Niger-Joe Wilson-Uranium-Iraq-CIA Mess

I have read a few things about the contradictory statements that U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson made about Iraq's buying relationship with Niger concerning Uranium. Wilson had said "it was unlikely any uranium transaction had taken place andthe administration appeared to have been manipulating the intelligence." I believe this report came after Bush made the statement that "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," in his 2003 State of the Union address. After Wilson's findings were reported, Bush's statement just became more fodder for people who opposed Bush's War on Terrorism and felt that he had no facts to back up his claims.

Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson

However, since this time, the Senate Committee studying these claims has "described various reports about Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from French, British and unidentified foreign governments." Another interesting fact that bolsters Bush's claims is the fact that "uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports."

As far as I know, this Committee has not yet officially released its findings, but it should be interesting to see what happens. Some say that Wilson lied to get support for John Kerry.

Like I said before, some of the stories that I have read have been very confusing, but I hope that you find what I have said helpful. If anyone knows more about this subject or can put it in better terms, please let me know. I have somewhat fallen behind in this topic, which puts me at a slight disadvantage.