Joseph Wilson, diplomat who defied Bush’s Iraq War narrative, dies at 69

Former ambassador Joseph Wilson died Friday, his ex-wife Valerie Plame has confirmed. He was 69.

Wilson died at his home in New Mexico after a long diplomatic career throughout Africa. “He had the heart of a lion and the courage to match,” Plame said of her ex-husband in a statement, adding that he died of organ failure.

While Wilson had spent more than 20 years as a diplomat, the most prominent point of his career came in 2003 when he was a private citizen. The White House previously had Wilson fly to Niger to see if Saddam Hussein had purchased uranium from the country to build a nuclear weapon, but he found no evidence that had happened. So when former President George W. Bush claimed Hussein bought uranium from Africa in his State of the Union the next year, and then invaded Iraq on that premise, Wilson wrote an op-ed saying Bush’s rationale was unfounded.

Wilson’s accusations eventually resulted in charges against then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby. Plame, who was Wilson’s wife at the time, was outed as a CIA operative along the way. President Trump pardoned Libby last year. Plame is currently running for Congress as a Democrat in New Mexico.

Joseph Wilson, diplomat who defied Bush’s Iraq War narrative, dies at 69