| Date |
Event |
Source |
Link |
Notes |
| Jan 2nd 2001 |
The Niger Embassy in Rome, Italy is the victim
of a break-in |
Vanity Fair |
Niger
Break-In and
further background |
"...Little of value was missing—a wristwatch,
perfume, worthless documents, embassy stationery, and some official
stamps bearing the seal of the Republic of Niger" (Vanity
Fair) |
| Feb 12th 2002 |
Cheney requests CIA investigate possible sale of Uranium by
Niger to Iraq |
Select Committee on Intelligence - US Senate Committee Report |
Senate
Report on
Iraq Intelligence |
"Based on information from the CIA report from the foreign
service, on February 12,2002,
the DIA wrote a finished intelligence product titled Niamey
signed an agreement to sell 500 tons of uranium a year to Baghdad
(NMJIC [National Military Joint
Intelligence Center] Executive Highlight, Vol028-02, February
12, 2002). The product outlined the details in the DO intelligence
report, namely, that Niger had agreed to deliver 500 tons of
yellowcake uranium to Iraq [censored].
The piece concluded t.hat "Iraq probably is searching abroad
for natural uranium to assist in its nuclear weapons program."
The product did not include any judgments
about the credibility of the reporting." |
| Feb 26th 2002 |
Joseph Wilson (Valerie Plame's husband) is sent by the CIA
to invesigate possible sale of Uranium from Niger to Iraq |
|
What
I Didn't Find In Africa |
|
| March 5th 2002 |
Joseph Wilson is debriefed by the CIA on his trip to Niger.
No written report is made. |
|
What
I Didn't Find In Africa |
Wilson says he reported to the CIA that Iraqi attempts to
purchase uranium from Niger are unlikely |
| July 2002 |
Richard Dearlove returns from the USA after meeting with US
intelligence counterparts in Washington in July 2002.
The so-called "Downing Street Memo" purports to be
the minutes of a meeting between the British Prime Minister
and senior ministers on July 23, 2002 |
Washington Post |
The
Downing Street Memo |
The two most senior Intelligence officers of Britain and USA
meet to discuss Iraq. Dearlove is quoted (in the Downing
Street memo) as saying "..the Intelligence is being fixed
around the policy"
Was full disclosure of intelligence given between US and UK
governments particularly with regards respective intelligence
on the 500 tonnes, doubted by the Americans particularly post
Wilson's return from Niger. Did the forgeries form part
of these discussions or had they not surfaced by this time?? |
| July 23rd 2002 |
The Downing Street memo |
Various |
The
Downing St. Memo |
The UK's Attorney-General said that the
desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action.
There were
three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention,
or UNSC authorisation. The first and second
could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of
three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course
change. |
| Aug 18th 2002 |
"And the one of some importance,
the United Kingdom, is, I believe, going to be with us."
Richard Perle, US Defence Policy Board. ABC "This Week",
18 August 2002 |
BBC |
BBC |
Did British and USA have agreement for war as early as August
2002? |
| Sept 24th 2002 |
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the
British Government |
Various |
Niger
(generally) from
The Independent |
The British seal of approval over the 16
Words. |
| Oct 7th 2002 |
Bush speech in Cincinnati - 16 Words
removed from speech at request of Tenet (head of the CIA). |
|
|
|
| Forgeries 'revealed' circa 9th-15th October 2002 |
The Niger Forgeries 'reveal themselves' |
NBC News/ La Republica (Italy) |
The
Niger Forgeries |
It is alleged that the forgeries were initially 'offered for
sale..'. They surface in Rome. |
| Jan 16th 2003 |
Mint Source Recordings release Weapons
of Mass Delusion press
release just prior to Midem 2003 |
Mint
Source |
Jan 2003 Press
Release |
|
| Jan 28th 2003 |
Bush's "State of the Union" address, this time containing
the 16 Words "The British government
has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from Africa" removed from
the Cincinnati speech. |
White House |
2003
State of
The Union
Address
|
|
| Jan 30th 2003 |
"Iraq Its Infrastructure Of Concealment, Deception And
Intimidation", published on January 30, 2003 by the British
Government |
Various |
So called "Dodgy
Dossier" |
Parts of the dossier are admitted as having been lifted from
other non-credited academic sources |
| Mar 7th 2003 |
Attorney general releases his first report into legality of
War with Iraq |
The Guardian |
Attorney
General
changes his mind |
"The 13 pages of legal advice that Goldsmith drew up
on 7 March, according to a report in today's Mail on Sunday,
warned that Blair could be in breach of international law for
six reasons ranging from the lack of a second United Nations
resolution to UN inspector Hans Blix's continuing search for
weapons." (The Guardian)
|
| Mar 7th 2003 |
UK Government pushes for 'second resolution' at UN. UNSCR
1441 is not deemed appropriate according to Lord Goldsmith's
initial advice to authorise force |
BBC |
BBC |
|
| Mar 17th 2003 |
The Attorney General Lord Goldsmith 'changes his mind' about
legality of War with Iraq without a second resolution (or at
least fails to include the caveats from his previous advice).
