Let This Myth Go

In his column today titled Let This Leak Go urging Valerie Plame-leak prosecutor Peter Fitzgerald to just forget the whole thing, Richard Cohen repeats one of the classic misstatements about the runup to the war:

The alleged crime involves the outing of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative whose husband, Joseph Wilson IV, had gone to Africa at the behest of the agency and therefore said he knew that the Bush administration -- no, actually, the president himself -- had later misstated (in the State of the Union address, yet) the case that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger.

Uh, no. Bush didn't say that. He cited British intelligence and said there was evidence Iraq had searched for uranium in Africa.  Of course, the other tidbit you rarely here in these summaries is how the Senate Intelligence Committee found that Wilson uncovered some evidence that Iraq had delicately inquired about uranium in Niger. That was the impression of former Nigerian prime minister Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, according to this Susan Schmidt story filed July 10, 2004. This was the subject of a series of posts I did this summer, prompted by false information in a Walter Pincus/Jim VandeHei story. I ended up sending emails both to then-ombudsman Michael Getler and the generic email address for corrections, neither of which were responded to. Just another day in the life of a blogger.

Comments

[l barbee]

In the report by Weapons Inspector Charles Deulfer the claim of Iraq’s intent to purchase yellowcake from Niger was addressed. According to the report supported by documents and interviews was determined to be false, additionally an attempt by a Ugandan businessman to sell yellowcake from the Congo was turned down.
The information can be found in the Deulfer report “Investigation Into Uranium Pursuits and Indigenous Production Capabilities” section at http://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd_2004/sect4#sect4.

This information is also referenced in the report of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iraq chapter.
http://www.wmd.gov/report/report.html#chapter1

The Susan Schmidt story has a correction listed on the right hand side of the page, the correct statement should have been Iran tried to buy 400 tons of uranium in 1998.

In the report by Weapons Inspector Charles Deulfer the claim of Iraq’s intent to purchase yellowcake from Niger was addressed. According to the report supported by documents and interviews was determined to be false, additionally an attempt by a Ugandan businessman to sell yellowcake from the Congo was turned down.
The information can be found in the Deulfer report “Investigation Into Uranium Pursuits and Indigenous Production Capabilities” section at http://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd_2004/sect4#sect4.

This information is also referenced in the report of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iraq chapter.
http://www.wmd.gov/report/report.html#chapter1

The Susan Schmidt story has a correction listed on the right hand side of the page, the correct statement should have been Iran tried to buy 400 tons of uranium in 1998.

[Christopher Fotos]

The correction in the Schmidt story references a different issue than the one I raised. I was not talking about a claim that Iraq tried to buy 400 tons of uranium, something I don't think I've blogged about (I'm being serious, not snarky--that was awhile ago). What I was referencing was the still undisputed fact that Wilson learned a former Nigerian prime minister believed Iraq was exploring whether it could get uranium from his country. And, separately, that this is not only undisputed but pretty much unreported by the Post since the Schmidt story.