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| ==References== | ==References== | ||
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| *Paul Bedard, Wilson adds ammo to hit war credibility gap, USNews.com “Washington Whispers”, October 20, 2003 | *Paul Bedard, Wilson adds ammo to hit war credibility gap, USNews.com “Washington Whispers”, October 20, 2003 | ||
| ==External links== | |||
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| *Several months after the scandal broke, Susan Schmidt of the Washington Post wrote that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating intelligence failures in Iraq had determined that Wilson | *Several months after the scandal broke, Susan Schmidt of the Washington Post wrote that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating intelligence failures in Iraq had determined that Wilson | ||
| * reviews Wilson's alleged deceptions | |||
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Revision as of 19:42, 18 July 2004
Joseph C. Wilson IV was a United States career foreign service officer and diplomat from 1976 to 1998. He served as ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe under President George H. W. Bush, and as a director of Africa policy for the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. In 1990, he also became the last American diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein.
Wilson achieved wide notoriety due to his involvement in the verification of intellgence regarding Iraq. In 2002 he was sent to Niger to investigate the possibility that uranium yellowcake had been sold to Iraq. Since uranium mining is managed by an international consortium and supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wilson concluded this was unlikely.
Controversy ensued when the British government issued a white paper asserting an imminent threat from Iraq, on the basis of intelligence that later proved to be a forgery. In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush referred to attempts by Saddam to acquire uranium from Africa. The Bush Administration explicitly denied this was a reference to Niger, and the later Butler Report revealed the existence of intelligence suggesting Saddam was attempting to acquire uranium from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nonetheless, the critics of the administration insisted that Bush was referring to the Niger claim.
Wilson criticized the President over the Niger claims, and shortly thereafter an anonymous source leaked his wife's identity (Valerie Plame - a CIA agent) to reporter Robert Novak. Wilson accused the Bush administration of attempting to discredit and intimidate him. The U.S. Congress has set up an inquiry to determine who was involved with the leak, headed by U.S. Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald. Subsequent investiagations by the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Wilson had lied about his wife's involvement in the controversy and his own investigation. Wilson denies this.
In the popular imagination, Wilson became both a hero and a villain, depending one's opinions of the Bush administration. Bush opponents claim Wilson is a brave man who spoke truth to power, a meme that is played up in the title of Wilson's website ('RestoreHonesty.com) and his book ('The Politics of Truth'). Bush supporters consider subsequent revelations to have discredited Wilson.
References
- Paul Bedard, Wilson adds ammo to hit war credibility gap, USNews.com “Washington Whispers”, October 20, 2003
External links
- Joseph Wilson: What I Didn't Find in Africa
- Several months after the scandal broke, Susan Schmidt of the Washington Post wrote that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating intelligence failures in Iraq had determined that Wilson lied about his wife's involvement and his own investigation.
- A Little Literary Flair reviews Wilson's alleged deceptions
For other individuals with similar names, see Joe Wilson.