September 28, 2005
Wilson to discuss controversial book, ‘Politics of Truth’
Clark welcomes former ambassador, husband of ‘outed’ CIA operative, Oct. 17
WORCESTER, MA-Foreign policy expert and former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV will be at Clark University to discuss his controversial memoir, “The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity,” at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 17, in the Daniels Theater, Atwood Hall, Downing Street.
Wilson comes to Clark as part of the President’s Lecture Series. This event is free and open to the public.
Called by President George H. W. Bush “a true American hero,” Wilson has been involved in international politics for more than twenty years. As the acting U.S. ambassador in Iraq during Operation Desert Shield, the massive U.S. buildup in Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Wilson was responsible for freeing 150 American hostages seized by Iraq. He was the last American official to meet with Hussein before the first Gulf War.
During his highly-decorated career, Wilson held many senior government posts, including Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council in the Clinton administration, responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to sub-Saharan Africa. He was a principal architect of President Clinton's historic trip to Africa in 1998 and a leading proponent of the Africa Trade Bill.
Wilson is now at the center of a major political maelstrom involving the White House, the C.I.A. and the second gulf war in Iraq. In 2002, at the request of Vice President Dick Cheney, Wilson was assigned by the C.I.A. to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking to acquire uranium from Niger for the purpose of advancing his nuclear program. When his investigation turned up nothing, Wilson reported back to officials in Washington that there was no basis for the claims.
Surprised that President Bush repeated the claim, most famously in his 2003 State of the Union address, Wilson wrote in a New York Times op-ed that the Bush administration had exaggerated the public case for invading Iraq. Supposedly in retaliation and to discourage others from speaking out, White House officials allegedly called reporters to identify Wilson’s wife, Valerie Wilson (née Plame) as a clandestine C.I.A. operative. The conservative columnist Robert Novak published the information, inciting an ongoing investigation into the possibly illegal intelligence leak that involves the highest officials of the current administration.
At the podium, Wilson lays out his side of the controversy in an enlightening, incisive presentation. Drawing from his new memoir, “The Politics of Truth,” he takes audiences inside two decades of world politics. A frequent foreign policy commentator on national and international television and radio programs, Wilson also speaks about foreign affairs and international relations since 9/11.
Wilson manages JCWilson International Ventures, Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in strategic management and international business development. He is also an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C.
Wilson was a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Service from 1976 through 1998. His assignments included Niger, Togo, South Africa, Burundi, Congo and Germany. He was Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces, Europe, and U.S. Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995. From 1988 to 1991, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Wilson's awards include the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the University of California, Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the American Foreign Service Association William R. Rivkin Award. Additionally, he was decorated as a Commander in the Order of the Equatorial Star by the Government of Gabon and as an Admiral in the El Paso Navy by the El Paso County Commissioners. He is the 2003 recipient of the Ron Ridenhour Award for Truth-Telling, awarded to an individual or organization that has brought an important issue to light.
The President's Lecture Series, founded by Clark University President John Bassett, incorporates the idea of public affairs workshops on topics related to the environment, urban affairs, international issues, and governmental and economic problems. Distinguished speakers, at times as part of the President's Lecture Series, alternate with symposia on matters of urgent and regional concern.
Clark University is a private, co-educational liberal-arts research university with 2,000 undergraduate and 600 graduate students. Since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in New England, Clark has challenged convention with innovative programs such as the International Studies Stream, the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the five-year BA/MA programs with the fifth year tuition-free for eligible students.
Jane Salerno
Associate Director of Media Relations
Clark University
Worcester, Mass.
phone: 508-793-7554
www.clarku.edu
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