"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

The above is to remind the Star Tribune what President Bush really said in his 2003 State of the Union address, because in this July21 editorial they seem to think he said something else....

From loud -- and erroneous -- claims that a link finally had been established between Niger and Iraq, you'd think the entire case for invading Iraq had finally been validated. That's hogwash.

Everyone recalls the issue: Prior to the war in Iraq, the Bush administration claimed -- most famously in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech -- that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium ore from Niger. Later, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote an op-ed article for the New York Times saying Bush was wrong and that the CIA knew it. The basis for Wilson's claim: He had traveled to Niger at the CIA's behest to investigate the claims and found them baseless.

The real problem is that Joseph Wilson lied about how he got the task of investigating uranium claims in Niger, and he misrepresented what he reported to the CIA, then publicly accused the President of lying. Earth to Star Tribune: Wilson lied, move on to something else.