THE ITALIAN CONNECTION

British and Italian governments confirm forgeries were Italian

"Italy may have passed on to the United States and Britain disputed claims that Saddam Hussein had been seeking uranium in Africa to make nuclear weapons, the head of a parliamentary intelligence committee said Wednesday. Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government has denied that Italy's intelligence services passed on 'documents' about the matter. But committee chief Enzo Bianco speaking after a top government official addressed the commission in secret, did not deny that the information may have been passed on informally. 'This is possible,' he said. 'I don't rule it out.' Cabinet undersecretary and top Berlusconi aide Gianni Letta, who briefed the intelligence commission Wednesday afternoon, refused to comment on the hearing."
Italy May Be Source on Uranium Story
Fox News, 16 July 2003

"The report in Rome's La Repubblica quoted a source from Sismi, the Italian military intelligence service, as saying in late 2001 or early 2002, the MI6 British intelligence unit obtained the documents. The source implied that Italian colleagues provided the information to the British intelligence officials. 'There were several meetings, at a higher level, almost always in London,' the source was quoted as saying. 'Despite this positive climate, we don't know if it were the English who passed on that stuff to the CIA. It's rather probable.'"
Italian Intelligence Agency Source
Italy May Be Source on Uranium Story
Fox News, 16 July 2003

"..'The information in the British Government's September dossier regarding Niger categorically did not come from the forged Italian documents; it came from our own source. That information was not passed on to the US,' said an intelligence source last week. 'It was an entirely separate and credible source.'
Intelligence source quoted in Observer 13 July 2003

"An early explanation for the forgeries was that they were created by a diplomat in Niger's Rome embassy and passed or sold to the Italians, who then circulated summaries of the information. Two weeks ago the Italians finally admitted they were the source. After a closed session of the Italian parliament, it was confirmed that the allegation was being investigated by the military intelligence organisation in 2001 and that a 'reciprocal exchange of information' was made with allied secret services. Congressional and parliamentary committees, the FBI and Italian magistrates are all trying to get to the bottom of what might charitably be called wilful incompetence"
Uranium that never was
Guardian, 31 July 2003

UN confirms London and Washington had summaries of forged documents from Italy

"U.S. intelligence officials said they had not even seen the actual evidence, consisting of supposed government documents from Niger, until last month [i.e. Feb 2002]. The source of their information, and their doubts, officials said, was a written summary provided more than six months ago [i.e. prior to the publication of the UK dossier] by the Italian intelligence service, which first obtained the documents... a U.N. official recently told reporters, a Niger diplomat turned the letters over to Italian intelligence, which provided summaries of the information to Washington and London."
CIA Questioned Documents Linking Iraq, Uranium Ore
Washington Post 22 March 2003

"The uranium-from-Africa affair took a new twist yesterday when an Italian newspaper claimed that MI6 had been duped [oh yes?] by forged documents given to it by Italy’s military intelligence service.... La Repubblica published photocopies of four documents which suggest Iraq reached an agreement to buy 500 tonnes of uranium 'yellowcake' from Niger. They appear to contain obvious errors: one document, dated October 10, 2000, has the signature of Allele Habibou, the Niger Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Minister who left office in 1989.... The newspaper quotes a source from Sismi, the Italian military intelligence agency, as saying that the documents were passed to MI6 in 2002. Six documents referring to Niger, possibly the same as those given to the Italians, were also passed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by Washington. Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, told the UN Security Council in March that they were crude forgeries."
MI6 was 'duped by forgeries'
London Times, 17 July 2003

"The Niger connection became one of the most important and most controversial elements in the build-up to war, and both Britain and the US used it to claim that Iraq was 'reconstituting' its nuclear programme. It later emerged that the report was based on forged letters obtained by Italian intelligence from an African diplomat. The Italians were said to have passed the letters to their British counterparts, from where they reached the CIA. When the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finally had the opportunity to inspect the documents, nearly a year later, they were dismissed as fakes in less than a day. Neither the US nor Britain ever gave the IAEA any other information to back up their allegations on Iraq's uranium-buying activities, despite the 'separate sources' cited by Mr Straw."
Ministers knew war papers were forged, says diplomat
Independent, 29 June 2003

"The prime minister's office said the extra intelligence had come from a foreign service and could not be disclosed."
Iraq uranium claim sows confusion
BBC Online, 12 July 2003

"In October, the Intelligence Community (IC) produced a classified, 90 page National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq’s WMD programs. ...The NIE states... states: 'A foreign government service reported that as of early 2001, Niger planned to send several tons of pure 'uranium' (probably yellowcake) to Iraq. ....[but] the claims of Iraqi pursuit of natural uranium in Africa are, in INR’s assessment, highly dubious.' ...
George J. Tenet Director of Central Intelligence
CIA Statement, 11 July 2003

Which 'foreign government service' was it that reported claims that the US NIE considered 'highly dubious'?
Was it Blair's? Was it Berlusconi's?

