Jan. 2003 NIC Paper Said Niger Uranium Claim False
A heretofore publicly unknown National Intelligence Council (NIC) document unequivocally stated that the claim that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium from Niger was false.
The document was delivered to the White House before President Bush claimed in his 2003 State of the Union address that the claim was true.
(T)he Pentagon asked for an authoritative judgment from the National Intelligence Council, the senior coordinating body for the 15 agencies that then constituted the U.S. intelligence community. Did Iraq and Niger discuss a uranium sale, or not? If they had, the Pentagon would need to reconsider its ties with Niger.
The council's reply, drafted in a January 2003 memo by the national intelligence officer for Africa, was unequivocal: The Niger story was baseless and should be laid to rest. Four U.S. officials with firsthand knowledge said in interviews that the memo, which has not been reported before, arrived at the White House as Bush and his highest-ranking advisers made the uranium story a centerpiece of their case for the rapidly approaching war against Iraq.
Bush put his prestige behind the uranium story in his Jan. 28, 2003, State of the Union address.
This new revelation means that the administration knew that the Niger uranium story was false and claimed it was true for political purposes--in order to justify taking the nation to war.
This is an impeachable offense.
Not to mention completely reprehensible.
The document was delivered to the White House before President Bush claimed in his 2003 State of the Union address that the claim was true.
(T)he Pentagon asked for an authoritative judgment from the National Intelligence Council, the senior coordinating body for the 15 agencies that then constituted the U.S. intelligence community. Did Iraq and Niger discuss a uranium sale, or not? If they had, the Pentagon would need to reconsider its ties with Niger.
The council's reply, drafted in a January 2003 memo by the national intelligence officer for Africa, was unequivocal: The Niger story was baseless and should be laid to rest. Four U.S. officials with firsthand knowledge said in interviews that the memo, which has not been reported before, arrived at the White House as Bush and his highest-ranking advisers made the uranium story a centerpiece of their case for the rapidly approaching war against Iraq.
Bush put his prestige behind the uranium story in his Jan. 28, 2003, State of the Union address.
This new revelation means that the administration knew that the Niger uranium story was false and claimed it was true for political purposes--in order to justify taking the nation to war.
This is an impeachable offense.
Not to mention completely reprehensible.
posted by Effwit at 8:50 AM
1 Comments:
Glad to see you reporting this fact. It amazes me how little traction this revelation is getting. I certainly have it up at my own blog, Inconvenient News, and Kevin Drum caught it. But otherwise, almost entirely overlooked.
Post a Comment
<< Home