Former ambassador Joseph Wilson will speak at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa - Joseph Wilson, career diplomat and author of "The Politics of Truth," will present "Dissent in Our Democracy" at 8 p.m., Wed., Feb. 21, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Wilson was also involved in the events that led to the arrest and ongoing trial of a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Libby is accused of lying to federal investigators who were looking into the leaking of the name of Wilson's wife to the press.

Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA employee at the time of the leak.

Wilson was a diplomat from 1976 to 1998 and served in various diplomatic posts throughout Africa, eventually becoming ambassador to Gabon. He was also the acting ambassador to Baghdad, Iraq, and was responsible for freeing more than one hundred American hostages in Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The lecture is part of the World Affairs series.