2002 Plame affair timeline

1 2002

1.1 february 2002
1.2 march 2002
1.3 september 2002
1.4 october 2002
1.5 december 2002

2002
february 2002

flow of valerie plame information according media reports



12 february: vice president cheney reads dia report on alleged niger-iraq uranium sale , asks cia’s analysis.
12 february: valerie plame, c.i.a. employee working in counterproliferation division, sends memo deputy chief of c.i.a. s directorate of operations stating husband has contact former prime minister , director of mines in niger other contacts might prove useful in shedding light on supposed niger-iraq uranium contract.
13 february: operations official cables overseas officer seeking approval of joe wilson investigation.
19 february: cia staffers, including plame, meet discuss sending wilson niger. according plame, there few minutes.
26 february 2002: joseph c. wilson travels niger @ request of cia. joe wilson meets former minister of mines, mai manga, said knew of no sales of uranium between niger , rogue states. states mines closely monitored mining transport loading making @ least difficult if not impossible rogue state obtain uranium through channel.

joe wilson indicates in conversation former niger prime minister, ibrahim assane mayaki, pm indicated not aware of sales contract iraq in june 1999 approached businessman, asking meet iraqi delegation discuss expanding commercial relations. (note: niger s 2 largest exports uranium , livestock). wilson indicated thought meeting took place mayaki, aware of illegality of such activities, let matter drop due sanctions on iraq.
according report of u.s. senate select intelligence committee, (july 2004, pages 43–46), former prime minister of niger mayaki told wilson in niger mayaki interpreted june 1999 proposal of businessman expanding commercial relations offer buy uranium yellowcake. however, interpretation. iraqi did not mention word uranium or yellowcake.
the senate report s exact words on mayaki s suspicions of iraq s interest in uranium: mayaki said, however, in june 1999, [a few words blacked out] businessman, approached him , insisted mayaki meet iraqi delegation discuss expanding commercial relations between niger , iraq. [cia] intelligence report [on wilson s trip] said mayaki interpreted expanding commercial relations mean delegation wanted discuss uranium yellowcake sales. intelligence report said although meeting took place, mayaki let matter drop due u.n. sanctions on iraq.
the united states senate select committee on intelligence faulted c.i.a. not investigating iraqi efforts obtain uranium niger, citing reports both foreign service , united states navy uranium niger destined iraq , stored in warehouse in benin, country located between niger , togo.



march 2002

5 march: wilson debriefed 2 c.i.a. officials @ home.

september 2002

9 september 2002: according italian newspaper la repubblica, head of italy s military intelligence agency (sismi), nicolò pollari, meets secretly stephen hadley, bush s deputy national security adviser; purpose of meeting, reported la repubblica, bypass skeptical cia , documents purporting detail iraqi attempt purchase niger uranium directly white house. hadley , others attended meeting have little memory of details of discussed, , in press conference hadley characterized meeting courtesy call lasted less 15 minutes. according italian prime minister s office, meeting between national security advisor, condoleezza rice, , nicolò pollari, in presence of italian , delegation included stephen hadley.

october 2002

6 october 2002: national security council sent sixth draft of speech president bush give in cincinnati cia. draft contained statement iraq having been caught attempting purchase 500 metric tons of uranium oxide. george tenet, head of cia, , other of cia officials, directed text removed speech certainty regarding accuracy of claim weak.
7 october 2002: george w. bush gives speech in cincinnati in he, first time, lays out in detail case disarming iraq. in speech asserts, if iraqi regime able produce, buy, or steal amount of highly enriched uranium little larger single softball, have nuclear weapon in less year. directed previous day george tenet, particularly through contact deputy national security adviser stephen hadley, speech not reference iraq s alleged pursuit of nigerien uranium.
9 october 2002: elisabetta burba, italian journalist panorama magazine, part of media empire of italian prime minister silvio berlusconi, contacts u.s. embassy in rome, requesting authentication of documents of interest has been offered. these documents allegedly represent contract iraq purchase uranium yellowcake niger. owner has reportedly told elisabetta burba can review documents can use them if pays 15,000 euros. panorama refuses pay amount unless first verified authentic.
15 october 2002: embassy in rome faxes copies of documents state department s bureau of nonproliferation in washington, in turn provided copies state department s bureau of intelligence , research (inr). few weeks, january 2003, before inr analysts conclude documents fabricated fakes.
16 october 2002: during inter-agency meeting, analysts defense intelligence agency, u.s. department of energy, national security agency, , cia obtain copies of documents. none of 4 cia analysts in attendance remembers taking copy, later show in cia vault during postmortem search.

december 2002

19 december 2002: date uranium claim, george tenet had removed bush s speech in cincinnati, ohio, in october 2002, had found way state department fact sheet. following that, pentagon requests authoritative judgement national intelligence council whether or not iraq had sought uranium niger.




^ john pike. report on u.s. intelligence community s prewar intelligence assessments on iraq . globalsecurity.org. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ gary leupp: niger uranium deception , plame affair, chronology . counterpunch.org. 2005-11-09. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ cite error: named reference stevenson-2005 invoked never defined (see page).
^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html
^ clifford d. may on joe wilson on national review online . nationalreview.com. 2004-07-12. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ cite error: named reference shane-2005 invoked never defined (see page).
^ esteri » pollari andò alla casa bianca per offrire la sua verità sull iraq . repubblica.it. 2005-10-25. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ press briefing national security advisor stephen hadley . georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ hadley meeting not true . archived original on december 16, 2005. 
^ peter grier (15 november 2005). yellowcake plamegate : how mishandled intelligence in run-up iraq war led indictment in white house . christian science monitor. retrieved 24 november 2013. 
^ pincus, walter; allen, mike (13 july 2003). cia got uranium reference cut in oct . washington post. retrieved 30 april 2010. 
^ president bush outlines iraqi threat . georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. retrieved 2013-03-16. 
^ gellman, barton; linzer, dafna (9 april 2006). concerted effort discredit bush critic: prosecutor describes cheney, libby key voices pitching iraq-niger story . washington post. retrieved 23 november 2013.