« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
Today's Must Read
The Washington Post goes front page today with a piece headlined, "How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War."
The subject, of course, is the Niger yellow cake forgeries, the letter that led to Bush's 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union address, and eventually, in part, to the invasion of Iraq.
But there's a funny thing about the piece -- something symptomatic of most of the reporting on the Niger forgeries. It doesn't really tell how a bogus letter became a case for war. In that story, the beginning and the end would be of utmost importance -- the beginning being the origin of the documents, the end the Bush administration's suppression of their fraudulence.
But the Post story doesn't cast light on either of those parts of the story. Instead, the piece is mostly about an almost irrelevant aspect of the story, the sale of the documents by Rocco Martino, a former Sismi (Italy's intelligence service) agent, to an Italian journalist, Elisabetta Burba. The sale occurred in October, 2002 -- long after they were acquired by the U.S. from Sismi, and almost six months after Joseph Wilson's fated trip to Niger to investigate whether such a sale was even possible.
About the Bush administration's use of the documents, the Post reports, "dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable." Nothing new there.
And about the documents' origins -- the only unanswered question from the whole farce? It's addressed in two sentences at the very end of the piece:
It remains unclear who fabricated the documents. Intelligence officials say most likely it was rogue elements in Sismi who wanted to make money selling them.
It's actually not so much of a mystery. It's just that the Italians, for some reason, don't want to get to the bottom of it.
Comments (42)
mark wrote on April 3, 2007 9:14 AM:It's actually not so much of a mystery. It's just that the Italians, for some reason, don't want to get to the bottom of it.
Love it! code word for posting: fear
wvng wrote on April 3, 2007 9:22 AM:Paul,
You might have noticed that the Post comments (lots of comments) on their article echo your themes. Why now if nothing new, and why does it not deal with the real remaining question - who did the forgery and why? One comment noted that Josh should sue them for plagarism because he already reported on all this 2 years ago :-)
Did I say there were a LOT of comments?
profmarcus wrote on April 3, 2007 9:23 AM:of COURSE they don't want to get to the bottom of it... there's some really nasty stuff on the bottom of THAT barrel...
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/
mayan wrote on April 3, 2007 9:25 AM:I bet everybody has really learned their lesson and can apply what we've learned to Iran. Right? Wink!
Chain wrote on April 3, 2007 9:27 AM:The Italians aren't the only ones not wanting to get to the bottom of it. Our own FBI seems to be unconcerned as well.
J Marra wrote on April 3, 2007 9:33 AM:It's only unclear to the Post. It's obvious to many.
AJ wrote on April 3, 2007 9:34 AM:I found it interesting that a new book on the subject, The Italian Letter, was on sale at Costco this week-end. I mean I expect to see Coulter's books and O'Reilly's there. Could the story pick up some traction in Middle America now?
Bernie wrote on April 3, 2007 9:37 AM:If rogue elements in Sismi wanted to make money selling the documents, why did Martino agree that Burba would not have to pay him if the info proved false? Seems like an awful lot of trouble, risk and effort to go through merely on the off chance that a sloppily executed forgery might go undetected.
Something smells here.
TheraP wrote on April 3, 2007 9:42 AM:Yes, who fabricated the "treasure map" that led to the oil?
Arkansan wrote on April 3, 2007 9:47 AM:The debate presupposes the documents had any impact on the decision to go to war. They were just a prop, nothing more. The CIA is as likely a culprit as anyone, although it’d be nice to think they have the capabilities to do a better job.
-----
This may be off topic, but a reminder that the disaster of the invasion was entirely foreseeable, and was foreseen helps perspective:
“"I think for us to get American military personnel involved in a civil war inside Iraq would literally be a quagmire," Cheney replied. "Once we got to Baghdad, what would we do? Who would we put in power? What kind of government? Would it be a Sunni government, a Shia government, a Kurdish government? Would it be secular, along the lines of the Baath party, would it be fundamentalist Islamic? I do not think the United States wants to have U.S. military forces accept casualties and accept responsibility of trying to govern Iraq. I think it makes no sense at all.”
—Former Secretary of Defence, Dick Cheney, on ABC's This Week, 1992
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney#_note-11
Rebel wrote on April 3, 2007 9:54 AM:This is on the Washington Post message board.
------------------------
"Josh Marshall could sue you folks for plagiarism. He had this entire story - admittedly without the description of the elegant interior of the U.S. Embassy in Rome - two years ago. Is the Washington Post still in the journalism business? This piece reaks of oh, hey, the war and the president weve supported all along are REALLY unpopular now, lets print some unflattering stories to make ourselves look like were not completely in the tank. Sad.
By john | Apr 3, 2007 2:25:43 AM
-----------------
True enough ; )
Tennessean wrote on April 3, 2007 9:55 AM:I scanned the article twice, but didn't see many details that are already in the public domain. WaPo doesn't mention the original Niger embassy burglary in which nothing is stolen but the letterhead; there is no mention of the later meetings with Ledeen and Hadley to surface the documents. It just looks to me like this whole enterprise from WaPo is basically an attempt to fob this off once again on the "failed intelligence" meme.
