Ambassador Joseph Wilson recounts more than two decades in the U. S. Foreign Service in this look at the life of an American diplomat, and an unabashed account of policies that both succeeded and failed. As the last American official to meet with Saddam Hussein before Desert Storm, Wilson successfully parried the dictator's threats to use American hostages as human shields against U. S. bombing. Yet for more than a year, he has been battling threats from his own government, simply because he called a lie a lie. When President Bush alleged that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa for its nuclear weapons program, Wilson could not stand silent. He had traveled to Niger the previous year and found no evidence to support the president's claim. To punish Wilson and intimidate others tempted to come forward, senior administration officials disclosed the undercover status of Wilson's wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, to the press, putting her life in danger. Rather than backing down, Wilson persistently criticized the way the administration misled the nation into war.With the addition of photographs, maps, timelines, and news commentaries, this bestseller continues Wilson's fight by revealing the perils bred by the war-hungry regime in the White House.