPO final conclusion.

"Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously."

[Bob]

Oh and sam thank you once again for the reminder. Those of us who believe in real freedom, understand there's a cost.

So every time you post these silly lists, it only makes me more confident in my view, that what we are doing in Iraq is right.

I'm more upset that my tax dollars fund abortions then anything you listed today!

[Rocco]

7. Khan was buzzing around Niger like crazy in 1999.That same year, Wilson visited Niger twice--once with Alamoudi, once for the CIA.

I didn't know Alamoudi was in Niger with Wilson. Wasn't that trade delegation to Ethiopia, not Niger? I was poking around Ethiopia a few days ago here

I know I keep harping on that Ford Memo but I think it's relevent because it sheds light on just how unaware and incompetant the intelligence arm of the State Department, the INR was. It gives us a few clues as to who the blind men (and women) are. The (I'm changing the name) Grossman Memo cited the reasons INR was the lone disenter on each and every intelligence report we received. Those reasons are now proven lies!

The Grossman Memo also mentions Wilson's 99 trip.

"Joe went to Niger in late 1999 in regard to Niger's uranium program, apparently with CIA support."

The title of this thread couldn't be more appropriate because Niger is starting to look like the Yellowcake Mall.

[Patton]

Sam says: ""08/31/06 Reuters: Former Iraqi Air Force commander killed""

Funny how Sam mourns Saddam Husseins former top Commanders, most of whom engaged in genocidal acts against their own citizens.

Sam places this thug right up their with American servicement on his list of tragedies.

Here is the kind or people Sam mourns:

Shaho was nine when the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja was chemically bombed by the Iraqi Air Force.

He still vividly remembers the planes overhead, the clouds of gas smelling of fruit, and then fleeing for his life. Within weeks, Shaho began to suffer back pains and has been unable to stand or walk for the past six years.
My mother lost her sight at the time, and I’ve got gradually worse ever since." He spends each day at home lying on his mattress, turned every thirty minutes by his devoted sister to avoid bedsores.
Nizar, twenty-three, also from Halabja, is hardly able to walk and crumbles to the floor after a few paces. He bursts into tears. "I can’t even go to the toilet on my own," he says. He too was gassed and he lay unconscious for two days. The gases, which smelled of apples, attacked his nervous system, and over the years he has gradually lost control of his muscles. Both cases link severe neurological damage to chemical weapons.

In one way both were lucky—they, at least, survived the bombardment.
Saddams Air Foce began the chemical attack at 6:20 p.m. and continued sporadically over three days. Wave after wave of bombers—seven to eight in each wing—attacked Halabja, a town of eighty thousand, and all roads leading to the surrounding mountains. They dropped a cocktail of poison gases: mustard gas, the nerve agents sarin, tabun, and, according to a well-informed Iraqi military source, VX, the most lethal of all, which Iraq had just begun to manufacture. Clouds of gas hung over the town and the surrounding hills, blotting out the sky and contaminating the fertile plains nearby.

The townspeople had no protection and the chemicals soaked into their clothes, skin, eyes, and lungs. At least five thousand, and probably many more, died within hours. Many were poisoned in the cellars where they had sought refuge—trapped by gases that were heavier than air. It was the largest chemical attack ever launched against a civilian population.

AND SAM MOURNS FOR SADDAMS GENERALS THAT CARRIED OUT THIS GENOCIDE AND EQUATES THEM TO US TROOPS. DISGUSTING!

[no one of consequence]

One question on the civil suit and Armitage.

Wouldn't it make the most sense for Plame to sue Armitage for damages?

The revelation of him as leaker, afterall, killed the OVP conspiracy conspiracy theory and thus her book deal.

Well, then again, Armitage did want to keep it on the down low - so maybe she should sue Woodward for forcing Dick's hand?

Well, Woodward didn't have that much of a choice - afterall he was being called to testify - so maybe she should sue Fitzgerald for forcing Woodward to testify which forced Armitage to come clean which forced the truthout which is costing her a lot of money.

Or, she could always keep the suit against Rove et al and change the charges to not conspiring to out her which her whole fame and fortune are dependent on. "Those sneaky bastards should have conspired to out me - then I would be rolling in the big bucks!"

[lurker]

Ah...didn't Jeff say Joe Wilson never went to Niger in late 1999 but rather in early 1999>

[Patrick]

Somebody hacked into WaPo's website, and left this editorial: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101460_pf.html. No way they wrote that! Especiallly the last paragraph. Was that you Clarice? heh.

