Can anyone translate Italiian? (Corriere della Sera: "Niger-gate" article)

[Wordie]

Niger-Gate, Berlusconi difende Pollari
«Stima per il lavoro del direttore del Sismi». La nota dopo l'invito di Cossiga al generale a dimettersi. Martino: «Piena fiducia»

I was trying to find an English version of La Repubblica (Italian newspaper that's been publishing Niger Uranium forgery stories, but found this instead. I was hoping to get more information than the US press is tending to offer, and thought I had found an English version of this other Italian newspaper, but clicking on the link took me to this, in Italian.
Here is the link: (I think the title says "Berlusconi defends Pollari) http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2005/10_Ottobre/30/pollari.shtml

<snip>
Niger-Gate, Berlusconi difende Pollari
«Stima per il lavoro del direttore del Sismi». La nota dopo l'invito di Cossiga al generale a dimettersi. Martino: «Piena fiducia»
Il direttore del Sismi Pollari (Ansa)
ROMA - «Nutro stima per il generale Nicolò Pollari, ho seguito il suo lavoro con fiducia ed ho sempre apprezzato ed apprezzo ciò che sta facendo al Sismi, così come ho sempre determinato e condiviso i comunicati di Palazzo Chigi in sua difesa»: lo afferma in una dichiarazione il presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri, Silvio Berlusconi. «Mi spiace - continua la nota - ma stavolta l'amico Presidente Francesco Cossiga non ha colto nel segno, in quanto mi attribuisce qualcosa che è lontano dalla verità e dal mio modo di essere». E «piena fiducia» viene confermata dal ministro della Difesa, Antonio Martino, al capo del Sismi invitato «caldamente a non prendere neanche in considerazione il suggerimento propostogli».
LA LETTERA - Tutto nasce dalle dichiarazioni provocatorie di Francesco Cossiga, contenute in una lettera inviata al direttore di Repubblica, in merito alla vicenda del cosiddetto Niger-Gate. Nella missiva l'ex presidente aveva dato un «consiglio da amico» al direttore del Sismi, quello di dimettersi in seguito alla pubblicazione di notizie riguardanti il coinvolgimento dei servizi segreti italiani nel tentativo di fabbricare false prove che giustificassero la guerra in Iraq.

Nella lettera aperta Cossiga spiega di aver ricevuto questa mattina una telefonata da Pollari «che si sente (e giustamente!) abbandonato da tutti, escluso Gianni Letta, Enzo Bianco, me ed una parte della sinistra -scrive Cossiga- e non di quella prodiana egemonica». Cossiga mette in guardia Ezio Mauro dalle «strumentalizzazioni» che rischiano i suoi redattori nell'inchiesta sul cosiddetto Niger-Gate e sottolinea la freddezza di Berlusconi verso Pollari visto che «mai» Palazzo Chigi «per voce del premier» ha difeso il direttore del Sismi «prima che io gli avessi dato una tranvata in testa».

POLEMICHE - Nel frattempo l'opposizione con Vannino Chiti (ds) chiede che il governo riferisca in Parlamento sulla vicenda legata a Pollari. Giovedì presso il Copaco si terrà un'audizione dello stesso Pollari «che sarà utile - come spiega Gasparri, vicepresidente del Comitato parlamentare di controllo dei servizi segreti - per fare ulteriore chiarezza».
31 ottobre 2005

[Ivote]

1. Try this site

www.freetranslation.com

[Wordie]

15. Never knew that so many translation sites existed! Thanks, it's bookmarked

[Moochy]

2. Babel Fish Translation

The opposition: "the government reports in Parliament"
Niger-Gate, Berlusconi defends Pollari
"Esteem for the job of the director of the Sismi". The famous one after I invite of Cossiga the general to discharge itself. Martino: "Full confidence"

INSTRUMENTS
VERSION STAMPABILE
The READ PIU'
IT SENDES THIS ARTICLE
The director of the Sismi Pollari (Handle)
ROME - "Nutro estimates for general Nicolò Pollari, I have followed its job with confidence and always I have appreciated and I appreciate that that it is making the Sismi, therefore like I have always determined and shared it communicates you of Chigi Palace in its defense": the Prime Minister of the Ministers asserts in one declaration, Silvio Berlusconi. "Me spiace - the famous one continues - but stavolta the friend President Francisco Cossiga has not picked in the sign, in how much he attributes something to me that is far away from the truth and my way to be". And "flood confidence" comes confirmed from the minister of the Defense, Antonio Martino, to the head of the invited Sismi "warmly not to take neanche in consideration the suggestion propostogli".
The LETTER - All letter sended to the director of Republic is born from the provocative declarations of Francisco Cossiga, contained in one, with respect to the vicissitude of the so-called Niger-Gate. In the missiva the former president had given to a "council from friend" to the director of the Sismi, that one to discharge as a result of the regarding news publication the involvement of the Italian intelligence agencies in the attempt to manufacture false tests that they justified the war in Iraq.

