If you liked NAFTA...you will love CAFTA

I think Wilson, who has admitted to some "literary flair," tried to enlarge his importance by claiming/hinting that his selection came from the VP himself,

At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said she was delegated to request his help.

A terrorist organization bites the dust: LINK Perhaps it's not quite as hopeless as some here choose to believe?

“WILSON: Well, look, it's absolutely true that neither the vice president nor Dr. Rice nor even George Tenet knew that I was traveling to Niger.” What they did, what the office of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself”

“They asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report.”

When asked how [Wilson] 'knew' that the Intelligence Community had rejected the possibility of a Niger-Iraq uranium deal, as he wrote in his book,he told Committee staff that his assertion may have involved 'a little literary flair.' The Intel Committee chair concluded: "I believed very strongly that it was important for the Committee to conclude publicly that many of the statements made by Ambassador Wilson were not only incorrect, but had no basis in fact."

What did appear relevant could easily be found in what the CIA would call "open sources." For example, Mr. Wilson had long been a bitter critic of the current administration, writing in such left-wing publications as The Nation that under President Bush, "America has entered one of it periods of historical madness" and had "imperial ambitions." What's more, he was affiliated with the pro-Saudi Middle East Institute and he had recently been the keynote speaker for the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, a far-Left group that opposed not only the U.S. military intervention in Iraq but also the sanctions and the no-fly zones that protected Iraqi Kurds and Shias from being slaughtered by Saddam. Mr. Wilson is now saying (on C-SPAN this morning, for example) that he opposed military action in Iraq because he didn't believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and he foresaw the possibility of a difficult occupation. In fact, prior to the U.S. invasion, Mr. Wilson told ABC's Dave Marash that if American troops were sent into Iraq, Saddam might "use a biological weapon in a battle that we might have. For example, if we're taking Baghdad or we're trying to take, in ground-to-ground, hand-to-hand combat."

I think a professional CIA agent would have done better.

Everybody see the video of Bush flipping off the press on Tursday? Here's the link you'll need quicktime. Such a diplomat

Who cares? He can't be expected to tell the long version everytime

Can we never have a serious discussion on this matter without the convoluted arguments, and the right-wing spin and "talking points". PPJ is smokescreening us again.

WILSON: Well, look, it's absolutely true that neither the vice president nor Dr. Rice nor even George Tenet knew that I was traveling to Niger.” What they did, what the office of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself”

PPJ, you just made me spit my Pepsi out! Lovely.

Pretty basic, and I think those of us in the middle can figure out what was happening. Or should I say, not happening.

“What he did was re-visit all the previous people that had been interviewed"(From PPJ) I don't know and you don't either. You're just asserting something that has no basis in fact, or you'd have put up a link by now.

In late February 2002, I arrived in Niger's capital, Niamey……….. ... I met with Ambassador Owens-Kirkpatrick at the embassy. For reasons that are understandable, the embassy staff has always kept a close eye on Niger's uranium business. I was not surprised, then, when the ambassador told me that she knew about the allegations of uranium sales to Iraq — and that she felt she had already debunked them in her reports to Washington. Nevertheless, she and I agreed that my time would be best spent interviewing people who had been in government when the deal supposedly took place, which was before her arrival. I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place. Given the structure of the consortiums that operated the mines, it would be exceedingly difficult for Niger to transfer uranium to Iraq. Niger's uranium business consists of two mines, Somair and Cominak, which are run by French, Spanish, Japanese, German and Nigerian interests. If the government wanted to remove uranium from a mine, it would have to notify the consortium, which in turn is strictly monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Moreover, because the two mines are closely regulated, quasi-governmental entities, selling uranium would require the approval of the minister of mines, the prime minister and probably the president. In short, there's simply too much oversight over too small an industry for a sale to have transpired.

It was the British who brought this up and, to my knowledge, they have not changed their mind.

I provide links when I feel it's necessary, and never because I feel bullied into it. So, keep spitting that pepsi. Or drooling it, whatever the case may be.

At least I don't waste thread space by providing a link, then printing half of it. Completely unnecessary, and not without purpose.

Other senior military lawyers warned in tones of sharp concern that aggressive interrogation techniques would endanger American soldiers taken prisoner and also diminish the country's standing as a leader in "the moral high road" approach to the laws of war.

I myself don't post often, but I do read here frequently. I have seen and clicked links provided by cheetah a good deal, in fact, as I recall, he/she placed a couple of links to declassified C.I.A. documents about Che Guevara, which you happened to contest. So what's the matter, memory going on you, old man? Just because cheetah doesn't put 10,000 links a day to right wing tabloids, as you do, doesn't equate to not providing links.

ppj says "jump"

a. Treatment of U.S. Servicemembers by Captors and compliance with International Law. b. Criminal and Civil Liability of DOD Military and Civilian Personnel in Domestic, Foreign, and International Forums. c. U.S. and International Public Support and Respect of U.S. Armed Forces. d. Pride, Discipline, and Self-Respect within the U.S. Armed Forces. e. Human Intelligence Exploitation and Surrender of Foreign Enemy Forces, and Cooperation and Support of Friendly Nations.

Like the little snot-nosed kid on the playground saying, my dad's stronger than your dad.

OMG, could you possibly sound any sillier?