( A reader emails on my April 9 " Joe Wilson's Forgetfulness" post:
This is largely forgotten now but Joe Wilson initially misled the public on a key question when the story first broke in the summer 2003: Did the former Niger prime minister, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, meet with any Iraqi officials in June 1999? By not mentioning or even denying this meeting's existence Wilson can conflate his conclusion that it was "highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place" with the weaker British allegation that Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Africa. Timeline [of Wilson's answer to that question] in brief: 1. Wilson says "yes" during his private CIA debrief in March, 2002. 2a. Wilson fails to mention the meeting in his NYT op/ed July 6, 2003. 2b. Wilson fails to mention the meeting during his first "Meet the Press" interview, July 6, 2003. 2c. DCI Tenet says "yes" in a July 11, 2003 CIA statement which brings the meetings existence to the public for the first time. 3. Wilson says "no" during a "Frontline" PBS Interview in August, 2003. 4. Wilson says "no" twice during his second "Meet the Press" interview in October, 2003. 5. Wilson says "yes" in his book "The Politics of Truth" January, 2004. 6. Wilson says "yes" during his third "Meet the Press" interview in May, 2004. 7. Wilson says "yes" to SSCI committee staff --report released in July, 2004. Detailed timeline/sources follow: 1. March 5, 2002 Wilson debriefed by CIA just after returning from Niger (SSCI report, p.43-44): "Mayaki said, however, that in June 1999, XXXX businessman, approached him and insisted that Mayaki meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Niger and Iraq. The intelligence report said that Mayaki interpreted "expanding commercial relations" to mean that the delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales. The intelligence report also said that "although the meeting took place, Mayaki let the matter drop due to the UN sanctions on Iraq." 2a-b. July 6, 2003: "What I Didn't Find In Africa" Wilson's NY Times Op/ed: Wilson fails to mention the Iraqi/Niger meeting, in the NYT op/ed or in his first "Meet the Press" interview that same day. 2c. July 11, 2003: DCI Tenet Statement: "He [Wilson] reported back to us that one of the former Nigerian officials he met stated that he was unaware of any contract being signed between Niger and rogue states for the sale of uranium during his tenure in office. The same former official also said that in June 1999 a businessman approached him and insisted that the former official meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Iraq and Niger. The former official interpreted the overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales." 3. August 23, 2003: Frontline Interview: Frontline: Did you see any evidence that they, the Iraqis, had sought to purchase uranium from Niger? Wilson: No. The only thing that was explained to me in one conversation was of course there was this Nigerian delegation who came through in 1999 that had preliminary discussions related to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Uranium was not discussed. There was another request for a meeting on the margins of an Islamic conference meeting that was turned down. … 4. October 5, 2003 Wilson appears again on "Meet the Press" (MSNBC, transcript): Russert: "...the White House will say Ambassador, ... that your meeting with officials in Niger, including the suggestion that in June '99 Iraqi officials met with officials from Niger, confirmed exactly that point: that by expanding commercial relations, they could have been talking about uranium, which would confirm the president's suggestion that they were seeking uranium from Niger." Wilson: "Well, there's a couple of problems with that. First of all, the meeting never took place. An intermediary came to this official, and said, "I want you to meet with these guys. They're interested in talking about expanding commercial relations." The person who talked to me said, "Red flags went up immediately, I thought of U.N. Security Council sanctions, I thought of all sorts of other reasons why we didn't want to have any meeting. I declined the meeting," and this was out of the country, on the margins of an OIC meeting. So it was a meeting that did not take place." 5. January, 2004 Wilson Speaks Again to His Source [Mayaki] ("The Politics of Truth" p.28) and for the first time changes his public story: Source [Mayaki] tells Wilson that "Baghdad Bob" was probably the Iraqi he [Mayaki] met at the OAU meeting in 1999,. 6. May 2, 2004 Wilson Appears on "Meet the Press"(MSNBC transcript) and contradicts his previous MTP statement: "MR. RUSSERT: George Tenet in a statement said that a Niger official did say to you there may have been discussions about a potential business dealings and maybe that could have been a suggestion of uranium. AMB. WILSON: That's right. And, of course, as I put in the book, there was a meeting on the margins of an OAU summit between a senior Niger official and an Iraqi official who turns out to be the former minister of information, Baghdad Bob." 7. July 7, 2004 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report released: "In an interview with Committee staff, the former ambassador [Wilson] was able to provide more information about the meeting between former Prime Minister Mayaki and the Iraqi delegation. The former ambassador said that Mayaki did meet with the Iraqi delegation but never discussed what was meant by "expanding commercial relations." The former ambassador said that because Mayaki was wary of discussing any trade issues with a country under United Nations (UN) sanctions, he made a successful effort to steer the conversation away from a discussion of trade with the Iraqi delegation.." (SSCI report, page 44.)
Interesting, if the quotes and context stand up.