To his backers, Joseph C. Wilson IV is a brave whistle-blower wronged by the Bush administration. To his critics, he is a partisan who spouts unreliable information. But nobody disputes this
Read: Joe Wilson craves celebrity. He is not a whistleblower, because whistle blowers tell the truth. Wilson has been proven by a bipartisan Select Intel Committee to have lied several times!
Also beyond dispute is the fact that the little-known diplomat took maximum advantage of his 15 minutes of fame. Wilson has been a fixture on the network and cable news circuit for two years -- from "Meet the Press" to "Imus in the Morning" to "The Daily Show." He traveled west and lunched with the likes of Norman Lear and Warren Beatty.In other words, not only is he a media whore, but HE didn't care about his wife's safety or identity.
He published a book, "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity." He persuaded his wife, Valerie Plame, to appear with him in a January 2004 Vanity Fair photo spread, in which the two appeared in his Jaguar convertible.
Wilson's critics in the administration said his 2002 trip to Niger for the CIA to probe reports that Iraq was trying to buy uranium there was a boondoggle arranged by his wife to help his consulting business.
The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial page, defending the administration, wrote yesterday that, "Mr. Wilson became an antiwar celebrity who joined the Kerry for president campaign." Discussing his trip to Niger, the Journal judged: "Mr. Wilson's original claims about what he found on a CIA trip to Africa, what he told the CIA about it, and even why he was sent on the mission have since been discredited."
Yes, that is a fact. Wilson's claims have been debunked. There were no forged documents he looked at. His book is a spy novel, not a truthtelling. He is a hack, and his wife wanted to help him stop being a has-been, so she suggested him for the mission. Along the way, they decided that they would undermine the war effort. If anyone should be indicted, it should be Wilson. He has committed lie after lie after lie....
Wilson has also armed his critics by misstating some aspects of the Niger affair. For example, Wilson told The Washington Post anonymouslyin June 2003 that he had concluded that the intelligence about the Niger uranium was based on forged documents because "the dates were wrong and the names were wrong." The Senate intelligence committee, which examined pre-Iraq war intelligence, reported that Wilson "had never seen the CIA reports and had no knowledge of what names and dates were in the reports." Wilson had to admit he had misspoken.
Again, he did not misspeak. He lied. He said he went over forged documents and found dates and names to be wrong. How is that misspeaking? It is not like forgetting a conversation, it is a falsehood.
the Senate committee found that "interviews and documents provided to the committee indicate that his wife . . . suggested his name for the trip." The committee also noted a memorandum from Plame saying Wilson "has good relations" with Niger officials who "could possibly shed light on this sort of activity." In addition, notes on a State Department document surmised that Plame "had the idea to dispatch him" to Niger.
Another lie by Wilson. However, where is the investigation into his lies?
One has to ask, based on the giddiness in the air by the left, why is the leading paper in scandalizing (like a 4th rate burglary into a presidential resignation) portraying the star witness in this "whistleblowing" as someone less than trustworthy? Are they seeing the light? I think not.
This is CYA on the part of the Post. They have been burned in the past, and if they are burned again and no indictments come down, they want to save face. However, wake up and smell the roses. They want Bush taken down. They want indictments. This is just a way to cover if nothing happens. In other words, they are telling the truth for once.
