Cited Book: The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity: A Diplomat’s Memoir

In response to a request from Cheney’s office, the CIA sent former ambassador Joe Wilson to investigate the possibility that Niger was selling uranium to Saddam.

Wilson reported back that the letter alleging that was obviously a fake. It was not even signed by the right bureaucrats. Further, Niger had no uranium to sell. France had long ago bought up the entire supply.

The Italians had a copy of the letter and it was obvious to them it was a forgery. They were puzzled why the high tech experts in the CIA were taking it as genuine. So they wrote and presented their evidence that it was a forgery.

Yet Bush went ahead anyway, pretending it was genuine.

Wilson went public and Scooter Libby, Cheney’s top aide, outed Wilson’s wife Valerie Plame as a CIA agent, thus endangering her life and those of her fellow agents.