Plame-Gate: Real Reason Joe Wilson Was Sent to Niger

From The Washington Post:  “Cheney, in a conversation with Libby in early July 2003, was said to describe Wilson's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger the previous year -- in which the envoy found no support for charges that Iraq tried to buy uranium there -- as "a junket set up by Mr. Wilson's wife," CIA case officer Valerie Plame.”

Later columnist Bob Novak quotes an administration source (guess) who insists former Ambassador Joe Wilson’s secret agent wife sent Wilson to Niger as a boondoggle.  Just last year my probation officer sent me back to state prison for six months.  I’m so grateful, as is, I’m certain, Ambassador Wilson.  Anyway, the idea is patently ridiculous.

I checked Webster for ‘boondoggle’ and it says, “To work on wasteful or unnecessary projects” or “useless work.”  More significant is the word listed immediately before it in that same dictionary:  “boondocks.”

If Novak’s assertion is true, I’d list Wilson’s mission as one of those ‘Top Ten Signs Your Marriage is in the Toilet.’

Number Three:  “Honey, would you mind flossing the Rottweiler’s teeth?”

Number Two:  “Dearest, your daughter threw her Frisbee up on the barn roof.  Would you climb up and get it before the lightning storm gets worse?”

And Number One:  “Joe, be a sweetie and visit Niger for me?  Don’t forget your Keopectate.  Enjoy!”

Let’s see.  When Wilson visited in June 2002, Niger was bordered by plane-bombing Libya, terrorist-harboring Algeria, and baby-eating Chad.  Niger’s own travel web site describes the nation as “a blazing furnace.”  The country’s biggest problem, beyond that year’s drought, amid widespread reports of starvation, is termed “desertification.”  I don’t need the dictionary for that one.

Three years before Wilson’s junket, Niger’s President was gunned down in the street by his own guards.

On another web site, one of Niamey’s best hotels was reviewed thusly:  “The unsanitary rooms!  I didn't even want to touch anything. It was horrible.  On the other hand, the service was great.”

Now if Mrs. Plame-Wilson wanted to toss her husband a bone, don’t you think she’d insist he search for aluminum tubes in Montego Bay or electronic bomb triggers in Napa Valley?  Of course, Wilson wouldn’t have found evidence of WMDs in Jamaica or California.  But what’s the big deal?  There weren’t any in Niger or in Iraq either.

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