Nov 05 2005
FBI On Wilson’s Tale
Pure Speculation Alert!
Folks, it is late, I am tired (just brought my mother back from a few day stay in the hospital) and I am punchy. So I am in the perfect state of mind to go crawling out on twisted, thin branches.
Recently I have been posting on this wave of information coming to the forefront in the blogosphere (from bloggers and readers alike!) that is beginning to really call into question what was Wilson and Plame dealing with during the 1999 and 2002 trips to Niger. Wilson could have been, for all I know, a truly incredible intelligence agent and honestly working with his CIA wife to track down illicit uranium deals.
But he also could be an opportunist working his government contacts with her key WMD proliferation oversight role to make some money on the side. Hopefully more will start to come out in the coming days and weeks to see which way this goes. But let’s take a look at this late breaking news about the Niger documents from the FBI and see what we can discern from it:
The FBI has determined that financial gain, not an effort to influence U.S. policy, was behind the forged documents that the Bush administration used to bolster its prewar claim that Iraq sought uranium ore in Niger.
The FBI’s investigation began after questions were raised about a brief portion of President Bush’s January 2003 State of the Union speech when he said that Iraq was pursuing the uranium ore, part of his argument to justify the coming invasion of Iraq.
This makes sense with the forgery timeline – where the CIA began to start to warn that these documents were forgeries and to hold off on making too many broad comments about uranium yellowcake in Africa. It was not too long after the SOTU that it became clear to the CIA these were forgeries.
So, we know the FBI has been looking into the forgeries all this time. And they were probably coordinating their findings with Fitzgerald. Is Fitz playing a sly game of diversion? Could I have jumped the gun on him and he is holding some cards against the Wilsons? I wouldn’t mind being wrong about Fitzgerald in the least. But so far I see nothing to change my mind.
Anyway, there is more
The FBI had refused comment on the matter until Italian news sources reported this week that FBI Director Robert Mueller sent the Italian government a letter in July with the results of the bureau’s two-year investigation.
The investigation “confirmed the documents to be fraudulent and concluded they were more likely part of a criminal scheme for financial gain,” FBI spokesman John Miller said Friday, describing the contents of the letter.
Miller did not say what led the FBI to its conclusion or identify the perpetrators of the hoax.
Interesting. There are various scenarios for how the forgeries could be used to make money. One is the person shopping them around:
Italian officials earlier this week identified Rocco Martino, described as a one-time informant for the Italian secret service, as the source of the forged documents, according to Italian Sen. Massimo Brutti.
But he made no money. He asked for $10,000 dollars, but when rebuffed gave them over. Now let’s think about this for a moment. Martino is ex secret service – he knows how these forgeries must look (if he forged them). He must know how easily they could be traced to the break in at the Rome Niger consulate (if he was the one who broke in). They were traced there because of the stolen seal and letter head used in the forgeries, and the intermingling of real documents.
So someone who could break into a Niger consulate in Rome, undetected, and then create forgeries will go through all this trouble to simply hand them over? Doubtful. Martino sounds like a washed up has been being used by the real masterminds to be a mule or conduit to the western intelligence agencies.
Martino had previously given media interviews acknowledging his role.
I would wager yellowcake is very expensive to move on the black market. Participants could make serious money working this market. I wonder if Martino is being paid by the masterminds to admit some role. His payment for legal risks could by into the millions of dollars, if not the hundreds of thousands of dollars. No wonder he wouldn’t need a paltry $10K.
There are other illegal methods for ‘financial gain’ – like smuggling uranium to Libya, Iraq, Iran and North Korea. All speculation of course.
AJ: There is a major problem with the story about IRAQ trying to obtain uranium from Niger. Iraq had no means to enrich uranium. But who did?
Libya did and nobody knew about it until after the invasion of Iraq. The AQ Khan network wasn’t uncovered until after the invasion if Iraq.
