Intelligence Scam (Flawed Uranium Intel from Forged Docs sold to Italians)

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/uranium030714_docs.html

The most sophisticated intelligence operation in the world was fooled by a low-level diplomat from Africa, intelligence sources told ABCNEWS.

---snip

However, the intelligence debacle grew out of a scam when an underpaid African diplomat who was stationed in Rome created bogus documents, which he then sold to the Italian secret service, sources said.

The Italians officially deny the sale, but intelligence sources told ABCNEWS the fake documents were produced in late 2001 in Rome, in a building that houses the tiny embassy of Niger.

The diplomat, who now has been recalled to Niger, sold the forged documents to the military branch of the Italian secret service for what sources say was a few thousand dollars.

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he still has a job?--oh right there's apprearances to worry over.

is the big story, don't you think?....Last night on CNN they said even when it was shown to Cheney that the info was falty, Cheney insisted it be included!!!

Maybe if journalists had applied these investigative powers when the rest of us had already suspected as much, the invasion would have been thwarted. I hope they're really proud of themselves for standing back and letting people die because they didn't want to tackle this when suspicions first arose.

This smells like a predesigned cover story. If this scam was orchestrated, as I believe it was, by disinformation operatives in concert with PNAC/OSP/INC/Likkudite interests, assignation of blame to such an individual would be a way of detouring an accurate assessment of culpability. The question I pose to myself is "Whose interests were served by such a hoax?" When I look at the timing ("late 2001") I can only conclude this was orchestrated by those interests.

When everyone else was swallowing the story that Saddam tried to buy uranium from Africa, I was suspicious because it was too convenient for the administration.

Now that we all know that Saddam did not get uranium from Africa, we have a story blaming a poor diplomat who is back in Niger. Once again, this seems too convenient for the administration.

Who is the diplomat? What does he have to say? Does he even exist? I doubt it.

It is very possible that a Bush operative forged the documents.

over 200 American soldiers and untold others were sold out for a few thousand dollars. I think I'll start writing intelligence assessments for the government, I could use a few thousand bucks. I seems like the truthfullness of documents isn't a concern, I could make up some really good shit.

If we know that the documents were sold to Italy...you know damn well we know who really is responsible for the forgeries. We just don't want anyone else to know! The same people who wanted the invasion in the first place would want there to be grounds for an invasion because they knew there really was no good reason to invade Iraq at that time.

they knew it was bogus.