The Freep investigate L'affaire Wilson [View All]

[maha]

On this thread: FR ALERT: 2002 Official Bio of Joseph Wilson mentions his wife.

The Freep found Joe Wilson's official biography on the web, and are making much merriment over the fact that the official bio says that he is married to the former Valerie Plame and has two children.

Well, say the Freep, if keeping her identity was such a big deal, why was her name in the official biography?

Of course, the mouth breathers miss the point. The secret blown in the Novak column was not Plame's marriage to Joseph Wilson; the secret was that she was a CIA operative. And the bio doesn't mention that.

Duh!

Anyway, the reason I was surfing for Wilson's bio is that Bush supporters allege that Wilson was unqualified for the assignment to investigate a Niger-Iraq uranium sale; therefore, his assignment must have been politically motivated.

Well, here's a section of Wilson's biography. Tell me he wasn't qualified:

Ambassador Wilson served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from June 1997 until July 1998. In that capacity he was responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. ...

He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995. From 1988 to 1991, Ambassador Wilson served in Baghdad, Iraq as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy. During “Desert Shield” he was the acting Ambassador and was responsible for the negotiations that resulted in the release of several hundred American hostages. He was the last official American to meet with Saddam Hussein before the launching of “Desert Storm.”

Ambassador Wilson was a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Service from 1976 until 1998. His early assignments included Niamey, Niger, 1976-1978; Lome, Togo, 1978-79; the State Department Bureau of African Affairs, 1979-1981; and Pretoria, South Africa, 1981-1982.

In 1982, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission in Bujumbura, Burundi. ... He was Deputy Chief of Mission in Brazzaville, Congo, 1986-88, prior to his assignment to Baghdad.

... He is a graduate of the Senior Seminar (1992), the most advanced International Affairs training offered by the U.S. Government. He speaks fluent French.

Ambassador Wilson holds the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the University of California, Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the American Foreign Service Association William R. Rivkin Award. ...

And this man was NOT QUALIFED to investigate a sale of uranium between Iraq and Niger? On what planet?

Yet the freeps and dittoheads and neocons see nothing wrong with the blatantly political appointment of David Kay to investigate WMDs in Iraq. Of course not.