In the open letter Cossiga a telephone call from Pollari explains to have received this morning "that is felt just (and!) abandoned from all, excluded Read Gianni, Enzo White man, me and a part of the left - Cossiga- and not of that hegemonic prodiana writes ". Cossiga puts in guard Ezio Mauro from the "instrumentalizations" that its editors in the inquiry risk on the so-called Niger-Gate and emphasize the coldness of Berlusconi towards Pollari inasmuch as "never" Chigi Palace "for voice of the premier" has defended the director of the Sismi "before that I had given one to it tranvata in head".

CONTROVERSIES - In the meantime the opposition with Vannino Chiti (ds) asks that the government reports in Parliament on the tied vicissitude to Pollari. Thursday near the Copaco will keep a audition of the same Pollari "that will be useful - as Gasparri explains, vice president of the Committee parliamentarian of control of the intelligence agencies - in order to make ulterior clarity".
31 October 2005

[Wordie]

7. LOL..."ulterior clarity" something missing from these auto-translations!

Does anyone understand what any of that really MEANS? Because the issue of who forged the documents, and who was responsible for those documents getting to the Bush administration, is at the root of all of this (Plame-gate, etc.).

There are other links on that side too, and, if anyone is interested, here is a direct link to La Repubblica (note that the quoted story comes from a different newspaper):
http://www.repubblica.it/index.html

Thanks to everyone who replied to my request.

[Moochy]

9. see post #4 for a human translaton I think

I think that post #4 was translated with the help of a human brain.

Its pretty clear in that article what is going on, IMO.

[madrchsod]

3. take the link and put it on google search

click and the page will come up in english

[rodeodance]

4. Here it is.

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10506

> La Repubblica's Scoop, Confirmed
> By Laura Rozen
> The American Prospect
>
> Tuesday 25 October 2005
>
> Italy's intelligence chief met with Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley just a month before the Niger forgeries first surfaced.
>
> With Patrick Fitzgerald widely expected to announce indictments in the CIA leak investigation, questions are again being raised about the intelligence scandal that led to the appointment of the special counsel: namely, how the Bush White House obtained false Italian intelligence reports claiming that Iraq had tried to buy uranium "yellowcake" from Niger.
>
> The key documents supposedly proving the Iraqi attempt later turned out to be crude forgeries, created on official stationery stolen from the African nation's Rome embassy. Among the most tantalizing aspects of the debate over the Iraq War is the origin of those fake documents - and the role of the Italian intelligence services in disseminating them.
>
> In an explosive series of articles appearing this week in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, investigative reporters Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe d'Avanzo report that Nicolo Pollari, chief of Italy's military intelligence service, known as Sismi, brought the Niger yellowcake story directly to the White House after his insistent overtures had been rejected by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2001 and 2002. Sismi had reported to the CIA on October 15, 2001, that Iraq had sought yellowcake in Niger, a report it also plied on British intelligence, creating an echo that the Niger forgeries themselves purported to amplify before they were exposed as a hoax.
>
> Today's exclusive report in La Repubblica reveals that Pollari met secretly in Washington on September 9, 2002, with then - Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Their secret meeting came at a critical moment in the White House campaign to convince Congress and the American public that war in Iraq was necessary to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear weapons. National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones confirmed the meeting to the Prospect on Tuesday.

[Wordie]

13. Hey, thanks! Interesting site...

But I think what I posted was additional info, later than the article you quote. Still, I really appreciate that website. It looks very interesting.

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Here:

ROME - "Nutro estimates for general Nicolò Pollari, I have followed its job with confidence and always I have appreciated and I appreciate that that it is making the Sismi, therefore like I have always determined and shared it communicates you of Chigi Palace in its defense": the Prime Minister of the Ministers asserts in one declaration, Silvio Berlusconi. "Me spiace - the famous one continues - but stavolta the friend President Francisco Cossiga has not picked in the sign, in how much he attributes something to me that is far away from the truth and my way to be". And "flood confidence" comes confirmed from the minister of the Defense, Antonio Martino, to the head of the invited Sismi "warmly not to take neanche in consideration the suggestion propostogli". The LETTER - All letter sended to the director of Republic is born from the provocative declarations of Francisco Cossiga, contained in one, with respect to the vicissitude of the so-called Niger-Gate. In the missiva the former president had given to a "council from friend" to the director of the Sismi, that one to discharge as a result of the regarding news publication the involvement of the Italian intelligence agencies in the attempt to manufacture false tests that they justified the war in Iraq. In the open letter Cossiga a telephone call from Pollari explains to have received this morning "that is felt just (and!) abandoned from all, excluded Read Gianni, Enzo White man, me and a part of the left - Cossiga- and not of that hegemonic prodiana writes ". Cossiga puts in guard Ezio Mauro from the "instrumentalizations" that its editors in the inquiry risk on the so-called Niger-Gate and emphasize the coldness of Berlusconi towards Pollari inasmuch as "never" Chigi Palace "for voice of the premier" has defended the director of the Sismi "before that I had given one to it tranvata in head". CONTROVERSIES - In the meantime the opposition with Vannino Chiti (ds) asks that the government reports in Parliament on the tied vicissitude to Pollari. Thursday near the Copaco will keep a audition of the same Pollari "that will be useful - as Gasparri explains, vice president of the Committee parliamentarian of control of the intelligence agencies - in order to make ulterior clarity". 31 October 2005