A summary is prepared and given to Government |
The Guardian |
Attorney
General
changes his mind |
"Ten days later, he apparently changed his mind, delivering
a summary to Blair declaring the war was legal - the cue for
the invasion." (The Guardian) |
| Mar 18th |
UK Parliament debates use of force against Iraq |
|
|
|
| Mar 19th 2003 |
Start of the Iraq invasion |
|
|
|
| July 6th 2003 |
"What I Didn't Find in Africa"
Joe Wilson's opinion editorial in the New York Times |
New York Times |
What
I Didn't Find In Africa |
"I have little choice but to conclude that some of the
intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted
to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." What
I Didn't Find in Africa |
| Jul 14th 2003 |
Robert Novak in the Washington Post leaks Valerie Plame's
name as a CIA agent, blowing her cover and risking her contacts.
Valerie Plame is Joe Wilson's wife and a CIA operative. |
|
|
Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson argue that Valerie's cover was
blown as retribution by the Administration for Wilson's piece
in the New York Times on the 6th July. |
| 17th July 2003 |
The death of David Kelly. Gilligan gives evidence to a private
session of the Select Committee, and is criticised for not naming
his source. The BBC stand by Gilligan (for the time being) |
Various |
|
|
| July 7th 2004 |
"The Original Niger Reporting on a possible
uranium yellowcake sales agreement between Niger and Iraq first
came to the attention of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC)
on October 15,2001. The
Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Directorate of Operations
(DO) issued an intelligence report from a foreign government
service indicating that Niger planned to ship several tons of
uranium to Iraq . The intelligence report said the uranium sales
agreement had been in negotiation between the two countries
since at least early 1999, and was approved by the State Court
of Niger in late 2000. According to the cable, Nigerien President
Mamadou Tandja gave his stamp of approval for the agreement
and communicated his decision to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The report also indicated that in October 2000 Nigerien Minister
of Foreign Affairs Nassirou Sabo informed one of his ambassadors
in Euroeth at Niger. At the time, all IC analysts interviewed
by Committee staff considered this initial report to be very
limited and lacking needed detail. CIA, Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) and Department of Energy (DOE) analysts considered
the reporting to be "possible" while the Department
of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) regarded
the report as "highly suspect,"
primarily because INR analysts did not believe that Niger would
be likely to engage in such a transaction and did
not believe Niger would be able to transfer uranium to Iraq
because a French consortium maintained control of the Nigerien
uranium industry." |
Select Committee on Intelligence - US Senate Committee
Report p.36 (p.46 of linked pdf) |
Senate
Report on
Iraq Intelligence |
|
| 14/7/04 |
The Butler
Inquiry concludes:-
503. From our examination
of the intelligence and other material on Iraqi attempts to
buy uranium from Africa, we have concluded that:
a. It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited
Niger in
1999.
b. The British Government had intelligence from several different
sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of
acquiring
uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of
Niger’s exports, the intelligence was credible.
c. The evidence was not conclusive that Iraq actually purchased,
as
opposed to having sought, uranium and the British Government
did not claim this.
d. The forged documents were not available to the British
Government at the time its assessment was made, and so the
fact of the forgery does not undermine it. |
|
Butler
Report
|
The official British view appears to be that which is set
out in the Butler report into WMD's (published 14 July 2004
- and most notably paragraphs 490-503), suggesting that the
forgeries alone were not the sole source (or sources) for the
claim, though the report does not provide any evidence of these
additional sources, other than an oblique reference to a visit
from the former Iraqi Vatican envoy to the President of Niger
in 1999 and suggesting that as Niger's exports were 3/4 uranium
(*under the control of the French incidentally through whom
all sales had to be made), they wouldn't likely be talking about
the export of Goats (apparently Niger's other major export).
A former
Iraqi diplomat has publicly stated that there were no conversations
about Uranium......or Goats for that matter...and that the meeting
solely concerned an invitation from Iraq to the president of
Niger to visit Iraq. The Butler report also suggests that the
forged documents were not available to the British when Blair's
report (September 2002) into Iraq's WMD capabilities was published.
Other sources claim that Martino's
confessions (?) suggest that the letters/dosiers supplied
by 'la signora' in Rome to Rocco Martino may have been passed
to British intelligence as early as October 2001, or during
the course of 2002. See also Senate acknowledgment of awareness
of claim in 2001 (above). What level of discussion and transparency
was there in Dearlove's meetings in Washington in July 2002? |
| Apr 8th 2005 |
UK Intelligence Chiefs admit they got it wrong
on WMD's |
The Guardian |
The
Guardian |
|
| Mar 6th 2007 |
Scooter Libby found guilty of perjury, obstruction
of justice and lying to the FBI regarding the outing of Valerie
Plame (related to the 16 Words
and her husband - see above) |
New York Times |
Libby
Guilty |
 |
| May 16th 2007 |
Joseph C Wilson contacts Pure Mint with a quote about 16 Words. |
Joe Wilson |
|
"16 Words" is a hauntingly
effective anti war anthem that uses George Bush's own words
to condemn him. A listener of this song, so powerful in its
stark simplicity, comes away understanding that the blood on
Bush's hands stems from the lies that came out of his mouth."
- Joe Wilson |
