Joe Wilson
First of all, I had been retired for several years from government.
Everybody understands that when you do something like this, your credibility has to be tested.
But what I have to say to people who might come forward is that one of the great things about our democracy is freedom of the press.
But secondly, with respect to this idea of diplomats not rocking the boat, I think it's important to understand that the American diplomatic service is full of people who are patriots, and who serve their country with great distinction.
As to the memo, I knew nothing about it other than a Post journalist had told me there was one circulating which he characterized as having been written by somebody who was not at the meeting where I was asked if I would be willing to go to Niger.
And thirdly, just because of the way we've prosecuted this war and how offensive it's been to the rest of the world, especially the Muslim world, we've created an exponentially larger pool from which actual terrorists might be drawn down the road.