Update: One of the attachments (notes from the INR person at the Wilson briefing in Feb 02) confirms Wilson was sent to Niger by the CIA previously in 1999 (which we know was at the behest of Valerie) to investigate ‘uranium matters’ – which is an interesting story all in itself! You have to read the INR memo (first attachment) and see how hard they tried to tell the Wilsons to bug off! It is amazing!

Update: The memo comes in two versions here and here. Interesting section in this memo. It states ‘Both the memo of this meeting prepared by INR’s West African analyst now in [blanked out – but the SSCI report contains a meeting with Wilson and Ambassador Owens with someone from Chad…] and other material indicate that the CIA believed the Ambassador and the Embassy were unlikely to ferret out the truth from their Nigerian contacts’. Emphasis mine. So even the CIA had serious doubts about the Wilsons’ scheme. Interesting.

Addendum: I think reader JeaneB parsed this better than me: “I read it differently. The Ambassador referred to is the then-current ambassador to Niger (Owens?). INR believed Ambassador Owens and his embassy could investigate the matter. CIA was skeptical and was pushing Wilson.” Yep, I think I read that one wrong.

End Update

Hat tip to Powerline on the news the NY Sun has a copy of the infamous INR memo which noted Valerie Plame’s role in Wilson’s Niger fiasco, but was supposed to be laced with red flashing warnings that Valerie was a NOC and her name and position (not her marriage) were classified:

Contrary to published reports, a State Department memorandum at the center of the investigation into the leak of the name of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame, appears to offer no particular indication that Ms. Plame’s role at the agency was classified or covert.

The memo, drafted by the then head of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and addressed to the then secretary of state, Colin Powell, was carried aboard Air Force One as President Bush departed for Africa in July 2003. A declassified version of the document was obtained by The New York Sun on Saturday.

If anybody has a link to the full memo I would be forever grateful. This has some blockbuster stuff in it:

“In a February 19, 2002, meeting convened by Valerie Wilson, a CIA WMD manager, and the wife of Joe Wilson, he previewed his plans and rationale for going to Niger,” the memo from the State Department intelligence chief, Carl Ford Jr., said. Mr. Ford also drafted an earlier version of the memo, addressed to an undersecretary of state, Marc Grossman.

Emphasis mine. Clearly, anyone using this as their source would not come away with ‘Valerie Plame’ it seems. And note this memo began initially as something developed by Marc Grossman – man of mystery (see my previous post) and possibly someone Wilson called to begin the process of activating the administration to take his bait. In fact, I take issue with this next line because it is simply conventional wisdom. I have never seen anything establish this as fact:

Mr. Grossman apparently sought the information about Mr. Wilson’s trip after receiving inquiries from the then chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, I. Lewis Libby.

Well, he also could have known who to call to get it – showing off his ability to answer the mail (the only DC game in town). I am sure feelers went out everywhere, and Grossman was one of the first to succeed. The question then becomes, how was he able to solve the puzzle concerning who was the mystery man behind the Kristof and Pincus pieces so fast? Maybe he knew all along!

There is a stunning indictment of Fitzgerald or someone in the State Department in this article:

In addition, the early leaks about the memo were selective, perhaps deliberately so.

Well, only so many people had the memo to twist the contents of it. Fitzgerald better pray it did not come from his office. That would toss this case out in a heart beat. And the world is learning how information is classified.

The Journal account said the paragraph discussing Ms. Plame’s role in her husband’s trip was marked in a way to indicate it shouldn’t be disclosed.

A story the following day in the Washington Post, “Plame’s Identity Marked as Secret,” said correctly that the paragraph carried the mark “S,” signifying the middle level of three major tiers of classification.

Not noted in the previous press reports was the fact that six of the seven paragraphs in the memo are marked “secret,” while only one appears to mention Ms. Plame. In addition, virtually every paragraph in the attached supporting documents from the State Department about alleged Iraqi uranium procurement in Niger carries the “secret” designation.