"One western diplomat said: 'As far as I know, the only other evidence Britain has about the Niger connection is based on intelligence coming from other western countries which saw the same forgeries. Blair's claim that he has other evidence is nonsense. These foreign intelligence agencies are basing their claims on the same forgeries as the Brits.' The diplomat's accusations tally with a letter sent in April, before the White House climbdown, by the State Department to Democrat House of Representative's member Henry Waxman, who has been demanding answers on the deception carried out against the American and British people. In it, the State Department admits that it received intelligence from the UK and another 'western European ally' -- which many believe to be Italy -- that Iraq was trying to buy Niger uranium. But it adds: 'not until March 4 did we learn that, in fact, the second western European government had based its assessment on the evidence already available to the US that was subsequently discredited'. In other words, as one intelligence source said: 'It was based on the same crap the British used'. Given the letter is dated April 29, this information invites the question: why did it take until last week for the White House to admit the Niger connection was rubbish?"
Niger and Iraq: the war's biggest lie?
Glasgow Sunday Herald, 14 July 2003

'Fight Smart' answer to the above question - because former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson didn't go public with what he knew about the Niger situation until the middle of the diversionary Campbell saga in July 2003. If Wilson hadn't piped up the media would not be discusing this now. Britain and the US thought they'd got away with it when the press mainly ignored the Niger forgeries story as it first broke in March.
It was during May and June that press reports about Britain's alleged involvement with the forged documents started to re-emerge.

"Where else did the U.S. stretch evidence to generate public support for the war? If so many doubted the uranium allegations, who inside the government kept putting those allegations on the table?.... late in 2001, the Italian government came into possession of evidence suggesting that Iraq was again trying to purchase yellowcake from Niger. Rome's source provided half a dozen letters and other documents alleged to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials negotiating a sale. The Italians' evidence was shared with both Britain and the U.S. When it got to Washington, the Iraq-Niger uranium report caught the eye of someone important: Vice President Dick Cheney...."
A Question of Trust
TIME, 13 July 2003

“Moreover, contrary to your assertion, there does not appear to be any other specific and credible evidence that Iraq sought to obtain uranium from an African country. The Administration has not provided any such evidence to me or my staff despite our repeated requests. To the contrary, the State Department wrote me that the ‘other source’ of this claim was another Western European ally. But as the State Department acknowledged in its letter, ‘the second Western European government had based its assessment on the evidence already available to the U.S. that was subsequently discredited.’...”
Letter to US National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice
Representative Henry Waxman, 10 June 2003

"The US intelligence agency asked a retired diplomat to investigate reports from Britain and Italy that Saddam had sought uranium for possible use in a nuclear weapon....Early this year, UN inspectors announced that the uranium reports were based primarily on forged documents initially obtained by European intelligence agencies...."
Blair ignored CIA warning over forged documents on Saddam's nuclear capability
Independent, 13 June 2003

How many Western European allies does the US have on this issue other than Britain?

"....late in 2001, the Italian government came into possession of evidence suggesting that Iraq was again trying to purchase yellowcake from Niger. Rome's source provided half a dozen letters and other documents alleged to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials negotiating a sale. The Italians' evidence was shared with both Britain and the U.S. When it got to Washington, the Iraq-Niger uranium report caught the eye of someone important: Vice President Dick Cheney...."
A Question of Trust
TIME, 13 July 2003

"... the Italian government denied that it had passed documents about Niger's uranium to other countries. The denial came months after it was first reported that the forged documents were fed by Italy to Britain and the US. Time magazine in the US said Italy passed on a dozen letters and other documents about the claims to Britain and the US in late 2001."
Agencies hit by row over Iraq weapons
Guardian, 14 July 2003

"U.S. intelligence officials said they had not even seen the actual evidence, consisting of supposed government documents from Niger, until last month [i.e. Feb 2002]. The source of their information, and their doubts, officials said, was a written summary provided more than six months ago [i.e. prior to the publication of the UK dossier] by the Italian intelligence service, which first obtained the documents... a U.N. official recently told reporters, a Niger diplomat turned the letters over to Italian intelligence, which provided summaries of the information to Washington and London."
CIA Questioned Documents Linking Iraq, Uranium Ore
Washington Post 22 March 2003

