Wilson tells students to challenge authority
The Bush Administration’s policies have caused other countries to stop following America’s lead.
That’s what a former U.S. ambassador told about 1,400 freshmen Tuesday at the Student Activity Center as part of CMU’s annual Leadership Safari.
“Leadership, by definition, requires followers,” said former ambassador Joseph Wilson IV.
Wilson was acting ambassador to Baghdad immediately before the 1991 Gulf War and was the last U.S. diplomat to speak to Saddam Hussein before the current conflict in Iraq.
Having met Hussein six times, Wilson said the Gulf War took the dictator from “a major-league hassle to a minor-league hassle.”
Wilson encouraged students Tuesday to dissent against the Iraq war.
“The cost of confronting the administration is a small price to pay compared to (the price paid by) the families of 2,600 Americans,” he said.
Wilson and his wife, former CIA agent Valerie Plame, filed a lawsuit July 13 alleging certain administration officials intentionally released the identity of Plame as part of a plan to punish Joe Wilson for his dissent.
Some of those officials named in the lawsuit include Vice President Dick Cheney, political adviser Karl Rove and former vice presidential aide
I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby.
Wilson, in his diplomatic career, has served as U.S. ambassador to Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe and helped to direct African policy for the National Security Council under former President Bill Clinton.
He worked as a diplomat for 23 years before leaving for the private sector in 1998.
“I have been highly critical of (the Bush) administration’s approach to the Gulf and Iraq and in particular ... about the administration’s misuse of intelligence,” Wilson said.
The CIA sent Wilson to Niger in 2002 at the behest of the vice president to investigate claims Iraq tried to obtain uranium from the African nation.
He then wrote an opinion article published in the New York Times on July 6, 2003, that questioned the Bush administration’s claims that Niger had sold yellowcake uranium to Iraq. Then-CIA director George Tenet issued a statement July 11, 2003, that confirmed Wilson’s claims that the president should never have said Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Niger.
Many students were pleased with Wilson’s presentation.
“His service to our county is incredible,” said Grand Rapids freshman Maria Spicketts, a Safari participant who met Wilson and bought a copy of his book, “The Politics of Truth,” after the event.
Detroit freshman Krystal Leonard said she agreed with Wilson’s views on leadership.
“Somebody has to lead by example,” she said.
