Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 19) in Swasey Chapel on the Denison University campus. Wilson was serving as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the period immediately before the first Gulf War in 1991. He was the last U.S. diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein that year. Wilson publicly defied Hussein and gave refuge to more than 100 U.S. citizens at the embassy during a time when Hussein was threatening to execute anyone who harbored foreigners.

In February of 2002, Wilson traveled to Niger to investigate allegations that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from the West African nation, reporting to the CIA that an Iraqi official had been in Niger on a trade mission in 1999. In July of 2003, he published an op-ed piece in theNew York Timesthat dismissed the uranium purchase claims and questioned the Bush administration's use of the allegation in its justification for the war in Iraq.

Shortly thereafter, columnist Robert Novak wrote a piece in which he named Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA agent. After the uncovering of Plame's employment, Wilson was in the middle of the investigation into the source of Novak's information, which raised questions as to whether someone in the White House revealed Plame's identity. In recent news reports, Richard Armitage, a deputy secretary of state, is said to have disclosed Plame's name to Novak. It also has been claimed that since Plame had not worked overseas during the previous five years that she was not covered by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

A diplomat from 1976 to 1998, Wilson currently is a business consultant. His appearance is sponsored by the Denison Lecture Series.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Lecture by former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 19), Swasey Chapel. Free and open to the public. Contact 740-587-6394 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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