[Wordie]

8. But, sheesh, what does that MEAN???

[stillcool]

6. There is also a great site with lots of info re:

http://nuralcubicle.blogspot.com/2005/10/berlusconi-behind-fake-yellowcake.html

[Wordie]

10. That site looks interesting and worth exploring. Thank you. eom

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

11. Here it is... translation

Niger-Gate, Berlusconi difende Pollari
«Stima per il lavoro del direttore del Sismi». La nota dopo l'invito di Cossiga al generale a dimettersi. Martino: «Piena fiducia»
Il direttore del Sismi Pollari (Ansa)
ROMA - «Nutro stima per il generale Nicolò Pollari, ho seguito il suo lavoro con fiducia ed ho sempre apprezzato ed apprezzo ciò che sta facendo al Sismi, così come ho sempre determinato e condiviso i comunicati di Palazzo Chigi in sua difesa»: lo afferma in una dichiarazione il presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri, Silvio Berlusconi.

ROME - "I ADMIRE GENERAL NICOLO` POLLARI, I HAVE FOLLOWED HIS WORK WITH TRUST AND I HAVE ALWAYS APPRECIATED AND APPRECIATE WHAT HE IS DOING AT SISMI , AS I HAVE ALWAYS NOTED IN MY REMARKS TO PALAZZO CHIGI IN HIS DEFENSE," SAYS THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, SILVIO BERLUSCONI, IN HIS STATEMENT.

«Mi spiace - continua la nota - ma stavolta l'amico Presidente Francesco Cossiga non ha colto nel segno, in quanto mi attribuisce qualcosa che è lontano dalla verità e dal mio modo di essere». E «piena fiducia» viene confermata dal ministro della Difesa, Antonio Martino, al capo del Sismi invitato «caldamente a non prendere neanche in considerazione il suggerimento propostogli».

"I AM SORRY," CONTINUES THE NOTE, "BUT THIS TIME MY FRIEND PRESIDENT FRANCESCO COSSIGA WAS NOT RIGHT, BECAUSE HE ATTRIBUTED TO ME SOMETHING THAT IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH AND FAR FROM THE WAY I AM."
AND 'FULL TRUST' IS CONFIRMED BY THE DEFENSE MINISTER, ANTONIO MARTINO, HEAD OF SISMI, WHO HAS BEEN REQUESTED 'WARMLY TO NOT EVEN TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE SUGGESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ADVANCED."

LA LETTERA - Tutto nasce dalle dichiarazioni provocatorie di Francesco Cossiga, contenute in una lettera inviata al direttore di Repubblica, in merito alla vicenda del cosiddetto Niger-Gate. Nella missiva l'ex presidente aveva dato un «consiglio da amico» al direttore del Sismi, quello di dimettersi in seguito alla pubblicazione di notizie riguardanti il coinvolgimento dei servizi segreti italiani nel tentativo di fabbricare false prove che giustificassero la guerra in Iraq.

THE LETTER - EVERYTHING IS BORNE OUT OF PROVOKING STATEMENTS BY FRANCESCO COSSIGA, CONTAINED IN A LETTER SENT TO THE EDITOR IN CHIEF OF 'LA REPUBBLICA' REGARDING THE AFFAIR KNOWN AS NIGER-GATE. IN THE LETTER, THE FORMER PRESIDENT GAVE A 'FRIENDLY SUGGESTION' TO THE DIRECTOR OF SISMI: TO RESIGN FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF NEWS ABOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE ITALIAN SECRET SERVICE IN THE EFFORTS TO FABRICATE FALSE EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY THE WAR IN IRAQ.

[Wordie]

12. Hey thanks! And Niger-gate looks to be VERY big in Italy.

Former president asking for SISMI director's resignation. That's a big deal.

Did you read any of those other links? Is there any additional evidence pointing to American involvement/requests in the forgeries? Any info on that secret meeting?

And again, thank you VERY much for responding and taking the time to do this translation.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

14. The story is big news in Italy

It's my pleasure to do translations (it's part of my job and I've been a translator for a while) and Italian is my mother tongue.

[Wordie]

16. That makes you a BIG asset to DU right now. Thanks again!

Don't want to impose, but if you could keep us updated on La Repubblica stories, that would be really appreciated. I'm sure a lot of other DUers would feel that way, not just me. The US press seems to be having a hard time focusing on the Niger forgeries angle.

You may be a busy person, and such a request may be to much of a demand on your time, I realize. So, either way, thank you again so much for your assistance.

[LiviaOlivia]

17. If you haven't seen any of these give them a read.

Good discussions at:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006896.php
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006908.php

And a great write up by eriposte over at The Left Coaster.

Intro: http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005887.php
Part 1: http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005895.php
Part 2: http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005898.php
Part 3: http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005908.php

[Wordie]

18. Wow...thank you. I haven't visited theleftcoaster, so will try it.