It's not really possible to disprove what Wilson said in his article- he just recounted his memories of what occured there. He sipped mint tea for 8 days and and met with officials who assured him that no sales had been made. You left out this quote from the Times article
" Administration officials also claim that Wilson took at face value the claims of Nigerien officials that they had not sold uranium ore to Saddam Hussein. (Such sales would have been forbidden under then-existing United Nations sanctions on Iraq.) "He spent eight days in Niger and he concluded that Niger denied the allegation." Fleischer told reporters last week. "Well, typically nations don't admit to going around nuclear nonproliferation,"
Doesn't that make at least a little sense to you?
HItchens wasn't implying anything. Did you read the FT article I mentioned. It was a front page story with the following headline:
"
58. FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Intelligence backs claims Iraq had talks on uranium Requires subscription
By Mark Huband, Security Correspondent
Financial Times, Jun 28, 2004
Illicit sales of uranium from Niger were being negotiated with five states including Iraq at least three years before the...
59. "
Rather than recounting their liquid consumption, the article deals with intelligence agencies doing throrough research and providing facts to back up their position.
I could quote you several instances where he has been caught in lies, but I really don't think it would matter to you.
Even Kerry, who devoted a page on his web site to Wilson, ahs seen the light. That page was dissapeared without comment when he was first discredited.
It does come down to an issue of credibility. Someone who was supposed to investigate a criminal act, proceeds by asking the people who would have been involved in the criminal act if they were guilty. Shockingly, they refused to incriminate themselves. Case closed. Forget the Senate Intelligence Report that discredits Wilson- that was what- something I made up???
AI
