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The Politics of Truth: A Diplomat's Memoir: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity
Through the last three presidential administrations and two wars with Iraq, no one has personally witnessed, influenced, or fueled news over more history-making events than Joseph Wilson. The last American diplomat to sit face-to-face with Saddam Hussein, he is a consummate insider who has the intelligence, principles, and independence to examine current American foreign policy and the inner workings of government and to form a candid assessment of the United States’ involvement in the world. In February 2002, Joseph Wilson was sent to Niger by the CIA to investigate claims that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium in that country. Wilson’s report, and two from other American officials, conclusively negated such rumors, yet all were brushed aside by the White House. Startled by the infamous words uttered by George W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” Wilson decided to reveal the truth behind the initiation of the Iraq war. The Politics of Truth is an explosive and revelatory book by a man who stands for the accurate recording of history against those forces bent on fabricating truth.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 19, 2023
Wilson begins with the events that brought him to public notice most recently, The Karl Rove attack on his wife, outing her as a CIA agent after Wilson went public with his criticism of the Bushies when they repeatedly lied about the supposed Iraqi attempt to get fissible material in Africa.
Joe Wilson - 1949-2019 - image from The Detroit News
He then goes into his memoir, and it is an interesting tale, well told. We begin with his pre-career. It was clear that he had politics in his background, descended from governors, mayors and other elected officials. It was also clear that he came from money. He describes living in various places in Europe, and tells of how his family liked moving around. Hardly the act of a common middle class crew.
After, so he says, a surprise passing of a test to get into the foreign service, something he says he tried for just as a means of getting into a graduate economics program, he is posted to Niger, a backwater even in Africa. Tales of his African postings are entertaining and interesting. In one case he tells of a meal in which the men and women eat separately, the men tearing pieces from a roasting goat. He also disabuses one of the notion that the diplomatic service is a gaudy career. There is much scut work to be done and many needs to be addressed. Ultimately his focus on career cost him his marriage. After several posts in Africa (Gabon, South Africa) he is assigned to Baghdad, just as missiles are going back and forth between Iraq and Iran.
His tales of dealings with Saddam and his minions are harrowing. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Iraq was essentially holding hostage all foreigners both in Baghdad and Kuwait city. There was considerable fear that the embassy would be overrun. His first-person account makes for a pretty Interesting read. And highlights even more what scurrilous lowlifes the people were who blew his wife's cover as a way of retaliating against Wilson for speaking truth.
Joe Wilson - 1949-2019 - image from The Detroit News
He then goes into his memoir, and it is an interesting tale, well told. We begin with his pre-career. It was clear that he had politics in his background, descended from governors, mayors and other elected officials. It was also clear that he came from money. He describes living in various places in Europe, and tells of how his family liked moving around. Hardly the act of a common middle class crew.
After, so he says, a surprise passing of a test to get into the foreign service, something he says he tried for just as a means of getting into a graduate economics program, he is posted to Niger, a backwater even in Africa. Tales of his African postings are entertaining and interesting. In one case he tells of a meal in which the men and women eat separately, the men tearing pieces from a roasting goat. He also disabuses one of the notion that the diplomatic service is a gaudy career. There is much scut work to be done and many needs to be addressed. Ultimately his focus on career cost him his marriage. After several posts in Africa (Gabon, South Africa) he is assigned to Baghdad, just as missiles are going back and forth between Iraq and Iran.
His tales of dealings with Saddam and his minions are harrowing. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Iraq was essentially holding hostage all foreigners both in Baghdad and Kuwait city. There was considerable fear that the embassy would be overrun. His first-person account makes for a pretty Interesting read. And highlights even more what scurrilous lowlifes the people were who blew his wife's cover as a way of retaliating against Wilson for speaking truth.
September 12, 2007
One of the many books that paints a picture of the Bush administration so that subsequent generations will be able to know many years from now what we lived through first-hand. Read it.
December 26, 2016
Around the time of the second Gulf War, there were a lot of conflicting opinions about Bush's motivations and excuses to invade Iraq. One of the things to come out of it was a former ambassador speaking out about the portions of the issue he knew about Iraq's supposed purchase of uranium for those Weapons of Mass Destruction that never turned up. In retaliation, Ambassador Wilson's wife was suddenly outed as a covert CIA agent under mysterious circumstances.
This book is his story, covering his many years of diplomatic service, leading up to the tense time under George W. Bush. For what it's worth, Wilson is not a Democrat. He has supported both parties as a candidate appealed to him, which is something I can respect. The first half of the book, maybe a bit more, covers his time in Africa working for the US. There's possibly more detail than we need there, but it does lay the foundation for his special knowledge.
