In his latest diatribe, Christopher Hitchens declares Joe Wilson clueless and then proceeds to demonstrate that he is the one floundering in fantasy
land and devoid of clear reason. Maybe this is a consequence of sleep deprivation (lack of sleep can have deleterious effects on one’s mental
acuity). I cannot explain his addled ways, but look at what Hitchens writes and you will agree, the man is clueless.
He starts with this zinger:
Nobody appears to dispute what I wrote in last week’s Slate to the effect that in February 1999, Saddam Hussein dispatched his former envoy to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and former delegate to non-proliferation conferences at the United Nations, to Niger.
Nobody, huh? Well Chris, what about this sentence in the next paragraph:
On Keith Olbermann’s show on April 10, Wilson was asked about my article and
about Zahawie. He replied that Zahawie “is a man that I know from my time as acting ambassador in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. … He was ambassador to the Vatican, and he made a trip in 1999 to several West and
Central African countries for the express purpose of inviting chiefs of state to violate the ban on travel to Iraq.”
Maybe Hitchens needs an editor. Somebody did dispute his rantings. That someone is Joe Wilson.
Is Hitchens really this out of touch with reality or is he just desperate for attention? I suspect the latter. Hitchens seizes on Zahawie’s background
with the IAEA as “proof” that he had to be doing something with uranium in Niger. The main problem he confronts, however, is that there is no corroborating evidence to back up his sincere belief that this is what Zahawie was really doing in Niger.
Hitchens lurches further into silliness by insisting that:
In other words (I am prepared to keep on repeating this until at least one cow comes home), Joseph Wilson went to Niger in 2002 to investigate whether or not the country had renewed its uranium-based relationship with Iraq, spent a few days (by his own account) sipping mint tea with officials of
that country who were (by his wife’s account) already friendly to him, and came back with the news that all was above-board.
One big problem Chris. I refer you, for starters, to the recently declassified memo prepared by the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The memo lays out in exquisite detail that the conclusions
discounting Iraq’s efforts to acquire uranium from Niger were based on six different documents. These include a cable by the U.S. Ambassador to Niger
and the Deputy Commander of the U.S. European Command among others. To quote Hitchens, “in other words”, this was not based solely or primarily on what
Joe Wilson said. Wilson simply confirmed what others were saying.
Hitchens lame attempt at trying to hang the label of liar on Joe Wilson fails spectacularly because Hitchens himself is caught in several big lies. First, he claims that Wilson “denied” the CIA had anything to do with
selecting him for the Niger mission. Chris. Buddy. With your British accent you always seemed so literate. When did you lose the abi lity to comprehend simple sentences? Please re-read Joe Wilson’s New York Times op-ed from July 2003. He was asked to go by the CIA in response to a request for additional info from Vice President Cheney. His statement is corroborated by the Senate Intelligence Committee Report. C’mon Chris. Just because you are now an American citizen does not entitle you to pick and choose facts like George
W. Bush.
Second, there is no evidence, anywhere, that the British or the French or the Italians provided the United States with “new intelligence” after
October 2002 that demonstrated a new or recent effort by Iraq to acquire uranium from Niger. The Italian forgeries made their way to Washington because the CIA Chief in Rome recognized them as bogus and refused to accept them. Someone at the Embassy, however, made sure the bogus documents found their way back to Washington. Fortunately, they were set aside and remained
on the sidelines where they belonged.
Finally, Hitchens fails to understand that the Brits and the French did not have separate or unique sources. Everyone was drawing their water from the same tainted well. Four different intelligence agencies reporting info from the same tainted source does not make false information suddenly reliable.
So Mr. Hitchens, when it comes to clueless, you take the cake.
……………………………………………………..
Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder
of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm
that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by
terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously
with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s
Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized
expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk
management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety
of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio,
ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News,
and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for
publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York
Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and
aviation security around the world. Further bio
details.
Personal Blog: No Quarter
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