Diana W wrote on April 3, 2007 10:15 AM:Slightly off-topic, but people should also read today's article in the Brit paper INDEPENDENT about how a Bush-sponsored raid in Iraq sparked the current crisis with the British Navy hostages. Once
again bumbling idiocy by this incompetent group of idiots has helped to destabilized things further in already dangerous region.
Diana Witt
Texas Bubba wrote on April 3, 2007 10:16 AM:I have a pretty good idea who fabricated the story because Martino wasn't concerned as to the authenticity ,he could have cared less,for possible payment at a later date....he had already been paid,by us.
The Conservative Deflator wrote on April 3, 2007 10:46 AM:Vanity Fair did a lengthy piece on this topic about 6 months ago. One name that factors prominently in this affair is a right-wing neocon nutjob named Michael Ledeen. A little waterboardng might be needed, but I suspect Ledeen might be willing to rat out who put him up to this forgery, with a little coaxing. I suspect that rat is named Cheney.
ahem wrote on April 3, 2007 10:49 AM:"there's some really nasty stuff on the bottom of THAT barrel..."
Oh, it would be fun to have congressional hearings on the matter, with Michael Ledeen subpoenaed.
Austin Cooper wrote on April 3, 2007 10:56 AM:Let's see... resources in the intelligence apparatus of one country's corrupt government (Berlusconi's) are contacted by elements of another country's corrupt government (Cheney / Ledeen / Hadley / Does 1-10) -- who ask the Italians to 'do a little favor'
And, of course, no fraudulent intelligence could ever again be used as the basis for a new war against *another* country -- now that it's all been exposed by our brave, Mainstream Fightin' Media. Right?
Last night, ABC News' John Gibson introduced a three-minute segment about Iran's nuclear industry being closer to developing a nuclear bomb than previously believed.
ABC's website today states: "Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material.
"The development means Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009, sources familiar with the dramatic upgrade tell ABC News.
"The sources say the unexpected expansion is taking place at Iran's nuclear enrichment plant outside the city of Natanz, in a hardened facility 70 feet underground."
However, didn't ABC also report earlier this year on it's website, "Iran Says It's Installing Centrifuges":
"TEHRAN, Iran Jan 27, 2007 (AP)— Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, a top lawmaker said Saturday in an announcement underlining that the country will continue to develop its nuclear program despite U.N. sanctions.
"The lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the installation under way at an Iranian uranium enrichment plant 'stabilizes Iran's capability in the field of nuclear technology,' the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
"Three inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who arrived in Iran on Saturday are scheduled to visit the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, Iranian state television reported."
(Full story is here.)
(Code = right)
Anonymous wrote on April 3, 2007 10:58 AM:This belongs in the same bin as "who did the 9-11-01 attacks benefit to."
Paging Michael Ledeen.
donviti wrote on April 3, 2007 11:27 AM:Security code: flag. As in false flag.
I was thinking the same thing about this article that it comes up short in telling you the end story. Great so now I know some Italian journalist started the snowball that led us to war.
whooopieee.
I guess the story is informative to those that know nothing about the story, but geez this article for 5 pages could have been a lot more revealing.
bordersmuggler wrote on April 3, 2007 11:34 AM:From the AlterNet article on Michael Leeden:
Quotes from Ledeen's works reveal a peculiar set of beliefs about American attitudes toward violence. "Change -- above all violent change -- is the essence of human history," he proclaims in his book, "Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are as Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago." In an influential essay in the National Review Online he asserts, "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically ... it is time once again to export the democratic revolution."
Although it's not clear why Leeden feels Americans should feel impelled to export its "democracy", here is no denying Leeden's far reaching influence on the recent course of American history.
RT wrote on April 3, 2007 11:45 AM:As I was reading the WaPo piece early this morning, I kept thinking, "Is there anything new here that I didn't read at TPM years ago?"
Apparently that would be 'No.'
Kevin Hayden wrote on April 3, 2007 11:53 AM:I hate to get stereotypical, but it sounds like 'Corleone' Cheney made SISMI an offer it couldn't refuse.
rule wrote on April 3, 2007 12:00 PM:Funny, no one wants to mention the forgery masters at the Mossad. Believe me it is not only Cheney and Haliburton with a wink and a nod from the oil cartel that lusted for Saddam's head (or neck as the case maybe). Saddam's supporting suicide bombers families with cash was an urgent matter for the Israelis too.
ManagedChaos wrote on April 3, 2007 12:03 PM:The fact that the documents were so badly forged and that they were debunked after an hour on google by the IAEA means that whoever forged the documents had to know that the documents would not be highly scrutinized before they could be used as a justification for war. Clearly the MO of the Bush Administration.
bottom viewer wrote on April 3, 2007 12:15 PM:Josh:
The bottom? How near the bottom is the private spooks of the US Intel world that include Ledeen who hand carried the letter to Hadley and Cheney before the speech?
