Regarding the supposed contract for Niger to supply Iraq with yellowcake uranium: “No one in the intelligence community bothered to ask the Italians [who had circulated the text] to see an actual copy of the Iraq-Niger contract. Nevertheless, the DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] distributed a report, on February 12, 2002, with an unambiguous title: ‘Niamey [Niger] signed an agreement to sell 500 tons of uranium a year to Baghdad.’ …A revived Iraqi nuclear program would be the most powerful argument to justify the overthrow of Saddam. …On learning of the vice president’s [Dick Cheney’s] interest, WIN-PAC [Weapons Intelligence Non Proliferation and Arms Control Center]–the agency’s analytical shop dealing with unconventional weapons–immediately circulated a memo cautioning that the report lacked ‘crucial details’ and that the U.S. Embassy in Niger has obtained information undermining the allegation.”
– Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris, Page 91