African diplomat's forgery led to Bush's gaffe: report

[Nambe]

Press Trust of India

A low paid African diplomat working in Niger's embassy in Rome forged documents claiming that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa and fooled US and British intelligence agencies into believing they were genuine, a media report said on Tuesday.

The diplomat, whose name was not disclosed, sold the documents to the Italian government for a few thousand dollars, ABC television said.

In its latest issue, Time reported that Italians had shared the information with US and British intelligence agencies. The information found its way into the January State of the Union address by US President George W Bush who quoted it as one of the major reasons to justify war on Iraq. ---

"There had been reports circulating about Niger's sale of uranium to Iraq in the l980s and I think this diplomat apparently saw an opportunity to make some money by feeding into the current controversy about Iraq's programme of weapons of mass destruction," counterterrorism expert Vince Cannistraro said.

Privatize bush It’s a Good Thing

[Itascapark]

1. OH MY F@#$KING GOD

What will they try and make-up next!!!!

[Frances]

4. I'm with you

Why is everyone taking this as truth without trying to track down the man from Niger? Because of past lies, I think it is very important to verify every theory. It wouldn't surprise me if this man from Niger does not exist.

<<A low paid African diplomat working in Niger's embassy in Rome forged documents claiming that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa and fooled US and British intelligence agencies into believing they were genuine, a media report said on Tuesday.>>

[Richardo]

2. This must be some meaning of "darn good" that I am not familiar with...

(with apologies to Douglas Adams) :D

[Journeyman]

9. Thanks, Richardo. . .

I'm going to file that away for later use. Too funny.

[peterh]

3. Uhhh…I see a slight problem with this item….

No one in the U.S. were fooled, may be the Brits were, but no here. Now, I do think many were deceived (as in lied too), but certainly not fooled.

[trapper914]

5. So...

...this is Britain's other intel source? Now, more than ever, they really need 007!

Sheesh! A forged document sold to the Italian government for a few bucks, and nobody bothers to corroborate any of it? It just becomes "Italian Intelligence." I guess that makes it sound real official-like.

[Bozola]

6. I love the web: I found the original document!

REQUEST FOR URGENT NUCLEAR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.

WE ARE TOP OFFICIAL OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NUCLEAR REVIEW PANEL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN EXPORATION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL INTO IRAQ WITH FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN NIGERIA. IN ORDER TO COMMENCE THIS BUSINESS WE SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO ENABLE US TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT THE SAID TRAPPED FUNDS.

THE SOURCE OF THIS FUND IS AS FOLLOWS; DURING THE LAST MILITARY REGIME HERE IN NIGERIA, THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SET UP COMPANIES AND AWARDED THEMSELVES CONTRACTS WHICH WERE GROSSLY OVER-INVOICED IN VARIOUS MINISTRIES. THE PRESENT CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT SET UP A CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A LOT OF INFLATED CONTRACT FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY FLOATING IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA READY FOR PAYMENT.

HOWEVER, BY VIRTUE OF OUR POSITION AS CIVIL SERVANTS AND MEMBERS OF THIS PANEL, WE CANNOT ACQUIRE THIS MONEY IN OUR NAMES. I HAVE THEREFORE, BEEN DELEGATED AS A MATTER OF TRUST BY MY COLLEAGUES OF THE PANEL TO LOOK FOR AN OVERSEAS PARTNER INTO WHOSE ACCOUNT WE WOULD TRANSFER THE SUM OF US$21,320,000.00(TWENTY ONE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS). HENCE WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER. WE HAVE AGREED TO SHARE THE MONEY THUS; 1. 20% FOR THE ACCOUNT OWNER 2. 70% FOR US (THE OFFICIALS) 3. 10% TO BE USED IN SETTLING TAXATION AND ALL LOCAL AND FOREIGN EXPENSES. IT IS FROM THE 70% THAT WE WISH TO COMMENCE THE IMPORTATION BUSINESS.

PLEASE,NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE AND WE HOPE TO COMMENCE THE TRANSFER LATEST SEVEN (7) BANKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE RECEIPT OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIOM BY TEL/FAX; 234-1-7777777, YOUR COUNTRY'S SIGNED, AND STAMPED LETTERHEAD PAPER THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILL ENABLE US WRITE LETTERS OF CLAIM AND JOB DESCRIPTION RESPECTIVELY. THIS WAY WE WILL USE YOUR COUNTRY'S NAME TO APPLY FOR PAYMENT AND RE-AWARD THE CONTRACT IN YOUR COUNTRY'S NAME.

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THIS BUSINESS WITH YOU AND SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IN THIS TRANSATION. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER USING THE ABOVE TEL/FAX NUMBERS. I WILL SEND YOU DETAILED INFORMATION OF THIS PENDING PROJECT WHEN I HAVE HEARD FROM YOU.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

DR NUCLEAR SCIENTIST

NOTE; PLEASE QUOTE THIS REFERENCE NUMBER (VE/S/09/99) IN ALL YOUR RESPONSES.


------------------------------
;)....couldn't resist.

Literally, when you think of it, if Bush was truthful about not knowing the dubious nature of the documents then he was a sucker for the Nigerian scam.

What an idiot.

[mainer]

10. brilliant, bozola!

thanks for the laugh

[notadmblnd]

7. Here's a detailed analysis of the forged documents

For what it's worth

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2003_07_01_xymphora_archive.html#105825854829569895

SNIP:
In other words, the forger was almost certainly a functionary in the Iraqi bureaucracy of the 1980's, who took copies of the Niger documents with him when he defected out of Iraq. He is almost certainly one of the Iraqi defectors that Cheney has been using to provide much of the raw material on which the attack on Iraq was justified. All this talk about Italian intelligence, and French intelligence, and intelligence sources from 'another country', and a mysterious diplomat from Niger, are all fog meant to confuse the issue. From what information we have, the information flow is likely as follows:

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. "The information found its way into"

Apparently, information has autonomous decision making powers all on its own. Oh, the wonders of the world! How could it have walked into the room, climbed up on the furniture and leaped into the speech while this was happening, without anyone seeing it?



Must have been a librul plot.



http://kucinichforpresident.com - Kucinich Is The One
http://cronus.com/prayer - One of Kucinich's speeches

http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13 - cute little buttons
http://bushspeaks.com - sardonic political toons
http://cronus.com - enlightening and educational liberal fun

Conceptual Guerilla

[gulliver]

11. I'm not buying it.

That's a great story, but without the name of the diplomat and some expert verification (maybe someone like El Baradei) this just can't be believed. It's too convenient for the Bushies as it closes off questioning of where the forgeries came from to begin with. This story sounds plausible, but I'm not buying it until I hear it confirmed by someone with credibility.

(Not that I mind seeing it posted. It's an excellent post!)