Ironically it is the same network that was part of the Iran Contra Affair. Regardless of the amatuerism the scheme worked as it was used to compel the nation to war.
Getting to bottom might connect this same shadowy 'company men' that proliferate around AEI and Heritage as private agents doing the dirty deeds for the NeoCon's in office. Once connected then what? Wholesale exposure that those in power not made up the intel but manufactured it to engage in this war?
The bottom is a nasty place.
Susan wrote on April 3, 2007 12:20 PM:I wonder if the FBI ever finished their second whack at investigating the forged papers.
tom wrote on April 3, 2007 1:02 PM:"This article was adapted from the book "The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake Letter to Build the Case for War in Iraq," by Peter Eisner and Knut Royce, to be published today by Rodale Press."
This is not an article, it's a book promo dressed up as an article. Marketing, not news.
SPENCER ADAMS wrote on April 3, 2007 1:10 PM:Some good questions in these comments; did the FBI finish
their investigation of the forged letters? And what exactly was Michael Ledeen's role in all of this?
Time for Waxman to get some answers from all this.
tetsuo wrote on April 3, 2007 1:24 PM:There was a far more detailed piece in Vanity Fair by Craig Unger.
Peter Principle wrote on April 3, 2007 1:47 PM:The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/07/yellowcake200607
"Dozens" of interviews with spooks and ex-spooks, etc. -- all to regurgitate what Josh Marshall and Laura Rozen reported two years ago. Less, actually.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your corporate Beltway media.
PW wrote on April 3, 2007 1:48 PM:I'd hoped that once Berlusconi was out of office, the whole truth might leak out. Dream on...! I agree with those who see Ledeen's (and Cheney's) fingerprints.
And note that Waxman is going after Condi in this matter.
Zandru wrote on April 3, 2007 1:57 PM:I thought that Michael Ledeen was dead, as of January 2007?? Or is this just satire?
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2007/01/breaking-news-michael-ledeen-is-dead.html
(the codeword, ironically, is "poison".)
Update wrote on April 3, 2007 2:10 PM:"It remains unclear who fabricated the documents. Intelligence officials say most likely it was rogue elements in Sismi who wanted to make money selling them.
It's actually not so much of a mystery. It's just that the Italians, for some reason, don't want to get to the bottom of it."
THE ABOVE IS NOT ACCURATE! THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT DID EXPOSE THE FORGERS:
Italian Parliament finger four forgers - Ahmad Chalabi , Francis Brookes, Dewey Clarridge, and Michael Ledeen.
Jane wrote on April 3, 2007 5:43 PM:http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/aipacledeen.html
One of the most racist things I have ever seen was Bush whispering in the State of the Union that Iraq was seeking uranium from AFRICA (gasp!)
Neo wrote on April 3, 2007 7:26 PM:There still is this offer of $5 to the first person who can name one thing, anything, that Wilson found on his 2002 trip to Niger that proved “false” President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union statement, “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
It has been waiting for someone to claim it for almost 11 months now, but it appears to be the safest five-dollar bill in America.
Your first hurtle, this statement from a letter by Joe Wilson to the Senate Intelligence Committee: "I never claimed to have "debunked" the allegation that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. I claimed only that the transaction described in the documents that turned out to be forgeries could not have occurred and did not occur."
He later told the Senate Intelligence Committee when asked how he knew the documents were forgeries (considering the CIA did not have the documents when he went on the trip to Niger) that he had "mispoken."
I believe that this puts this offer in the same category as trying to lick your elbow .. 80% of people who know elbow licking can't be done still try to do it.
erichwwk wrote on April 4, 2007 10:36 AM:As has already been stated, the article is a book promo by one of WP's own. Now if they really wanted to get this crowd to buy the book, they should have included some credible evidence that effort was made to further our knowledge of the Martino, Ledeen, Mueller role in all this. I hope someone here buys the book to find out and reports back. Otherwise i'm not buying. PS as a trivia aside, i'm wondering if the book includes the FBI dis-interest in interviewing Rocco when JM flew him to the US preannounced.
Elisabeth Luntz wrote on April 4, 2007 9:58 PM:Sounds like the writing of Howard Kurtz also of the Wash Post. This piece uses spin to shift the motive from an excuse to war to an excuse to make money. Clever, but not too clever.
Tom Bowler wrote on April 6, 2007 7:53 AM:"But there's a funny thing about the piece -- something symptomatic of most of the reporting on the Niger forgeries. It doesn't really tell how a bogus letter became a case for war."
As I recall the bogus letter was not used at all to make the case for war, which might explain why the article was unable to show how.
An alternative theory is that since the letter was such an obvious forgery, its real purpose was to discredit the notion that Iraq was after uranium.
sophy@gmail.com wrote on April 30, 2007 11:58 PM:hello
rick@gmail.com wrote on May 1, 2007 12:15 PM:hello
margaret@aol.com wrote on May 23, 2007 6:21 AM:free viagra
epenisa wrote on January 11, 2008 12:53 AM:Hi
Nice work from your side... have a nice time with yoru blog :)
G'night