Joseph C. Wilson IV

Joseph C. Wilson IV is a retired former U.S. ambassador. Wilson served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq during the 1991 Iraq war and subsequently served in a range of diplomatic and advisory roles in particular on U.S. policy in Africa. Wilson was one of the prominent figures in the U.S. government who have charged the Bush administration with using cooked intelligence to justify war in Iraq.

Wilson subsequently founded and was CEO of JCWilson International Ventures, Corp., a firm specializing in Strategic Management and International Business Development and was an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington DC. His profile with MEI listed his areas of interest as " Iraq, Military/Defense, Regional Security, Terrorism, US-Arab Relations, US Foreign Policy, Saddam Hussein".(Wilson is no longer with the MEI and was last listed on their website in late 2004).

Early in 2007, Wilson became vice chairman of Jarch Capital, LLC. In announcing Wilson's role in the firm, Jarch Capital's Chairman Phillippe M. Heilberg states, "Not only does Ambassador Wilson bring an incredible amount of experience and knowledge on Africa to Jarch Capital, his views on American foreign policy and National Security are widely respected in Washington" and he "will be instrumental in the growth of Jarch as it expands in Africa, sometimes in politically sensitive areas."

Profile

"Joseph C. Wilson, IV served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from June 1997 until July 1998, responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. He was a principal architect of President Bill Clinton's historic trip to Africa in March 1998 and a leading proponent of the Africa Trade Bill.

"Wilson was the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces, Europe, 1995-1997. 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, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. During 'Desert Shield' he was the acting Ambassador and was responsible for the freeing of several hundred American hostages. He was the last official American to meet with Saddam Hussein before 'Desert Storm'."

A biographical profile with MEI alsi listed Wilson as having been "American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow for Senator Albert Gore and the House Majority Whip, Rep. Thomas Foley".

Bush's Niger Uranium to Iraq claim

The claim that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Africa was repeated in George W. Bush's State of the Union Address in January 2003. The controversial 16 words used by US President George W Bush on January 28, 2003 were:

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

In March that year the International Atomic Energy Agency, when it finally obtained the documents referred to by Colin Powell to the United Nations Security Council alleging transactions between Niger and Iraq, concluded that they were obvious fakes. (For a comprehensive account of this see the Wikipedia article September Dossier).

In the July 6, 2003 issue of the New York Times, Wilson contributed an "op-ed" entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa," in which he states that on the basis of his "experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war," he has "little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."

In this account, often referred to later as his "New York Times 'op-ed,'" Wilson describes the basis for his mission to Niger as follows: "The vice president's office asked a serious question [about the truth of allegations that Iraq was seeking to purchase uranium yellowcake from Niger]. I was asked to help formulate the answer" (italics added).

In the last two paragraphs of his op-ed, Wilson relates his perspective to the Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War:

I was convinced before the war that the threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein required a vigorous and sustained international response to disarm him. Iraq possessed and had used chemical weapons; it had an active biological weapons program and quite possibly a nuclear research program — all of which were in violation of United Nations resolutions. Having encountered Mr. Hussein and his thugs in the run-up to the Persian Gulf war of 1991, I was only too aware of the dangers he posed. But were these dangers the same ones the administration told us about? We have to find out. America's foreign policy depends on the sanctity of its information. For this reason, questioning the selective use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq is neither idle sniping nor "revisionist history," as Mr. Bush has suggested. The act of war is the last option of a democracy, taken when there is a grave threat to our national security. More than 200 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq already. We have a duty to ensure that their sacrifice came for the right reasons.

(For detailed discussion of Wilson's comments and the counter-attack from the Bush administration, see the Wikipedia article Joseph C. Wilson).

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Bush administration leaks
• Bush administration scandals
• Bush lies and deceptions
• Iraq Survey Group
• Karl Rove: Outing Valerie Plame
• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity (2004 book)
• Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove
• weapons of mass destruction
• weapons of mass destruction investigation

External links

Profiles

• "Joseph C. Wilson" in the Wikipedia.
• Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV, Corporate & Public Strategy Advisory Group (CPS) profile.
• Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV, Middle East Institute profile.

Political Activism & Campaign Contributions

• Campaign Contribution Search: Joseph C. Wilson, NewsMeat, accessed July 5, 2005.
• "Wilson Contributed Max To Kerry Campaign," Drudge Report, September 29, 2003: "Wilson, Joseph C 5/23/2003 $1,000.00 Washington, DC 20007 JC Wilson International Ventures/Bu -[Contribution] JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC."
• Rowan Scarborough, "Wilson, wife have tight ties to Democrats," Washington Times, October 2, 2003.
• Joseph Kurl, "Spouse of outed CIA officer signs on with Kerry," Washington Times, February 14, 2004.

By Joseph C. Wilson

• "War in Iraq: Consequences," Washington Post, April 3, 2003. Wilson is titled "Former Acting Ambassador to Iraq."
• "What I Didn't Find in Africa," New York Times, July 6, 2003.
• Letter to the Editor: "Debunking Distortions About My Trip to Niger," Washington Post, July 17, 2004.
• "A Right-Wing Smear Is Gathering Steam," The L.A. Daily Worker, July 21, 2004.

Interviews

• Bill Moyers, Profile: Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, IV, and Interview Transcript, NOW, February 28, 2003.
• "The TPM Interview With Ambassador Joseph Wilson," Talking Points Memo, September 16, 2003. (27-page pdf).
• "Ambassador Wilson on Identity Leak," NPR, September 29, 2003: "Alex Chadwick speaks with former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV about the alleged leak by the Bush administration of the identity of his wife, who is the CIA operative named in the media."
• "Interview: Joseph C. Wilson," PBS Frontline, October 9, 2003.
• Wolf Blitzer, Segment: "Ambassador Wilson: Bush Should Fire Employees Who Don't Cooperate with Justice Department," CNN, August 16, 2004.