Wilson is very complimentary of various people in the books, including George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and Colin Powell up to a point. Some of the ones that don't come off so well include Scooter Libby, Condi Rice, George W Bush, and Powell after he supported W's reasons to go to war. It's really telling that Wilson used quotes from Bush I to show how many things Bush II was doing wrong.
What happened to Wilson and his wife was at best mean and vindictive, and at worst, at least in Valerie Plame's case, likely actually a crime. There's a lot of detail about the events leading up to the second Gulf War, and the strange leak of classified material that led to Plame being exposed.
While this happened years ago, reading it now struck some uncomfortable chords. Facts being less important than vendettas, sacrificing policy to punish someone for daring to speak the truth, and a ruthless disregard for past loyalty sounds disturbingly familiar.
There are a few weird aspects to this book. There's a lot of talk about his first wife having a serious illness, the doctors screwing it up... and then nothing. At the very least there should have been a serious malpractice suit. Then his second wife is French... and that's all we know. No name even.
It's an interesting insider view of politics, Washington DC, and the political climate under George W Bush. I hope it's not a cautionary tale about life under (as I write this) President-Elect Trump.
This book is his story, covering his many years of diplomatic service, leading up to the tense time under George W. Bush. For what it's worth, Wilson is not a Democrat. He has supported both parties as a candidate appealed to him, which is something I can respect. The first half of the book, maybe a bit more, covers his time in Africa working for the US. There's possibly more detail than we need there, but it does lay the foundation for his special knowledge.
Wilson is very complimentary of various people in the books, including George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and Colin Powell up to a point. Some of the ones that don't come off so well include Scooter Libby, Condi Rice, George W Bush, and Powell after he supported W's reasons to go to war. It's really telling that Wilson used quotes from Bush I to show how many things Bush II was doing wrong.
What happened to Wilson and his wife was at best mean and vindictive, and at worst, at least in Valerie Plame's case, likely actually a crime. There's a lot of detail about the events leading up to the second Gulf War, and the strange leak of classified material that led to Plame being exposed.
While this happened years ago, reading it now struck some uncomfortable chords. Facts being less important than vendettas, sacrificing policy to punish someone for daring to speak the truth, and a ruthless disregard for past loyalty sounds disturbingly familiar.
There are a few weird aspects to this book. There's a lot of talk about his first wife having a serious illness, the doctors screwing it up... and then nothing. At the very least there should have been a serious malpractice suit. Then his second wife is French... and that's all we know. No name even.
It's an interesting insider view of politics, Washington DC, and the political climate under George W Bush. I hope it's not a cautionary tale about life under (as I write this) President-Elect Trump.
March 17, 2012
I bought this book after I saw the movie "Fair Game," which tells the story of Valerie Plame's outing as a CIA agent (good flick, too, BTW). I wanted to get more information about this unbelievable and disgusting event, perpetrated on Plame and her husband, ex-ambassador Joe Wilson. The book tells Wilson's story, which involves a lot more than the actual moment when his wife's cover was blown, so if you only want to read about that particular moment in time, you might want to check out the Vanity Fair article, Double Exposure." If, on the other hand, you are interested in also reading about a career civil servant's very interesting life and work in such places as Niger, Togo, Congo, Gabon and Iraq, then this book provides valuable insight into the inner workings of the world of diplomacy, as well as a view into the corruption and dirty politics that apparently were so acceptable during President G. W. Bush's run as the commander in chief of the United States. The book also provides a lot of insight into the situation in Iraq both under George W and his father (who has nothing but Wilson's respect and seems, in comparison to his son, a balanced and fair politician). Wilson was the last American official to meet Saddam Hussein before Desert Storm and helped negotiate the release of many American hostages and helped with the evacuations of thousands of people stranded in Iraq when Hussein invaded Kuwait. Later, as a result of his experience in the region, Wilson was asked by the Bush administration, the same one that betrayed him and his wife, to go to Niger to find out if it was true that Iraq was purchasing uranium in order to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. He reported back that, in fact, no such purchase had been made (contrary to two reports called "the Italian paper" and "the British White Paper"). In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, though, President G.W. Bush declared the exact opposite in his "sixteen words" speech. Wilson, watching the increasingly fervent demeanor of the politicians in support of the invasion, decided he needed to speak out. He did so in the now-famous op-ed piece published by The New York Times entitled, "What I Didn't Find in Africa." As punishment or revenge for this editorial and his efforts to make the American public aware of what was happening related to the upcoming invasion, his wife was outed in an article published by columnist Robert Novak. This outing was a crime which violated many different laws, most notably the one that makes it illegal to reveal the identities of covert operatives. It's a disgusting example of gutter politics, and it harmed two people who were neither particularly partisan nor who deserved to have their credibility and reputations dragged through the mud, let alone have their lives and the lives of others put in danger only because someone in the upper echelons of the White House wanted to shut Joe Wilson up.