The key question here is why was Iraq so important in dismantling the Libyan centrifuges and the AQ Kahn network?
We still do not have a clear answer to this question. Doesn’t it seem like the Plame leak and WMD in Iraq are just national security fronts to cover for clandestine activities to shut down the black market for nuclear weapons?
[…] AJ Strata is literally giving chase to Joe Wilson, along with Tom and Mac. I have a hunch the Powerline guys are going to be breaking something soon, too. […]
So was Joe Wilson’s bragging about debunking the forgeries a slip of the tongue, perhaps?
“The FBI has determined that financial gain, not an effort to influence U.S. policy, was behind the forged documents that the Bush administration used to bolster its prewar claim that Iraq sought uranium ore in Niger.”
My understanding is that the forged documents were never used in the claims by the Bush administration.
AJ;
Here is a little tidbit I caught on the news last night.
Jonathon Hunt of Fox News was one of the first reporters on top of the Food For Oil scandal. Hunt tracked down players like Benet Savon, who was later connected to the scandal in a big way.
Hunt, along with Claudia Rosset, can be credited with bringing the scandal to the forefront of the news.
Hunt was recently in Switzerland trying to interview none other than Marc Rich. While there, Hunt was told to leave by a Swiss cop (a riot cop, no less) and was told by the cop that Rich was a VIP. Why would Hunt be trying to interview Rich? The story of the Clinton-Rich pardon is old news.
Then this paragraph from the “Wilsons & Uranium Trade” entry came to mind:
“Wilson ran his company out of the offices of an ivenstment company called Rock Creek Corporation. Rock Creek was controlled by Mohammed Alamoudi….the Alamoudi-affiliated company Delta Services, a SWISS subsidiary of the Saudi company Delta Oil, handled Iraqi oil export contracts in 2000 and 2001 and was revealed in 2003 as a recipient of Iraqi Oil-For-Food vouchers canneled through Abu Abbas, a Palestinian terrorist with Iraqi connections.”
Maybe I am searching here and looking to give Tom Clancy fodder for another novel, but is there a Swiss connection?
Wilson has connections to Alamoudi; Alamoudi controlls Delta Services a Swiss company; Marc Rich is in Switzerland and is a major player. What are the chances that Alamoudi and Rich do not know each other and have not had some connection? Alamoudi and Rich are definately major players in a very, very small nation and they are both major players in the same business, ILLEGAL OIL FROM IRAQ. And why is Jonathan Hunt once again on Rich’s trail?
Wilson-Alamoudi-Rich?
AXIOM–
Can you elaborate on what you are saying. I don’t understand what you mean.
My own personal view is that Iraq did have something to do with 9-11, although I know that is not much accepted.
I think that Iraqis and their agents may have facilitated these attacks but that to explain all of this might tip-off terrorist-supporters who have not yet been arrested.
Maybe some of these people are even Americans.
I think that the government didn’t want to discuss the details of Iraqi involvement so they just said WMD. And they thought there would be WMD.
But I think this government believed Iraq was involved in 9-11.
Bin Laden seems to like the glory for doing 9-11, but I think this was a collaborative effort.
Just my opinion.
I also think that they wanted to find out who was illegally getting money from the oil for food program.
Sadddam was just buying so much political and media influence.
Axiom,
Your premise that Plame and others were on the AQ Jahn trail is valid. I thought I was clear all this ‘clandestine’ activity with Niger could be a real good CIA effort to do their jobs. The problem which keeps coming back to me is the fact that Joe’s 2002 trip was taken against the recommendations of the intel community, and was in addition to the Niger Ambassador’s investigation going on at the same time. So why risk an operation with Wilson coming over and poking around (and meeting with the US Ambassador and someone stationed in Chad – an oil rich country).
To Iraq. Iraq had 500 tons of yellowcake, and the plans for the centrifuges to process it under the roses in the garden of a chief scientist. Iraq may have allowed its capacity to migrate to Libya.
