This is also known as the CIA leak scandal. A country went to war without proper intelligence. It was brought to the notice by the media, but the administration was retributive towards the guy who gave this information.

In 2002 Joseph C. Wilson was sent on a secret mission to Niger to investigate if Niger had sold Uranium to Iraq. On his return Wilson reported that there was no reason to believe that Niger had sold uranium to Iraq. He voiced his opinion in an op-ed in the New York Times. Yet on January 28, 2003, President George W. Bush stated in the State of the Union Address that “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” This became one of the main reasons for the Iraq War.

On July 14, 2003, a newspaper column entitled “Mission to Niger” by Robert Novak disclosed Valerie E. Wilson, Joseph’s wife as an “operative” who worked in a CIA division on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This, Joseph alleged, was a deliberate leak by the CIA planted against him.

The grand jury investigation that followed did not result in the indictment or conviction of anyone for any crime in connection with the leak itself. However, Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff of Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements to the grand jury and federal investigators and sentenced to 30 months in jail. His jail sentence was commuted by President Bush.