Thursday, June 02, 2005
Downing Street "Minute"
On July 23, 2002, almost eight months before the Bush Administration received authorization from Congress to go to war, a group of British politicians and intelligence agents sat down for a meeting at 10 Downing Street. The leaked secret and official minutes of that meeting (verified as genuine by British government sources) surfaced in a London Sunday Times article on May 1, 2005, and so far there has been little news coverage or visible effect in the United States. The document reveals that Richard Dearlove, MI6 chief:
… 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.
This is smoking gun proof that George W. Bush lied to Congress and the American people when he said he wanted a diplomatic solution to the Iraq/Saddam Hussein issue.
Dearlove went on:
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.
Bush’s intention all along was to use armed force rather than diplomacy. What will it take for the American public to wake up and see what George W. Bush has done and is still doing to this country? 1,665 unnecessary American dead, and still counting.
… 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.
This is smoking gun proof that George W. Bush lied to Congress and the American people when he said he wanted a diplomatic solution to the Iraq/Saddam Hussein issue.
Dearlove went on:
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.
Bush’s intention all along was to use armed force rather than diplomacy. What will it take for the American public to wake up and see what George W. Bush has done and is still doing to this country? 1,665 unnecessary American dead, and still counting.