The book is a little bit dated now in the sense that it was written while the investigation into who leaked Plame's name was still ongoing (2004), but nevertheless makes for interesting reading.
The book is a little bit dated now in the sense that it was written while the investigation into who leaked Plame's name was still ongoing (2004), but nevertheless makes for interesting reading.
December 1, 2010
The leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's identity by the Bush administration infuriated me from Day One. Her husband (former Ambassador and career diplomat) Joseph Wilson IV had vocally opposed the invasion of Iraq and had revealed in an Op-Ed piece in the NY TIMES that he himself had found no evidence of Iraqi purchase of uranium from Niger on the trip that he had taken at the CIA's request. I am very glad that Wilson wrote this book. I gave it 3 instead of 4 stars because he is not a great writer, and his editors should have helped him out with things like needless repetition and searches for synonyms. But on the merits of the actual information, I'd give it 4 stars. Wilson's principal topics are the fraudulent case for war shamefully advanced by the Bush administration AND the betrayal of his wife's CIA cover, coupled with attacks against him for his truthful presentation of his findings and truthful presentation of his views. In an obvious effort to provide more context and strengthen his credibility, Wilson also discusses his entire career in the foreign service; many readers may not be as interested in these years as in the ultimate matters, but they certainly do demonstrate his honorable and effective record of service to his country. The detailed material about the "lies that led to war and betrayed" Valerie's cover is clearly the highlight. And it is material that makes me totally sick. Fortunately, there were some principled people in the news media, some anti-war activists, some lovers of democracy so that the Wilsons, despite outrageous assaults on their characters and integrity, did get some support. But there were many more total disgraces and persons of utter malevolence in the Bush administration (need I name names here? I may vomit. You know who they are, I hope), in support of the Bush administration, and in the media (Robert Novak is the lowest of the low, of course, but there are others, too). Wilson's book ends with February-March 2004. Much has happened since then. I'm reading Valerie Plame Wilson's book next. She took her title, "Fair Game," the title also of the recent film, from the disgusting comment that Karl Rove made to MSNBC's Chris Matthews (which Matthews, to his credit, quickly relayed to Joe Wilson by phone on July 21, 2003): "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says, and I quote, 'Wilson's wife is fair game.' I will confirm that if asked." Remember Mark Twain in THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN having Huck say of conduct of the fraudulent "duke and king" that it made him "ashamed of the human race"? I rest my case.
January 1, 2020
Ambassador Joseph Wilson's book is a well documented and thoroughly readable book.
In view of the thuggish antics of the Bush White House, I think this is a very restrained expose, although it does name the prospective perps in the narrow click at the top of White House food chain; and it is an unambiguous indictment of several reporters who were the knowing enablers of the outing of Wilson's wife Valerie Plame and of the effort to impugn the ambassador's reputation.
The book takes us through the events and the administration's spin and lies leading up to the Iraq invasion, as well as the hazardous predicament of Americans and other ex-pats whom Saddam Hussein was holding as hostages against the gathering preparations for war by the United States. Joseph Wilson as Deputy Chief of Mission was instrumental in shielding and eventually extricating those hostages.
The biography is extensive; and I found the timelines of Joseph Wilson's diplomatic career and of the outing scandal to be a quite detailed and helpful overview.
In view of the thuggish antics of the Bush White House, I think this is a very restrained expose, although it does name the prospective perps in the narrow click at the top of White House food chain; and it is an unambiguous indictment of several reporters who were the knowing enablers of the outing of Wilson's wife Valerie Plame and of the effort to impugn the ambassador's reputation.
The book takes us through the events and the administration's spin and lies leading up to the Iraq invasion, as well as the hazardous predicament of Americans and other ex-pats whom Saddam Hussein was holding as hostages against the gathering preparations for war by the United States. Joseph Wilson as Deputy Chief of Mission was instrumental in shielding and eventually extricating those hostages.
The biography is extensive; and I found the timelines of Joseph Wilson's diplomatic career and of the outing scandal to be a quite detailed and helpful overview.
February 20, 2015
This book was a rather pleasant surprise. After reading his wife (Valerie Plame Wilson's) book "Fair Game", I decided to read Ambassador Wilson's book.
