Joe Wilson, former United States diplomat, passes away at 69

Joseph Charles Wilson IV, a former US envoy, passed away at the age of 69 on September 27. According to his ex-wife, Valerie Plame, the former diplomat died due to causes related to organ failure.

The life of a former US envoy

A man born in the state of Connecticut, Joseph's time with the American foreign service, saw him serve in a lot of African nations. He served as a US envoy in Baghdad at the time of the first gulf war that lasted for a year and is also the last US diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein.

His most notable achievement was in the year 2002 when he looked into accusations that Iraq's former President, Saddam Hussein, was apparently making efforts to buy yellowcake uranium during the Iraq disarmament crisis to build nuclear-powered weapons.

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Wilson has also been subject to intense criticism from Republican legislators in relation to the comments he made on Iraq in what was termed as a build-up to the US invasion of Iraq. In an interview with an international media outlet, he stated that the scenario in reference to the post 9/11 security went haywire after the United States of America invaded Iraq in 2003. He further added that security intention for the US was all out on the table and that was to tackle the issue of Saddam Hussein. He also said that the invasion of Iraq was not needed in order to achieve the above-mentioned objective. 

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'The Plame Affair'

The scandal involving, Valerie Plame, was known as 'The Plame Affair'. It was a full-blown out that involved Plame's identity being publically exposed by conservative political commentator and journalist, Robert Novac, as a covert CIA official in the year 2003.

It was quite a scandal for the Bush led US government when Plame's identity was leaked and that led to the then Vice presidential assistant, I. Lewis, being charged with allegations for lying to the prosecutors and causing a roadblock on the path leading to justice.

The scandal was later adapted into a movie titled Fair Game based on Plame's memoir, Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

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(With inputs from AP)