"The documents first came into the U.S. government's hands when a journalist turned them over to U.S. Embassy officials in Rome. Other officials said previously that the Italian intelligence services had given the documents to the British, which first mentioned the Niger-Iraq claim in its published case against Iraq in September. 'We acquired the documents in October of 2002, and they were shared widely within the U.S. government, with all the appropriate agencies in various ways,' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. The embassy promptly informed the CIA station chief in Rome that it had the documents and, on Oct. 19, gave copies to intelligence officials... On Feb. 4, the U.N. inspectors' Iraq team was called to the U.S. mission in Vienna and verbally briefed on the contents of the documents. A day later, they received copies, according to officials familiar with the inspectors' work"
U.S. Had Uranium Papers Earlier
Washington Post, 18 July 2003

"The FBI, plunging full steam into the Iraq intelligence controversy, is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the forged documents that purported to show that Saddam Hussein's regime was seeking to buy significant quantities of uranium, Newsweek has learned.... Agents have been dispatched to Italy and other foreign countries to look into the murky origins of the documents. In addition, Szady has ordered the questioning of officials at the State Department and the CIA, a particularly awkward development given the longstanding rivalry between the bureau and the agency.  The probe thus injects a new wild card into the mounting controversy over how bogus information gleaned from the documents made its way into President Bush's State of the Union Message."
Enter the FBI
Newsweek, 16 July 2003

"An early explanation for the forgeries was that they were created by a diplomat in Niger's Rome embassy and passed or sold to the Italians, who then circulated summaries of the information. Two weeks ago the Italians finally admitted they were the source. After a closed session of the Italian parliament, it was confirmed that the allegation was being investigated by the military intelligence organisation in 2001 and that a 'reciprocal exchange of information' was made with allied secret services. Congressional and parliamentary committees, the FBI and Italian magistrates are all trying to get to the bottom of what might charitably be called wilful incompetence".
Uranium that never was
Guardian, 31 July 2003

Italian Oil Interests In Iraq

"Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the launch of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, in telephone talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Britain's Tony Blair, the Kremlin press service said Monday...."
Putin hails relaunch of Iraq oil for food program in talks with Berlusconi, Blair
Agence France-Presse, 31 March 2003

"Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that Russia was also holding Iraq to the $8 billion Saddam owed Moscow. 'We believe that the contracts in force must be respected,' Kasyanov said. 'Debts must be paid and respected.' The Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA's chief executive, Vittorio Mincato, met Friday with Kasyanov and Alexei Miller, head of Gazprom, to discuss working together in the oil and gas sectors, Dow Jones reported. The three met to look for ways to 'enhance cooperation in the gas and upstream oil sectors with a view to a possible alliance.' Translation: An alliance of giant oil companies to carve up Iraq's rich oil reserves. That sounds familiar."
More blood for oil
WorldNetDaily, 1 May 2003

"Eni has the aspiration of being in Iraq, even if at the moment the situation in the Middle Eastern country still is confused after the conflict with the USA"
Eni aspires to place in Iraq
Reuters, 9 May 2003 (Google translation)

"The Italian state holds 30% of Eni's capital and is by far the company's biggest shareholder. Eni's strategy to reduce exposure to petrochemicals and invest more resources into its lucrative exploration and production business is a key part of Mincato's strategy, which was well-received during a January presentation to institutional investors in London...'The Treasury expresses its deep satisfaction with Eni's results and programs,' ministry spokesman Mario Stella Richter told a shareholders meeting in May."
Eni: Petrochemicals Sale Program Not Blocked By Government
Dow Jones Newswires, 4 July 2003

"My forecast is that between 2000 and 2005 the world will be reaching peak production from our known fields."
Franco Bernabe, chief executive of the [30% government owned] Italian oil company Eni SpA
Energy apocalypse looms as the world runs out of oil
Observer, 26 July 1998

"President Bush, asked about the Niger issue at a news conference during his visit to South Africa, did not answer directly but said that he was 'certain that Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction programme'. Like Mr Blair, he has dropped the assertion that Iraq actually had weapons. Both now say that it had a 'programme.' "
Did Iraq try to get African uranium?
BBC Online 9 July

"There is no longer any serious doubt that Bush administration officials deceived us into war. The key question now is why so many influential people are in denial, unwilling to admit the obvious....  even people who aren't partisan Republicans shy away from confronting the administration's dishonest case for war, because they don't want to face the implications."
Denial and Deception
New York Times, 24 June 2003

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