[Specter]

OT Alert: Lamont's latest gaffe.

[verner]

It seems to me that the CREW lady has just pulled the curtain down on her own lawsuit.

Armitage told Novak. Novak printed here name garnered from Who's Who. David Corn was the first to put "Valerie Plame" and Covert in the public domain. And we have not even added the fact that Libby's team has stated they have 5 sworn depositions from people Joe told about her employment. And what about deposing reporters like Pincus, Kristof, Woodward, Miller, Cooper et al.? That should be rich!

The Privacy stuff shows that we have a no nonsense Judge. Think about it. You want to prove damages against those who had nothing to do with the original leak to Novak that started all of this? Ms. Plame was in Who's Who? David Corn first brought up the "c" word? My reply would be "Get out of my courtroom with this friovilous junk-I've got better things to do than waste the people's money on a political hatchet job."

Back to Corn's book. Who wants to bet that the name Alamoudi doesen't appear anywhere in the index? Neither will CIP, IPS, Win Without War, Iraq Policy Information Project, the VIPS or any of the other left-wing garbage that Joe involved himself in just after he got back from Niger. Also, don't expect Corn to tell us what Val was really doing with the agency, or anything else worth knowing.

I'm also beginning to think that Val's book will never see the light of day.

[clarice]

Patrick, if it had been I, I'd havw put in my A Tale of Two Papers, excoriating those bums for waiting 2 and 1/2 years to correct Pincus' article megaphoning Wilson's lies.
Aside from factual errors about what Libby is charged with , the paper shamefacedly takes no responsibility for this travesty.Just like Corn.

In the old days when they did this kind of thing, I had only my yellowed scraps of newsprint to show the genesis of a media generated lie and only myself to talk to about their mendacity. (Bless Gore for making the IT possible..LOL)

[verner]

Patrick:

"Mr. Libby then allegedly disclosed Ms. Plame's identity to journalists and lied to a grand jury when he said he had learned of her identity from one of those reporters. Mr. Libby and his boss, Mr. Cheney, were trying to discredit Mr. Wilson; if Mr. Fitzgerald's account is correct, they were careless about handling information that was classified."

They just HAD to include that sentence--totally untrue. They were not trying to "discredit" Wilson, they were trying to get the truth out in a matter of grave national importance. What the hell did the WAPO expect them to do? Let Wilson go unanswered?

But I was glad to see them stick a fork into Mr. Joe. And I'm sure they've read advance copies of Corn-fed's book.

Now all we need is for Dana Priest to write a column telling us what Val's position was and who sent Joe. Tell me she, and the rest of them don't know! Expect it when hell freezes over--or after the midterm elections.

[clarice]

As TAC Goddess, I am coining a new word to deal with Corn and the WaPo who are responsible for a lie gaining credence and then when at long last the lie is exposed,walking away as if they'd had nothing to do with it:MOI?MEDIA

[verner]

Nice one Clarice. Much more polite than Merde-Media.

I'm also reconsidering buying HUBRIS. If Corn thinks he's had it bad this week--wait til the the JOM/AT crowd starts cutting him into small portions of fetid tuna sushi...

It will be a delight.

[Patrick]

I was just stunned that they (sort of) threw Wilson under the bus. I was amazed at their ability to completely ignore their role in pushing the wrong story, and continually getting their facts wrong about even simple things. Unbelieveable. The funny part is seeing the lefty sites keep hope alive for indictments of Cheney, Rove and W. And their ability to discuss the Armitage "revelation" (uh, yeah, we had no idea) without reference to their consistently incorrect surmising and speculating, and without acknowledging that their entire premise has been undermined. And really, how hard is it to correctly report the charges against Libby, and maybe throw in the fact that even the Judge has expressed skepticism (to say the least) about two of the three witnesses against him.

[clarice]

Well Patrick, when I can I will write a detailed analysis (again) to remind people of the thin gruel the charges against Libby are. It's time.
As for the left..we all know it's strictly faith based. That cargo ship is just always onthe horizon.

[verner]

Patrick:

My guess is that they really had no choice as far as Joe is concerned--and I think this is a not so subtle way of signaling Joe and Val that they need to drop the publicity stunt law suit because they (the WaPo) are not inclined to put their own conduct under a microscope, as will happen if the depositions procede.

Obviously, they read Corn's book--the last great hope of spinning this sordid mess to the left's advantage--and it's a total dud. What proof do I have? Corn's silence. If there was anything explosive there, it would be all over the media, not hidden behind his publisist's instruction. They'd want the hype to generate amazon presales, and a week of advance publicity with explosive revelations would be golden. Corn is pulling a Geraldo-opening-Al-Capone's-vault here. He's got squat, and they know it.

Go to Corn's website. He's even pulling negative comments. Not the actions of an honest man who welcomes the debate.

[cathyf]

"Mr. Libby and his boss, Mr. Cheney, were trying to discredit Mr. Wilson; if Mr. Fitzgerald's account is correct, they were careless about handling information that was classified."

No, Mr. Libby, at the direction of Mr. Cheney, was trying to debunk Mr. Wilson. If Mr. Fitzgerald's account (which Mr. Fitzgerald gave us by apparently committing several felonies concerning grand jury secrecy) is correct, they were extremely cautious about handling classified information. Mr. Fitzgerald has told us that they declassified the Wilson-debunking NIE twice, once by Cheney, then by Bush, because they wanted to be sure that it was properly declassified, since the rules allowing Cheney to declassify on his own were just 3 months old.

[jerry]

Maybee,
""I do, however, enthusiastically endorse all of kim's ingenious insights.'

Including apologizing for the paid GOP shrill trolls that dared to disagree with her?"

Eh, speaking generally, apology is easy... anyone can do it, it's good strategery - changes the playing field. (you're right, I'm wrong, I apologise, whatever...)

What I hoped to convey re:the Rovian rent-a-trolls was sympathy with EW for the infestation (I'd say "shrill" is being generous). I'm all for more or less lucid discussion, but not hordes of psycho troll-bots.

[clarice]

A reader suggests that the story about to pip is that Libya got its uranium through Cogema and Wilson got a tranche out of it and was running to Africa to keep that from being known. That the invasion of Iraq and Libya's fold put all the Cogema dealers in deep yogurt.
It's as likely a theory as anything I've seen.And if , as we have, you look up who's involved in Cogema you can see there are many powerful players whose reputations and careers would be demolished if it's true.

Transnationalism:The dreamworld of the grifters.

[RichatUF]

"Deliso is definitely an Edmonds believer. I do think he adds some details worth checking out, though, like the possible domestic side of Val's mandate...."

Edmonds is another kook that wants to blame "the neocons" for everything. I grant that something is fishy around ATC and possible Turkish proliferation activities. She seems no more credible than Scary.

Moreover, the "cover" of Brewster-Jennings, a PO Box in Boston-it was stationary and business cards-it was not a serious effort. Maybe she (Plame) was in a PhD program at Harvard? Something with this story is hiding in plain sight. Was it an attempt to merge the Franklin-AIPAC investigation in an attempt to sack OVP and OSP? Maybe the Plame-Wilson's are a backstop-the doomed spies?

I'm with Clarice on this-Mac doesn't have much documentation but his idea of a proliferation cell at CIA is a very real possibility (and hell it has happened before). My take on this is that the Plame-Wilson saga will be an object lesson in the art of the incendiary attack, bureaucratic politics, and technology leakage. If the "gossip" Armitage wasn't read in, then later coerced, why is it a shock that he is playing the truth out like a fisherman casts a line...he has a history that goes pretty far back into Pakistan (and Saudi)-what, its impossible that he is on one, or the other, or both their payrolls.

This story goes to the heart of high treason and how enemy governments can eventually work at cross purposes to one another when working through third parties. If (and this is highly speculative) different parties to the Khan network didn't know about each other and that they all traced back to a central locus (say Oil-for-Food) self-interest and group-interest may have become mutually exclusive. Wilson is a cut out, self styled enough to bring attention to himself, neither smart enough nor important enough to crack what happened in Niger from 1999-2002.

I think Mac is on to something. A Q Khan needed a ready way to launder the money and a way to cover the transactions. During the late 1990's who was watching the store with Oil for Food. Cotechna, they had already been caught proliferating materials from Pakistan in 1994. The Security Council...

It's late and I'm rambling on, my point is that something in the "story" is hiding in plain sight and I just don't see it.

RichatUF

[spankzilla]

Many knowledges I have found here I would come back http://spankzilla.spazioblog.it/