March 7, 2003 – The U.S. and allies Britain, Spain and Bulgaria appear before the U.N. Security Council. Their proposed resolution is that Saddam Hussein be given a deadline to disarm by March 17.

March 7, 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the U.N. Security Council:

“If Iraq genuinely wanted to disarm, we would not have to be worrying about setting up means of looking for mobile biological units or any units of that kind. They would be presented to us. We would not need an extensive program to search for and look for underground facilities that we know exist. The very fact that we must make these requests seems to me to show that Iraq is still not cooperating.

POWELL: The inspectors should not have to look under every rock, go to every crossroad, peer into every cave for evidence, for proof. And we must not allow Iraq to shift the burden of proof onto the inspectors. Nor can we return to the failed bargain of Resolution 1284, which offered partial relief for partial disclosure. 1441 requires full and immediate compliance, and we must hold Iraq to its terms.”

 
Again, this is the inescapable box, the double bind, in which the administration places Iraq: ‘We say you have weapons of mass destruction, and the only way you can deny WMD is by showing them to us.’

 
The administration uses the address by Powell—who is much more highly respected than Bush and Cheney, as they clearly perceive—to the fullest. Many of the most prominent figures in the news media also seize on it as a fig leaf for their acquiescence in the war-boosting that is widely questioned by ordinary people.

Same day -- The International Atomic Energy Agency calls the Niger documents “not authentic”: IAEA Director General ElBaradei reports to the U.N. Security Council that the documents about Niger uranium item are “not authentic.” The IAEA concludes that the allegations of a Niger-Iraq uranium deal are unfounded, although it promises to follow up any additional evidence. (Libby trial document DX64.10)

Same day – Press Secretary Ari Fleischer holds a press briefing 2:20-3:00, at which he is asked to explain why Helen Thomas was not called upon in the presidential press conference:

“MR. FLEISCHER: It was me who gave the President a suggestion on the reporters to call. [at the March 6 press conference] And the President called on all reporters, the President did not call on any columnists.”

Same day – The Senate confirms Stephen Cambone for a newly created position of Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

March 8, 2003 – The head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed El Baradei, reveals publicly that the purported Niger uranium documents are forgeries. CNN’s Richard Roth reports:

 
“What else is Mr. ElBaradei reporting to the Security Council? Well, it drew little notice, because of the high powered debate and arguments among the big powers, but the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that his group has certified that documents provided by countries that allege possibly that the Iraqis were doing deals with the African nation of Niger to get enriched uranium for nuclear production were fakes, were forgeries . . .”

 
On this program CNN’s Renay San Miguel also interviews Joseph Wilson, former envoy to Africa and to Iraq. Wilson calls the Niger uranium canard “outrageous”:

“I actually started my foreign service career in Niger and ended my foreign service career doing -- in charge of Africa in the Clinton White House. We know a lot about the uranium business in Niger, and for something like this to go unchallenged by U.S. -- the U.S. government is just simply stupid. It would have taken a couple of phone calls. We have had an embassy there since the early '60s. All this stuff is open. It's a restricted market of buyers and sellers. The Nigerians (sic) have always been very open with us.

For this to have gotten to the IAEA is on the face of it dumb, but more to the point, it taints the whole rest of the case that the government is trying to build against Iraq.”

 
Wilson also mentions a Washington Post article that day quoting a U.S. official as saying “‘we just fell for it.’ That's just not good enough. Either he's being disingenuous, or he shouldn't be drawing a government paycheck.”

 
Note how early it is, at this point, that Wilson starts trying to debunk administration claims of a Niger-Iraq uranium deal. Wilson actually makes several early public statements in spring 2003 arguing against administration claims—well before his famous New York Times op-ed in May 2003. This chronology casts some doubt on the simple assumption that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, is outed purely as ‘revenge’ for the op-ed.

 
One theory is that Plame is outed partly to derail her entire CIA unit, which works on proliferation issues, and partly to derail her own intelligence work on Iran. The logical hypothesis is that the administration plans to tackle Iran after Iraq, and does not want any research that could interfere with claims against the Iranian government.

 
Same day -- The State Department says it was “taken in” by the forgeries.

 
Same day – Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld tasks CIA with a question re the Niger uranium issue: “Regarding ElBaradei’s statements that the UK-provided and US-reviewed documents about Iraqi pursuit of uranium are forgeries, Secretary Rumsfeld asked whether CIA judges the documents to be forgeries or authentic.”

http://wid.ap.org/documents/libbytrial/jan25/DX433.pdf    
[DX433]

 
Amazingly, the Secretary of Defense, at this late date--a few days before the invasion of Iraq is scheduled to commence--is now attempting to check out the Niger uranium item within government channels.

March 8, 2003 – The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Halliburton has won a Pentagon contract for advice on building Iraq's oil fields after a possible war:

“The contract was disclosed in the last paragraph of a Defense Department statement on preparations for Saddam Hussein's possible destruction of Iraq's oil fields in the event of a U.S.-led invasion. The statement calls for proposals on how to handle oil well fires and for assessing other damage to oil facilities. The contract went to Kellogg Brown & Root Services, which is owned by Halliburton Co., of which Cheney was chairman until his election in 2000.” (“Firm linked to Cheney wins oil-field contract; Hussein may destroy facilities in event of war,” A12)

Same day – Bush discusses Iraq in his weekly radio address to the nation:

“Second, the Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector reported yesterday to the Security Council on his efforts to verify Saddam Hussein's compliance with Resolution 1441. This resolution requires Iraq to fully and unconditionally disarm itself of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons materials, as well as the prohibited missiles that could be used to deliver them. Unfortunately, it is clear that Saddam Hussein is still violating the demands of the United Nations by refusing to disarm.

Iraqi's dictator has made a public show of producing and destroying a few prohibited missiles. Yet, our intelligence shows that even as he is destroying these few missiles, he has ordered the continued production of the very same type of missiles. Iraqi operatives continue to play a shell game with inspectors, moving suspected prohibited materials to different locations every 12 to 24 hours. And Iraqi weapons scientists continue to be threatened with harm should they cooperate in interviews with U.N. inspectors.

These are not the actions of a regime that is disarming. These are the actions of a regime engaged in a willful charade. If the Iraqi regime were disarming, we would know it -- because we would see it; Iraq's weapons would be presented to inspectors and destroyed. Inspection teams do not need more time, or more personnel -- all they need is what they have never received, the full cooperation of the Iraqi regime. The only acceptable outcome is the outcome already demanded by a unanimous vote of the Security Council: total disarmament.

Saddam Hussein has a long history of reckless aggression and terrible crimes. He possesses weapons of terror. He provides funding and training and safe haven to terrorists who would willingly deliver weapons of mass destruction against America and other peace-loving countries.”