It is a whole lot more than a retelling of the White House scandal - where the White House blew the cover of Wilson's wife (a CIA officer). Joe Wilson recounts his 23 year long career with the US State Department. This was a real interesting view of the important functions taking place at our embassies every day. Wilson's insight into African affairs is deeper than you are likely to hear through the media.
This book is over 500 pages long with a nice introduction and some additional readings at the end where Wilson has placed the Oped articles that he wrote during the second Gulf war.
At the end of 2015, I would not be surprised if this book does not make my personal "Top 10 best reads of 2015" list.
It is a whole lot more than a retelling of the White House scandal - where the White House blew the cover of Wilson's wife (a CIA officer). Joe Wilson recounts his 23 year long career with the US State Department. This was a real interesting view of the important functions taking place at our embassies every day. Wilson's insight into African affairs is deeper than you are likely to hear through the media.
This book is over 500 pages long with a nice introduction and some additional readings at the end where Wilson has placed the Oped articles that he wrote during the second Gulf war.
At the end of 2015, I would not be surprised if this book does not make my personal "Top 10 best reads of 2015" list.
July 27, 2017
Interesting... could've been a bit shorter.
I learned quite a lot from Mr. Wilson's book. I didn't follow this story closely at the time, so I felt I was able to look at it with fresh eyes & no particular agenda.
The good:
I learned far more about various interworkings of government that definitely squashed many stereotypes.
The bad:
It got boring in parts. Finally after I was about 80% done, I was just skimming pages. I was hoping for more of a resolution than was delivered.
Those hoping for more of a story about Mrs. Wilson's broken cover may well be disappointed. This is about as far from a typical CIA or James Bond memoir as you get. I recommend it for the history & learning more about corruption. An epilogue would've been appreciated.
I learned quite a lot from Mr. Wilson's book. I didn't follow this story closely at the time, so I felt I was able to look at it with fresh eyes & no particular agenda.
The good:
I learned far more about various interworkings of government that definitely squashed many stereotypes.
The bad:
It got boring in parts. Finally after I was about 80% done, I was just skimming pages. I was hoping for more of a resolution than was delivered.
Those hoping for more of a story about Mrs. Wilson's broken cover may well be disappointed. This is about as far from a typical CIA or James Bond memoir as you get. I recommend it for the history & learning more about corruption. An epilogue would've been appreciated.
December 15, 2010
The first two thirds of this book were fascinating. i learned so much about the diplomatic service, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Wilson's early career. I lost the momentum in the last third of the book because of all the detail of the entry of the 16 words Bush uttered in his State of the Union Address, and the aftermath. Some day I'd like to read Plame's book "Fair Game". The movie "Fair Game" w/ Sean Penn and Naomi Watts is based on both his and her books.
August 17, 2011
Really interesting first sections on Wilson's earlier career in foreign service but 2nd part of book becomes incredibly repetitive as Wilson continues on same theme with little inside information on despicable outing of his wife. Overall this book should have been written several years later as much has happened with this story since it was written in 2004.
September 4, 2011
The book gives an excellent history of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the first Gulf War from someone who was right there in the middle of it. I learned a lot I never knew about it. I also learned a lot about the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent, which for some reason I don't seem to remember a lot about at the time. What was done to her was an outrage.
own-need-to-read
March 25, 2008Heard him speak on Oct. 23, 2005, in the days that were the height of the investigation. I bought this book (which he signed), but still need to read it! I had followed the issue starting in 2004, and wondered why it took so long for the mainstream media and others to make a big deal of the matter.
March 23, 2010
In August 2004 Wilson came to a law firm where I was working and gave a talk. It's all here, from his experience as the last American diplomat in Baghdad before Desert Storm, and the "yellow cake" that never was, and the deliberate lies that led to the catastrophe.
December 8, 2010
It makes me sick what our government did to Valerie Plume. Donald Rumsfled, Bush, Cheney, Rice - the whole lot - they make me sick for their excuses to go to war. They took advantage of a grieving nation and lied to the media about the intel that they had.
June 20, 2013
I thought this was going to be more about Valerie's situation with the CIA and it turned out to be more of Joseph's memior. Still very interesting... almost made me want to go into the foreign service.
July 10, 2007
This book is absolutely amazing...you'll have a new passionate hate towards Scooter Libby and the rest of the administration after reading this.
Read
August 1, 2007Haven't yet read the book - but the speech was amazing. If he were running for president I'd vote for him - as it is, the fact that he's supporting Hillary is a strong encouragement to me.