Articles & Commentary

2003

• Robert Novak, "Mission to Niger," townhall.com, July 14, 2003.
• Matthew Cooper, Massimo Calabresi, and John F. Dickerson, "A War on Wilson? Inside the Bush Administration's feud with the diplomat who poured cold water on the Iraq-uranium connection," Time, July 17, 2003.
• "Wilson: From Envoy To Accuser," CBS News, October 1, 2003.
• Lynette Clemetson, "Adviser to Bush's Father Redefines Himself as Wary Whistle-Blower," New York Times, October 5, 2003.
• Darlene Superville, "Ex-envoy in CIA case not the cautious type. Wilson isn't shy about assigning blame to White House," (cache file), Associated Press, October 6, 2003.
• "War, Truth and Consequences," PBS Frontline, October 9, 2003, includes a lengthy interview with Wilson.
• "Joseph Wilson promoting critique of govt. propaganda by Sam Gardiner," indybay.org, October 14, 2003: From usnews.com reports: Wilson tells us he plans to circulate the text of a briefing by analyst Sam Gardiner that suggests the White House and Pentagon made up or distorted over 50 war stories."
• Paul Bedard, Wilson adds ammo to hit war credibility gap, USNews.com "Washington Whispers", October 20, 2003: "Just as former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's story that Bushies blew his CIA wife's cover to get back at his criticism of the war in Iraq was getting old, he has stumbled on new ammo to hit the administration's credibility. Wilson tells us he plans to circulate the text of a briefing by analyst Sam Gardiner that suggests the White House and Pentagon made up or distorted over 50 war stories. You know some tall tales, like the Pvt. Jessica Lynch story. But there's more, says Gardiner, a war gamer who has taught at the National War College. Like how defense officials said the first Iraqi unit marines encountered, the 51st Mechanized Infantry Division, had surrendered four days before it actually did. And he says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers gave bad or deliberately incomplete info on several topics. Sure, propaganda has always been used in war to deceive and demoralize the enemy. But these guys went way overboard, Gardiner says. 'Never before have so many stories been created to sell a war,' he insists. 'And they probably didn't need it.'"
• Timothy Noah, "Whopper: Joseph Wilson. Say goodbye to Plamegate," Slate, December 3, 2003.

2004

• Bill Sammon, "British report undermines Wilson on prewar data," Washington Times, July 15, 2004.
• Susan Schmidt, "Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission. Report Disputes Wilson's Claims on Trip, Wife's Role," Washington Post, July 20, 2004: Several months after the scandal broke, Schmidt wrote that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating intelligence failures in Iraq had determined that Wilson lied about his wife's involvement and his own investigation.
• Martin Peretz, "Turning Tale," The New Republic, July 21, 2004.

2005

• Scott Shane, "Private Spy and Public Spouse Live at Center of Leak Case," New York Times, July 5, 2005.
• M. Kane Jeeves, "Bush's Damaged Control," mkanejeeves.com, July 5, 2005.
• SusanG, "Joe Wilson on Sentencing of Judith Miller," stevegilliard.blogspot.com, July 6, 2005: "Clearly, the conspiracy to cover up the web of lies that underpinned the invasion of Iraq is more important to the White House than coming clean on a serious breach of national security. Thus has Ms Miller joined my wife, Valerie, and her twenty years of service to this nation as collateral damage in the smear campaign launched when I had the temerity to challenge the President on his assertion that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium yellowcake from Africa. ... The real victims of this cover-up, which may have turned criminal, are the Congress, the Constitution and, most tragically, the Americans and Iraqis who have paid the ultimate price for Bush's folly."
• Murray Waas, "Exclusive: Plame Game Over?" American Prospect, April 6, 2005.
• "'The President Should Fire Rove!'," BradBlog, July 13, 2005.
• Larisa Alexandrova, "Interview: Ambassador Wilson, husband of outed CIA agent, sees larger Administration role in leak," The Raw Story, July 13, 2005.
• Dan Froomkin, "A Compelling Story," White House Watch Blog/Washington Post, March 31, 2006.
• John Aravosis, "Republicans now trying to Swift Boat Ambassador Joe Wilson over Rove-Treason-Gate," AMERICAblog, November 8, 2005.
• Murray Waas *"The Meeting" The American Prospct, as reposted on CBSnews.com, August 8, 2005.
• Murray Waas, "House Intelligence Committee Votes Down Plame Resolution of Inquiry," Whatever Already!, (blog) Sept. 15, 2005.
• Murray Waas, "Pressure on Ashcroft to Recuse Himself" Alternet, Oct. 31, 2005.

2006

• Dan Froomkin, "A Compelling Story," White House Watch Blog/Washington Post, March 31, 2006.
• "US officials 'betrayed' CIA agent," BBC, July 14, 2006.
• Dan Froomkin, "Another Stab at the Truth," Washington Post, July 14, 2006.
• Murray Waas "Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic," National Journal, July 3, 2006.

2007

• See trial of Scooter Libby.
• SilentPatriot, "Countdown: Joe Wilson Reacts to Libby Verdict," Crooks and Liars, March 6, 2007.
• Tom MacGuire "We Help the Editors of the National Journal" Just One Minute, Jan. 17, 2007.

Wikipedia also has an article on Joseph C. Wilson IV. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.