Iraq War Opponent Joe Wilson Dies

By Jason Sibert

Former Ambassador Joseph P. Wilson, who was 69, passed away in his home in Sante Fe, NM at the end of September.

Wilson died of organ failure, according to reports. He worked for the State Department in the Foreign Service for 23 years, working mostly in Africa. In 2002, the Central Intelligence Agency asked him to fly to Niger to investigate if Iraq had tried to purchase uranium yellowcakes so then Iraq Leader Saddam Hussein could make a nuclear weapon. He was a private citizen at the time. Wilson’s investigation found that no yellowcakes transaction occurred. Had the results of his investigation been fully taken into account by the George W. Bush Administration, there would have been no Iraq War. The Bush Administration told the public at the time they were going to war in Iraq because Hussein had acquired nuclear weapons.

Wilson was surprised in 2003 when President Bush declared in the State of the Union address that Iraq had “recently bought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” The former Ambassador struck back at the war-prone administration and published a New York Times op-ed titled “What I Didn’t Find in Africa.” The op-ed questioned the administration’s rationale for going to war.  The claims that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false.

Vice-President Dick Cheney and others in the administration were furious. A week later, columnist Robert Novak wrote a column that blew Valarie Plame’s cover as a CIA agent. Plame and Wilson were married at the time. This resulted in charges being filed against Cheney’s Chief of Staff “Scooter” Libby.  Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Wilson and Plame’s ordeal was the basis of the movie “Fair Game.” Actor Sean Penn played Wilson.

Jason Sibert is the Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project