October 14, 2008
Wilson is an excellent writer, and this not-too-self-serving attempt at setting the record straight vis-a-vis Valerie Plame's outting is a great peek inside the life of a diplomat.
May 3, 2008
amazing read. precursor to the downfall of Scooter Libby. this dude (joe wilson) served American in the first gulf war like a true patriot and then was totally shit on by the current administration.
March 6, 2014
Nope - not for me.
Read
March 29, 2010Historical No yellowcake of Niger
May 19, 2013
Awesome book! Really tore apart the "W" assertion that there were WMD in Niger. It was all a lie to avenge Bush the elder's dismal outcome of the first Gulf War.
May 27, 2015
Boy, would I like to know the whole truth
January 2, 2020
Joseph Wilson is an impressive man who has had a remarkable career in politics and diplomacy. His book was lengthy, and served just as much as a memoir as a descriptor of the events that the title references. Despite the length, I didn't feel that any of the story was unnecessary. The first half of the book served to speak to Wilson's credibility, and established his reputation as a hard-working, dedicated public servant who engrossed himself in the country he served in at the time, and who served under Republican and Democratic administrations honorably and without clear bias (although I'm sure it's easy to present yourself as unbiased when writing your own story).
The meat of the book, the part that made me actually pick the book up, was incredibly well done, and as well documented as it possibly could be, given national security and clearance concerns. I was only 8 when 9/11 and the events following that and leading to war in Iraq unfolded, so my knowledge of those issues is limited. This book did a great job of laying out many of the different elements behind the decision to go to war, and the lengths the administration was willing to go to to make it happen and preserve their own image. This is definitely an enlightening book, and a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary American politics.
The meat of the book, the part that made me actually pick the book up, was incredibly well done, and as well documented as it possibly could be, given national security and clearance concerns. I was only 8 when 9/11 and the events following that and leading to war in Iraq unfolded, so my knowledge of those issues is limited. This book did a great job of laying out many of the different elements behind the decision to go to war, and the lengths the administration was willing to go to to make it happen and preserve their own image. This is definitely an enlightening book, and a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary American politics.
May 21, 2024
I bought this book after watching the movie “Fair Game” which is about the identity of Joseph Wilson’s wife Valerie Plame, being exposed as a CIA agent. I wanted to know more about it.
This book did not disappoint at all. The book is about that and more.
The book gives a quite detailed background of Joseph Wilson, from his early life through his diplomatic career, which is essential to the story leading up to his own government exposing his wife’s identity.
It makes for unbelievable reading; the cover up’s and lies. It makes it even more interesting reading it now, as since then, we’ve had another Republican government, which was even more corrupt and dishonest than Bush’s. (readers opinion of course).
This book did not disappoint at all. The book is about that and more.
The book gives a quite detailed background of Joseph Wilson, from his early life through his diplomatic career, which is essential to the story leading up to his own government exposing his wife’s identity.
It makes for unbelievable reading; the cover up’s and lies. It makes it even more interesting reading it now, as since then, we’ve had another Republican government, which was even more corrupt and dishonest than Bush’s. (readers opinion of course).
August 13, 2018
I enjoyed the story, it helps to understand what is going on around the world today. It highlights the fact that those who seem like good guys, many times aren't and that one should be wary of what is paraded as fact or news, since it may very well be a fiction that others wish to promote. It also highlights that though the US has always portrayed itself as a model to be imitated, it is really just promoting its interests. Finally I have come to understand that things are not black or white, rather they are many shades of grey and sometimes imperfect is good enough and that time changes things and puts them right eventually.
September 28, 2020
Super interesting - and disturbing. (I was only marginally paying attention when all this was going on in the early 2000s so some of it was a bit shocking). Although I wish I'd read it sooner, it was intriguing to read it now with the current political climate. Thought this quote of Wilson's was striking for today: "Campaigns rooted in the exploitations of people's fears, prejudices, and hatreds prevent us from identifying and electing our most capable leaders."
October 6, 2024
When I opened the book, I way expecting stories of the infightings and corruptions in Washington. However, it turned out to be interesting stories of US diplomacy in practice, told by a career diplomat without partisan politics. Once I adjusted my expectation to reading stories of the US diplomat and his cunning manoeuvrings in the diplomatic games, I found the book immensely interesting.
July 25, 2019
If you want to hurt a guy who is standing up to your corruption, hit his family. Bush 43 did just that when this ambassidor stood up and said the WMD Chaney and company was looking for was not there. So they outed his wife, who was undercover CIA. She lost her position. What cowards.
January 20, 2024
Not much of a big reveal
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews