Comments on: All Paths Lead To Niger http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/ Refunds Cheerfully Given To All Who Disagree Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:14:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Clueless Joe, Meet the Hitch http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/comment-page-1/#comment-16145 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Clueless Joe, Meet the Hitch Tue, 18 Apr 2006 03:37:39 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/#comment-16145 [...] The great Christopher Hitchens is in rare form as he follows up on his uncontradicted narrative last week detailing the almost certain attempt by Iraq to obtain uranium from Niger: The person whose response I most wanted is Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who has claimed to discover that Saddam was guiltless on the charge of seeking uranium from Niger, and has further claimed to be the object, along with his CIA wife, of a campaign of government persecution. On Keith Olbermann’s show on April 10, Wilson was asked about my article and about Zahawie. He replied that Zahawie “is a man that I know from my time as acting ambassador in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. … He was ambassador to the Vatican, and he made a trip in 1999 to several West and Central African countries for the express purpose of inviting chiefs of state to violate the ban on travel to Iraq. He has said repeatedly to the press, he’s now in retirement, and also to the International Atomic Energy Agency, to their satisfaction, that uranium was not on his agenda.” If you think that’s good enough for our dear Christopher, then you aren’t acquainted with the Hitch: Once again, the details and implications of Zahawie’s own IAEA background are ignored (as they were in the IAEA’s own report to the United Nations about the forged Italian documents that were later circulated about Zahawie’s visit). In the same press interviews to which Wilson alludes (and which I cited last week), Zahawie went a bit further than saying that uranium was “not on his agenda.” He claimed not to know that Niger produced uranium at all! You may if you wish choose to take that at face value—along with his story that all he was trying to do was violate sanctions on flights to Iraq. Joseph Wilson appears to be, as they say, “comfortable” with that explanation. [...] [...] The great Christopher Hitchens is in rare form as he follows up on his uncontradicted narrative last week detailing the almost certain attempt by Iraq to obtain uranium from Niger: The person whose response I most wanted is Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who has claimed to discover that Saddam was guiltless on the charge of seeking uranium from Niger, and has further claimed to be the object, along with his CIA wife, of a campaign of government persecution. On Keith Olbermann’s show on April 10, Wilson was asked about my article and about Zahawie. He replied that Zahawie “is a man that I know from my time as acting ambassador in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. … He was ambassador to the Vatican, and he made a trip in 1999 to several West and Central African countries for the express purpose of inviting chiefs of state to violate the ban on travel to Iraq. He has said repeatedly to the press, he’s now in retirement, and also to the International Atomic Energy Agency, to their satisfaction, that uranium was not on his agenda.” If you think that’s good enough for our dear Christopher, then you aren’t acquainted with the Hitch: Once again, the details and implications of Zahawie’s own IAEA background are ignored (as they were in the IAEA’s own report to the United Nations about the forged Italian documents that were later circulated about Zahawie’s visit). In the same press interviews to which Wilson alludes (and which I cited last week), Zahawie went a bit further than saying that uranium was “not on his agenda.” He claimed not to know that Niger produced uranium at all! You may if you wish choose to take that at face value—along with his story that all he was trying to do was violate sanctions on flights to Iraq. Joseph Wilson appears to be, as they say, “comfortable” with that explanation. [...]

]]> By: New England Republican » Keep spreading the truth: Joe Wilson is a damned liar http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/comment-page-1/#comment-15776 New England Republican » Keep spreading the truth: Joe Wilson is a damned liar Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:55:40 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/#comment-15776 [...] Decision ‘08All Paths Lead To Niger The Joe Wilson controversy, as Hitchens goes on to point it, is irretrievably tangled in the public mind with a forged document later produced, in all likelihood, by an Italian huckster - but in any event, produced by somebody: There seem to be only three possibilities here. Either a) American intelligence concocted the note; b) someone in Italy did so in the hope of gain; or c) it was the product of disinformation, intended to protect Niger and discredit any attention paid to the actual, real-time Zahawie visit. The CIA is certainly incompetent enough to have fouled up this badly. [...] [...] Decision ‘08All Paths Lead To Niger The Joe Wilson controversy, as Hitchens goes on to point it, is irretrievably tangled in the public mind with a forged document later produced, in all likelihood, by an Italian huckster – but in any event, produced by somebody: There seem to be only three possibilities here. Either a) American intelligence concocted the note; b) someone in Italy did so in the hope of gain; or c) it was the product of disinformation, intended to protect Niger and discredit any attention paid to the actual, real-time Zahawie visit. The CIA is certainly incompetent enough to have fouled up this badly. [...]

]]> By: Sister Toldjah http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/comment-page-1/#comment-15722 Sister Toldjah Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:03:55 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/#comment-15722 <strong>Chris Hitchens on the Iraq/Niger/uranium issue</strong> Hitch breaks all the details down regarding the claims that Iraq sought uranium from Niger: In the late 1980s, the Iraqi representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iraq’s senior public envoy for nuclear matters, in effect—was a ... Chris Hitchens on the Iraq/Niger/uranium issue

Hitch breaks all the details down regarding the claims that Iraq sought uranium from Niger:
In the late 1980s, the Iraqi representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iraq’s senior public envoy for nuclear matters, in effect—was a …

]]> By: Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » E. J. Dionne (Surprise!) Just Doesn’t Get It http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/comment-page-1/#comment-15721 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » E. J. Dionne (Surprise!) Just Doesn’t Get It Tue, 11 Apr 2006 13:44:24 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/#comment-15721 [...] Wilson had fired a direct shot at the White House’s rationale for the war in Iraq by saying the administration had distorted intelligence concerning Saddam Hussein’s supposed efforts to obtain nuclear materials. What’s worse here - that snearing ’supposed’ (see Christopher Hitchens for a devestatingly brutal slam at the willful ignorance behind that statement), or the idea that the central issue was what Bush knew before the election (does Dionne not see that the central issue was whether the Butcher of Baghdad was close to going nuclear? Does he think a presidential election trumps that)? [...] [...] Wilson had fired a direct shot at the White House’s rationale for the war in Iraq by saying the administration had distorted intelligence concerning Saddam Hussein’s supposed efforts to obtain nuclear materials. What’s worse here – that snearing ’supposed’ (see Christopher Hitchens for a devestatingly brutal slam at the willful ignorance behind that statement), or the idea that the central issue was what Bush knew before the election (does Dionne not see that the central issue was whether the Butcher of Baghdad was close to going nuclear? Does he think a presidential election trumps that)? [...]

]]> By: Flopping Aces http://informedspeculation.com/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/comment-page-1/#comment-15704 Flopping Aces Tue, 11 Apr 2006 02:16:01 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/04/10/all-paths-lead-to-niger/#comment-15704 <strong>The Niger Deal</strong> Christopher Hitchens tries his best to knock some common sense into the left with his newest piece: In the late 1980s, the Iraqi representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iraq’s senior public envoy for nuclear matters, in effect... The Niger Deal

Christopher Hitchens tries his best to knock some common sense into the left with his newest piece:
In the late 1980s, the Iraqi representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iraq’s senior public envoy for nuclear matters, in effect…

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