Joseph Wilson takes aim at Bush administration

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http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=9aa91ecf535ffcbb

Big News Network.com Sunday 17th July, 2005

Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a career diplomat from 1976 to 1998, has been in the news since a CNN report in March 2003 which followed a mission to Niger organized by the CIA to respond to a question raised by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Wilson was described as “a true American hero” by President H.W. Bush in 1991 as the president was introducing the ambassador to his war cabinet for his role in the release of American hostages taken captive by Saddam Hussein in 1990. (A fuller biography is detailed at the end of this article). Wilson reportedly acted as an envoy for the CIA in 1998 and was again called on to go to Niger in February 2002. Following is his account of events that followed, and an outline of his concerns relating to the present course of U.S. foreign policy, and in particular his criticisms of the present administration. (Note this account was written by the ambassador in February 2004):

"The press coverage was very positive toward Valerie and me. So was the outpouring of support from across the political spectrum, from Pat Buchanan on the right to Jesse Jackson on the left. Serious people understood what had happened. It was only a small cadre of right- wing zealots and the White House itself that continued trying to spin the story and make of it something it was not. I was particularly offended when President Bush, asked about the leak on October 7, claimed, "I want to know the truth." However, eager to place the responsibility upon journalists rather than shoulder it himself, he added, "You tell me: How many sources have you had that's leaked information, that you've exposed or had been exposed?" He added, "Probably none," making it clear that his question had been only a rhetorical one. Bush capped off his comments that day with a statement that infuriated me, and many people whom I later heard from: "This is a large administration and there's a lot of senior officials, I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is, partially because, in all due respect to your profession, you do a very good job of protecting the leakers." His lack of genuine concern stunned and disappointed me.

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