"In September 2002, however, Niger re-emerged. The British government published a white paper asserting that Saddam Hussein and his unconventional arms posed an immediate danger. As evidence, the report cited Iraq's attempts to purchase uranium from an African country. Then, in January, President Bush, citing the British dossier, repeated the charges about Iraqi efforts to buy uranium from Africa. The next day, I reminded a friend at the State Department of my trip and suggested that if the president had been referring to Niger, then his conclusion was not borne out by the facts as I understood them. He replied that perhaps the president was speaking about one of the other three African countries that produce uranium: Gabon, South Africa or Namibia. At the time, I accepted the explanation."
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Memoirists from the United StatesAmbassadors of the United StatesDiplomats of the United StatesPeople from Connecticut
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Joseph C. Wilson
Joseph C. Wilson (November 6, 1949 – September 27, 2019) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Gabon and to Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995.
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