But it is true all of this is speculation and could go one way or the other. You can’t do a lot of digging with Google alone!
Hermit,
Interesting question. I jump from Wilson being an idiot to being incredibly bold and crafty. Not sure where he fits, though most of what I read from him pushes me towards idiot. But good covers are good covers for a reason. I am going to have think on that for a bit.
Miriam,
The forged documents were part of the package of intel used by British intelligence to conclude Saddam was attempting to procure uranium. When they were discovered to be forgeries, the response would be to go back and re-assess all of the intel to see if there was reason to change the conclusions. It turned out they were not key to the uranium argument at all. Much more was based on human intel.
I think it was the re-assessment and simply being cautious that caused the Bush admin to back away from the claim for a while.
Retire05,
There is no evidence to date between Rich and Wilson – but there is a plausible path. Mac Ranger is doing more on corporate ties than I am (google only takes you so far). The big French company in the middle of the UN Oil For Food (OFF) scandal is Cotegna. Cotegna also has contracts in Niger for import inspections. I am not sure if they are part of the uranium production effort. So there is that possible link.
In addition, there is a little discussed item in the senate intelligence report regarding Wilson. Before returning he reported to the US ambassador in Niger to relay what he had learned. They were joined by some intelligence agent who was associated with Chad. Chad has a little uranium, but lots of oil and the US has been trying to help them establish an oil production/transfer capability.
Marc Rich is big into oil trading and transportation. I doubt he is totally ignoring the happenings in Chad.
The OFF program used companies to front for the movement of material and money through a network of people like Marc Rich who knew how to launder, kickback and bribe without leaving traces. The community is small and tightknit of course.
So, if you are asking me is it a stretch? No, it is not. Is there anything tying the two together? Not at the moment.
Snapple: The key mission of western intelligence agencies has been to disrupt, slow, and possibly shut down the black market for atomic energy. The market as it existed up until March 2003 was a threat to the entire world. This mission was not made public, but it was leaked to the press at a very discreet level. Curiousity here, strange business deal there, Arab nuclear scientists traveling to North Korea: the press leaks were hinting that intelligence agencies were aware of a black market network.
The western intelligence agencies – Italy, USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, etc – all share the same goal of closing down the black market for atomic energy. They all differ in terms of peaceful transfer of atomic energy, but they clearly recognized the threat of the black market to put nukes in the hands of all sorts of unsavory people.
So the nations agree to a strategy for shutting down the black market while avoiding the appearance of strategic alliance in all affairs. At the UN the western nations appear ambiguous, but behind the scenes they are all in agreement about what has to be done. Saddam has to be removed as he is the most dangerous dictator in the world sitting on the potential wealth to wreak havoc for the world for another 50 years(Uday & Qusay).
Are you picking this up?
retire05: This is the first that I have heard about Almoudi’s connection to oil for food. I need to look into this. I knew Marc Rich was involved because this guy is the world’s “Pigpen” character from Charlie Brown. The dirt follows him.
Axoim, I think if you re-read my post you will see that I said Almoudi was tied to the OFF scandal, BUT, Rich is a major player. I find it hard to believe that if Almoudi’s company was based in Switzerland and was connected to the OFF scandal and Rich did not know about it. And Wilson is connected to Almoudi.
As with any puzzle, you never see the whole picture until you start putting the pieces together.
What was the “business” that Wilson was going to Niger for in 2002? Why has that never been investigated?
Was Wilson allowed to go to Niger without a confidentiality agreement for a reason? Was that reason so that the CIA could use his story to bash the administration? Why is no one in the MSM looking into Wilson’s business ties with Niger? And since when does a debriefing take place in a person’s home? Why wasn’t it take at headquarters?
What was Wilson’s reason for attending an anti-American, pro-Palestinian conference two months before Novak’s story came out? Was this to let his “business” contacts know that he was a team player?
