DowningStreetMemo.com
Remember the Downing Street Memos? The Downing Street "Memo" is actually the minutes of a meeting, transcribed during a gathering of many of the British Prime Minister's senior ministers on July 23, 2002. Published by The Sunday Times on May 1, 2005 this document was the first hard evidence from within the UK or US governments that exposed the truth about how the Iraq war began.
Since that time, much more information has come to light through leaks of secret government documents and the accounts of an increasing number of people who have witnessed the administration’s wrongdoing firsthand.
There is now in the public record a large body of evidence that vividly illustrates:
● Bush’s long-standing intent to invade Iraq
● Bush’s willingness to provoke Saddam (in a variety of ways) into providing a pretext for war
● The fact that the war effectively began with an air campaign nearly a year before the March 2003 invasion and months before Congressional approval for the use of force
● The administration’s widespread effort to crush dissent and manipulate information that would counter its justification for war
● The lack of planning for the war’s aftermath and a fundamental lack of understanding of the Iraqi society
● Even as the Bush presidency winds down, a recent Senate investigation final report shows how the administration manipulated information to overstate the WMD threat and conjure up a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Quaida that did not exist.
A majority of the American people now believes that the president intentionally misled our nation into war, and many more believe the sacrifice made in Iraq has not been worthwhile. This web site is intended as a resource to document the truth about how we were misled into war, so that we might avoid such a mistake in the future.
Excerpts from the Downing Street Memos:
"C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action."
"The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections."
"It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force."
"...the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action."
"The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors."
"If the political context were right, people would support regime change. The two key issues were whether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan the space to work."
"But on the political strategy, there could be US/UK differences. Despite US resistance, we should explore discreetly the ultimatum. Saddam would continue to play hard-ball with the UN."
"He cautioned that many in the US did not think it worth going down the ultimatum route. It would be important for the Prime Minister to set out the political context to Bush."
"(d) The Foreign Secretary would send the Prime Minister the background on the UN inspectors, and discreetly work up the ultimatum to Saddam."
Suskind: Sources of WH forgery claim now under pressure to deny it
The Coincidence Theorist's Guide to 9/11
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A Pennsylvania man has died after being tasered by local police, and the Civil Rights section of the FBI's Pittsburgh office has now opened a preliminary investigation. Witnesses insist that Thomas was then brutalized by police, with one telling KDKA News that "after he was tased and handcuffed, one officer used a football-type kick and stomped him in the head."
Witness: PA police beat tasered man to death
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Watch this, and then tell me "Case Closed" on the anthrax mailings:
Special commentary by Big Dan: "Doesn't there have to be some kind of official case in court proving that Ivins was the anthrax mailer? Can you just pin something like this in the media on a dead guy after all these years, without some formal trial PROVING it? Have we all gone nuts? Since when did the media become the judicial branch of government? When did our country get like this? I didn't know you could convict a dead guy in the media, issue a bunch of documents, and say "CASE CLOSED", especially after they falsely accused 2 other guys first! Is that how we try people now? What if he wasn't dead, would they just throw him in jail without a trial?"
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Bush throws Republicans under the bus on off shore drilling. All rightwing media ignores this, of course, when talking about off shore drilling.GOP chair: 'Beijing George' threw us under the bus
