The interesting thing in this article is Wilson's admission that he had not seen the forged documents (he couldn't have, they were not in U.S. possession at the time. However, a number of reporters were writing stories about the former envoy's trip (not identifying Wilson) to Niger and his findings, which included identifying the documents as forgeries as the names and dates were wrong. Wilson later acknowledged that he was the former envoy who was the source for the stories but claimed that all of the reporters erred in saying that he claimed to have seen the documents which was impossible. He says he was briefed about the documents before his trip. Again this would have been impossible and is disputed within the CIA by thosw who attended the meeting.
Wilson did serve capably in several administrations. He is hardly the only person who ever served in the federal government who craves the limelight (which he was definitely out of prior to this incident, he and his wife are now basking in the glow of liberal worshippers), and has a tendency to embellish the truth now and then. But he has been caught in a number of misstatements, mainly designed to exaggerate the importance of his trip and findings. As I mentioned in another post, he did not offer his 'discoveries' when they would have been timely, namely when congress was deliberating the Iraq War Resolution. Indeed, in interviews, he stated his belief that Iraq did have WMDs and a nuclear program. Not until some months after the invasion, when no WMDs were discovered, did Wilson go public with his prior misgivings. Hindsight trumps intelligence every time. Tell me the newspaper headlines two months from now, and not only will I make perfect political decisions, my portfolio will rival Warren Buffett's.
