Another lie by George W. Bush during his propaganda campaign to fool the American public into supporting his invasion of Iraq. He failed to tell us that French intelligence had been warning him for years that the story about Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger was fraudulent.

“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa .” - George W. Bush SOTU Address 2003

At the time, Bush knew that French intelligence had debunked that claim. A lie by omission is still a lie.

France had warned CIA on bogus Iraq-nuclear link

Secret advisories preceded speech by Bush, ex-officials say

By Tom Hamburger, Peter Wallsten and Bob Drogin, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published December 11, 2005


PARIS -- More than a year before President Bush declared in his State of the Union speech that Iraq had tried to buy nuclear weapons material in Africa, the French spy service began repeatedly warning the CIA in secret communications that there was no evidence to support the allegation.

The previously undisclosed exchanges between the U.S. and France, described by the retired chief of the French counter-intelligence service and a former CIA official during interviews last week, came on separate occasions in 2001 and 2002.

The French conclusions were reached after extensive on-the-ground investigations in Niger and other former French colonies, where the uranium mines are controlled by French companies, the former official said. He said the French investigated at the CIA's request.

The account of the former intelligence official, Alain Chouet, was "at odds with our understanding of the issue," a U.S. government official said. The U.S. official declined to elaborate and spoke only on condition that neither he nor his agency be named.

However, the essence of Chouet's account--that the French repeatedly investigated the Niger claim, found no evidence to support it, and warned the CIA--was extensively corroborated by a former CIA official and a French government official.

The repeated warnings from France's Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure, DGSE, did not prevent the Bush administration from making the case aggressively that then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons materials.

The French opposed U.S. policy on Iraq and refused to support the 2003 invasion that toppled Hussein. But whether or not that made top U.S. officials skeptical of the French report on Niger, intelligence officials from both countries said they cooperated closely during the prewar period and continue to do so. And the French conclusions on Niger were supported by some in the CIA.

The CIA requested French assistance in 2001 and 2002 because French companies dominate the uranium business internationally.

The French-U.S. communications were detailed to the Los Angeles Times last week by Chouet, who directed a 700-person intelligence unit specializing in weapons proliferation and terrorism. Chouet said the cautions from his agency grew more emphatic over time as the Bush administration bolstered the case for invading Iraq by arguing that Hussein had sought to build a nuclear arsenal using uranium from Niger.

Chouet recalled that his agency was contacted by the CIA in the summer of 2001--shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks--as intelligence services in Europe and North America became more concerned about chatter from known terrorist sympathizers. Then twice in 2002, he said, the CIA contacted DGSE for its help to check on uranium stockpiles.

Chouet dispatched a five- or six-man team to Niger to double-check any reports of a sale or an attempt to purchase uranium. The team found none.

He and his staff noticed that the details of the allegation matched those in fraudulent documents that an Italian informant had earlier offered to sell to the French and which eventually were provide to U.S. authorities by an Italian journalist.

"We told the Americans, `Bull .... It doesn't make any sense,'" Chouet said.

He said that an Italian intelligence source, Rocco Martino, had tried to sell the forged documents to the French.

That's all interesting, but will the people of America demand accountability?

Fitzie is still pursuing Plamegate, while the FBI pursues Forgerygate.
Hopefully Fitzie or somebody (anybody!) can tie the two together in a court of law.
Bloggers can do just so much investigating, but have no legal authority

If the people of America,
I mean those who care enough to vote, but are only as informed as the MSM informs them,
if they don't care anough to get angry and demand a few heads,
not much will come from it.

Bush's poll numbers dropped like a rock in Crater Lake (one VERY deep lake)
As it did, America's collective mood and opinion shifted.
If after the investigations reveal all that the do, (assuming they do)
if the American people aren't angry, not much will happen.

I think we're gonna need another disaster to drive gas prices back up!
(perception matters)
A year ago $2 gas was way spendy, now after feeling $3 gas, $2 is quite acceptable.
C'mon you anarchists, lets root for $4 a gallon gas!

I agree, I think Americans anger will help investigations along , so hopefully Americans will become more internet savvy with each passing day, while MSM becomes more competitive for bloggers attentions with real news!
If that combo of Americans investigating internet sources and MSM becoming more newsworthy actually continues to happen, then more Americans will be angry because more Americans will be more informed.
If Americans are more informed in 2006 than they are today, it will reflect at the polls too!

Now we know why Bush won't release his pre-war PDBs to Congress. This is obviously an impeachable offense.

The encouraging thing is that the MSM did print this story. Unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune didn't think the proof that George Bush defrauded the American people in order to fool them into supporting an unnecessary war was front page material. It was on page 5. But, it's a start.

All it would take is just ONE brave television journalist.
Imagine if 20/20 did a true investigative piece on just this story,
and laid it all out there. (will never happen, 20/20 is pure fluff today)
But if they did? The shit storm this would stir up could well kill the Bush Presidency.
THIS is the MSM most people see!
PBS does some kick ass stories that expose a lot of the Bushco crimes,
but most don't watch PBS except for the choir that doesn't need the preachin!

If we could get a few reporters inside Iraq and film the atrocities
then secretly bring them back and put the story on the air,
stories just like we saw every night back in the late 60's.
Oh man!
And if every reporter of all nations in Iraq, felt compelled to break pentagon law
and bring their visual stories to the public!
I'm dreaming again.


To tell you all the truth,
When I think about the world today,
when I think about all the deceptions, the lies, the wrongful deaths,
all the poor around the world and right here at home,
people who ARE poor, sick and uneducated so that some other bastard can be rich,

When I think of all these things, sometimes I wish I could just withdraw myself
onto a big bit of land someplace in the mountains of Montana,
outlaw TV and Radio, and make it all go away.
Live the rest of my life in ignorance, just hoping I never see
the sky light up from some distant nuclear explosions.

But then I remember I have a son,
and people I care about, they have family,
and the people I don't even know who are good people,
They all deserve better than what Bushco has brought us, in our name!
Then I realize I can't run away.
I have a duty, and an obligation.


[center]
[/center]