Fair Game Page #2

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He's moving to an unnamed Gulf state.

Could it be Iraq?

Vaziri's devoutly Shia.

Iraq's controlled by Sunnis. Saddam's

Sunni. There's no way this is Iraq.

Seventh Floor issued a directive

for a joint task force on Iraq.

I want you to head up operations.

- Congratulations, Valerie.

- Thank you.

You can pick your own team.

This is top priority.

I need 24 hours

to brief my replacement.

From Monday,

I need your both eyes on Iraq.

Yes, sir.

This is coming from across the river.

Down the line, DFU.

DFU?

Don't f*** up.

Congratulations.

Thanks.

You can put it there.

Hey.

Don't you have a home to go to?

I thought this went away.

The DIA released the report Tuesday.

WINPAC aren't buying

and State kicked it back,

but it's still making waves

in the Vice President's office.

You think Joe could do it?

Well, he's qualified.

He's been there hundreds of times.

He knows the arena inside out.

Great. Could you put his credentials

in a memo?

I want to kick it up the ladder.

You don't look overjoyed.

Joe's been working hard

to build his business.

Then there's the twins.

Money's kind of tight right now.

He's helped us before.

Could you just ask him to come in?

Hey, Joe?

Hey. Nice place you got here. Cozy.

I need to get you cleared.

You work in the basement?

Actually, I work in Georgetown

at Brewster Jennings.

We're a small firm of venture capitalists.

Well, that must be interesting work.

It pays the rent.

Come in.

Joe, this is Jack.

- Hi, Joe Wilson.

- Deputy Chief of CPD.

It's a pleasure, Ambassador.

- Hi, Joe Wilson.

- Ambassador.

- I'll leave you guys to it.

- Joe Wilson.

Good morning, Ambassador.

How are you?

Joe Wilson. Hello. Joe Wilson. Hi.

Have a seat.

Can I get you something to drink?

Coffee would be great. Thank you.

How do you like it?

Just black, thanks.

Ambassador Wilson,

what do you know about yellowcake?

- Yellowcake uranium?

- Mmm-hmm.

I believe it's a concentrate

made from uranium ore

that's used in the fissile material

for weapons programs.

But I'm not a scientist.

- Thank you.

- What about Niger?

I usually pronounce it Niger

to avoid confusion with Nigeria.

The UN Human Development Index rates it

the least-livable country in the world.

I started my foreign service there.

I visited many times

as Ambassador to Gabon.

And then again as Director of Africa Policy

for President Clinton

with the NSC.

I've often met with Prime Minister Mayaki.

I know the former Foreign Minister,

I know the Minister of Mines.

I know the country very well.

The office of the Vice President

has received a report

concerning a memorandum of sale

between the governments of Niger and Iraq

for the purchase of 500 tons

of yellowcake uranium ore.

I don't have to tell you

how serious this allegation is.

No, sir, you don't.

This is a request

from the Vice President's office.

Can you help us?

What do you have in mind?

How can Niger help its old friend America?

In the summer of 2001, Iraq sought

to purchase 60,000 high-alloy

manufactured in China.

The high spec of these tubes

led us to conclude

that they were intended

for the enrichment of uranium

and as such provide proof

that Saddam is building a nuclear bomb.

In August of 2001, Jay Turner, that's me,

flew to Vienna to meet

with the IAEA scientists.

I produced this report,

aspects of which represent

the CIA's present position.

I'm happy to take questions.

The INR concluded late last year that

these tubes are probably for artillery use.

The DOE agreed they exactly matched

those used by Iraq for artillery rockets.

Where are the tubes?

WINPAC has them.

We've examined them.

And this is my point.

None of you guys have even seen the tubes.

I've seen them.

And when was that?

When I led the covert team

that intercepted them in Jordan,

brought back samples,

and delivered them to you guys at WINPAC.

And I take it you're not a nuclear expert.

These tubes are a match

for those designed by German scientist

Gernot Zippe in the '50s.

You're right. I'm no nuclear expert

but Dr. Houston Wood at

the University of Virginia Atomic Facility is.

He also knows Dr. Zippe and he told him

that the wall thickness of the Iraqi tubes

was 3 or 4 times the thickness

of his design.

Right, and he also said that the length

of the tubes is twice that of Zippe's design.

In fact, he said that the only thing

that was similar

between his tubes and the aluminum tubes

was that they were both made of aluminum.

A metal that hasn't been used

in gas centrifuges since 1952.

I went to Vienna. Okay? Canada.

And I've been working on this for months.

There are centrifuges. Fact.

So, basically, they're your tubes

and if we don't let you win,

you're taking them home.

That's pathetic.

Joe, no one's saying you're wrong here,

but if you're right, it's huge,

so, we ask the question.

Right? We have to ask the question.

Niger has two uranium mines

in the Sahara desert.

One is flooded.

The other is run by COGEMA,

a French subsidiary

jointly controlled

by the Japanese and Germans.

Five hundred tons of yellowcake

is not an off-the-books size transaction.

It represents a 40% production increase

in the nation's annual output of uranium.

A sale that size

would leave a huge paper trail.

Any documentation would, by law,

have to be signed by the Prime Minister,

Foreign Minister, and the Minister of Mines.

But say it was an off-the-books deal.

How do you hide the transportation

of 500 tons of anything,

let alone lightly-refined uranium?

You're talking 50 semi-tractor trucks

on one road through villages

where nothing passed for months

except maybe one bush taxi.

It would be the biggest event for months.

To say they forgot

is like kids forgetting Christmas.

You have the droughts of the '70s and '80s

which brought millions of dollars

in US aid which continues today.

It doesn't make any sense that the Nigerians

would compromise that lifeline.

For that reason and for all the reasons

that I've been telling you,

it is my opinion that this sale

could not have happened.

So, what happens next?

Well, they write a report,

give it to the analysts.

It will be rewritten, then kicked upstairs

and combined with other reports they get.

What?

I just think it's ludicrous that they're gonna

send somebody all the way over there

and spend all that money

for the same conclusion.

You can't compile intelligence

from a single source.

That's not intelligence. That's an opinion.

Trust me. It's a fact.

- Says who?

- Says me.

You're just a teeny-weeny tiny cog

in a giant machine.

You did your job. You should feel good.

They count on that.

That's why they don't pay you.

I'm not feeling very 007-ish.

Maybe I can get the kids

to make a medal for you.

Us 00s prefer gratuitous sex.

Mmm.

Maybe I can do something about that.

Mmm.

Mmm?

Mmm-hmm.

Angola's holding another round of bidding

on their deep-water offshore blocks

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