"LIBERAL" ICON WILSON : HOW I MET BOB (VERSIONS 1 and 2)

I don’t understand Former Ambassador Wilson’s recounting of how he met the Prince of Darkness , syndicated columnist Bob Novak. In the Vanity Fair profile on the Wilsons ("Double Exposure " , Jan. 2004) we hear this version of events : " But Wilson was CAUGHT OFF GUARD when he received a phone call from Robert Novak , (July 9, 2003 ) who according to Wilson, said he’d been told by a CIA source that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA. "Could you confirm or deny" , Novak is reported as asking Wilson. In Wilson’s Book , "The Politics of Truth" he regales us with another more intriguing drama : " Late on Tuesday afternoon July 8 (2003) , six days before Robert Novak’s article about Valerie and me, a friend showed up at my office with a strange and disturbing tale " Wilson then describes an impromptu encounter beteen his friend and Bob Novak as Novak was trecking his way to CNN’s Crossfire TV studios - then billetted at the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC. . Novak tells Wilson’s friend that Wilson is an "assho**" and that his wife ,a specialist in WMD who works for the CIA , sent him to Niger." An angry Wilson calls up Eason Jordon of CNN who arranges for Novak to call Wilson , a connection made two days later. " ( "A Strange Encounter" , excerpted from the "The Politics of Truth , Salon.Com , May 4, 2004 ) HMMM . In Vanity Fair , we also hear from Wilson that his wife was " making the transition from " non-offical" cover to "State Dept." cover in the early spring of 2003. Who pray tell facilitated that move ? And who was the Bush "senior administration official " who urged former Ambassador Wilson to write the op-ed that would ignite the Niger controversy , "What I didn’t learn in Africa" (New York Times , July 6, 2003) We know that both former Ambassador Wilson and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman graduated from UC- Santa Barbara in 1972. Numerous reports indicate that the two career diplomats worked together securing Turkey’s participation in enforcement of the Iraqi Northern No Fly Zone.