I don’t believe Jonathan Hunt is on the Rich trail for no reason. Is it is to tie Rich to the OFF scandal or is it to tie Wilson to the OFF scandal?
I think Wilson is an onion, but unlike most onions, this one has a core. And that core is in his business associates. Peel this onion, discover the core and you will find the reason for the leak about Plame’s CIA association.
Can someone link me to Mac Ranger?
Retire05
Click on Mac’s Mind on the blogroll (right side)
http://macsmind.blogspot.com/
Retire05,
On the right hand side is my ‘blogroll’. Click on “Mac’s Mind’. Sorry, so many people here visit both sites I sometimes forget not everyone here does.
Mac Ranger was military intel and has lots of connections inside the government. He is a great source of the latest whispers.
Did Joe Wilson out his own wife?
It appears so … and it also seems quite likely that those who’ve said it wasn’t a well kept secret in Washington as to the status of Joe Wilson’s wife were right on the mark. Via WorldNetDaily:
A retired Army general says the…
retire05: Alamoudi likely knows Marc Rich dating back to the Iran-Contra affair. Rich was an intermediary the Mossad was using for information about back room conversations the United States was conducting with Iran. Since most governments did not want their dealings with certain countries made public, there was an awful lot of cover provided by intermediaries such as Rich and Alamoudi. They have front companies scattered throughout the world that can provide essential cover for illicit activities.
I was just saying that I DIDN’T know that Alamoudi had already been linked to oil for food.
AJ 2 things I thought of, just in case..not sure if there is any significance
1. Right before indictments it was reported that Fitzgerald did consult (?) with Italian Intelligence regarding the forgeries—–which is odd because he went out of his way to say a- His scope was narrow b- this was not about war c- the indictments he did hand to Libby don’t associate with this at all
2. Sometime in 04, the dems pulling a stunt type thing were calling for all documents from WH relating be released…and Fitz was the one to ask congress to oppose (House Res. 1417)….which of course put the Repubs in an adverse position to Dems
If you would like the links, I hunt around for them
I’ve been looking into some stuff on my own, but I guess I can spread it so others can take a look. France.
It is known that Rocco Martino was on the payroll of French intelligence when all of this went down. There are also indications from the intelligence reports that France notified the US of information about uranium and Niger in November 2002 and possibly January 2003. Check the Butler report, the Robb-Silverman report, and the SSCI report.
My official position right now is that Rocco Martino, along with others, used Rocco’s contacts at SISMI to create these forgeries and pass them off to Italian intelligence. The Italians seem to be very embarrassed about this, and are not owning up to in fact having bought these forgeries and passed the information on them over to the US in late 2001 – early 2002.
Martino then tried to sell them AGAIN to Pandora and the Italian journalist. He wanted €15,000 apparently, but he didn’t get it. In the end, he just gave them up (or maybe Barbarossa or whatever her name is also is embarrassed about having bought them and not admitting it?). Then these were sent from the US embassy in Rome.
That’s my official position, but I am increasingly suspicious of what the French were telling the US in November 2002 and on. Especially an incident on Nov 25 2002, which is redacted heavily, showing that someone suggested to The Naval [redacted] that there was a large quantity of uranium from Niger being stored in Benin headed for Iraq.
This was 3 days after France told the US that they had information that Iraq was attempting to buy uranium from Niger, the source being the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for Nonproliferation.
Coincidence?? Later, an unnamed foreign intelligence service said that the uranium at Benin was headed for France, not Iraq, but that they had corroborative information that Iraq was in fact seeking uranium from Niger.
Is this sounding like a counterintelligence operation from France yet?
mary mapes: The reporting on Fitzgerald contacting Italian authorities was wrong. UPI first reported that Fitzgerald was seeking access to an unreleased Italian parlaimentary inquiry into the Niger documents. However, it was later discovered that there is no Italian parlaimentary inquiry into the Niger documents. Therefore, Fitzgerald could not inquire about a report that did not exist.
See Laura Rozen for the details.