Standard stuff. If one thing in the paragraph is secret, the entire thing gets the same designation. But only neophytes would incorrectly assume this makes all the contents of the paragraph secret. All documents contain a mix, and the people who ‘need to know’ do know which is which. Which brings us to this non-revelation:

With most, if not all, of the Niger-related documents marked “secret” in a host of places, there is no particular reason a reader would think the classification was derived from Ms. Plame’s status or involvement.

Well,… duh! But the point is the general gist of the memo is completely at odds with Fitzgerald’s assumption the plan was to retaliate against Joe using Plame. Folks can read that section for themselves. What caught my eye was this:

One attachment to the memo consists of typewritten notes a State Department representative took at a February 19, 2002, meeting where sending Mr. Wilson to Niger was discussed.

One thing to remember about this meeting, contained in the SSCI report from the Senate, was everyone from the IC community expressed the doubt the trip was of any value. It was nearly unanimous, but Valerie’s group decided to send Joe anyway. Here is what the Senate Report said about the response to the idea of sending Joe to Niger:

(U) The INR analyst’s meeting notes and electronic mail (e-mail) from other participants indicate that INR explained its skepticism that the alleged uranium contract could possibly be carried out due to the fact that it would be very difficult to hide such a large shipment of yellowcake and because “the French appear to have control of the uranium mining, milling and transport process, and would seem to have little interest in selling uranium to the Iraqis.” The notes also indicate that INR believed that the embassy in Niger had good contacts and would be able to get to the truth on the uranium issue, suggesting a visit from the former ambassador would be redundant. Other meeting participants argued that the trip would do little to clarify the story on the alleged uranium deal because the Nigerians would be unlikely to admit to a uranium sales agreement with Iraq, even if one had been negotiated. An e-mail from a WFNPAC analyst to CPD following the meeting noted “it appears that the results from this source will be suspect at best, and not believable under most scenarios.” CPD [Valerie’s Group] concluded that with no other options, sending the former ambassador to Niger was worth a try.

Clearly, everyone at the meeting dismissed the idea, but Valerie’s group went ahead anyway. The reporter(s) note this later on:

Mr. Rohn’s notes also suggest that State Department officials opposed sending Mr. Wilson because they thought reporting from the embassy in Niamey was adequate.

Joe Wilson comes out with a stunningly stupid rewrite of history in response to the story:

“The meeting was not convened by my wife,” the former ambassador said. “She had, as it now turns out, the misfortune of having escorted me into the building. … She left before the meeting started.” He also said that the subject of his going to Niger did not arise until halfway through the session.

Joe, Joe, Joe…. Did you forget the memo predating this meeting, FROM YOUR WIFE, suggesting you for the trip since you had been to Niger before for the CIA? And Joe, why were you in the meeting in the first place if it did not have on the agenda the topic of you going to Niger? If there was not going to be a discussion of your going, you had no authority or clearance to be in the meeting! Joe’s lies are getting lazy and pathetic. At least this reporter catches his lie by making him admit to the memo from his wife. His excuse?

…he said she did so at the request of her supervisor.

Why Joe? Why would he ask her to do it? Why couldn’t he do it? If it was his idea he would do it and take credit for it. He would have to sign the papers authorizing the trip and funds anyway? Wilson just doesn’t strike me as a very good liar.

Of course, they leave the stunner until the end. For those who do not think we had Intel linking Hussein to nuclear WMD efforts, check out this last line:

A cable attached to the key memoranda indicates that on September 10, 2001, one day before the terrorist attacks on America, Prime Minister Amadou of Niger told embassy officials “that there were buyers like Iraq who would pay more for Niger’s uranium than France.” The cable also said American officials received “frequent leadpipe guarantees by the French ambassador here that no uranium diversion to rogue states is possible.”

I am not sure what a ‘leadpipe guarantee’ is. Sounds like an unbreakable promise. But this is a warning sign one does not rationalize away. In the world of national security you assume the worst until proven otherwise. Like I said, I would like to see the document itself!