Incriminating Memo Released; American Media Oddly Silent

Leaked Document from 2002 Shows that Information was Manipulated to Invade Iraq

LONDON (Republic Newswire) -- On May 1, according to the London Times, a secret memo from July 23, 2002 was leaked which showed that "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" of militarily removing Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, a news blackout hangs thickly over the United States.

From the very beginning of the Iraq invasion, there was persistent skepticism regarding the legitimacy of claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and that he was a serious military threat. However, there was never any concrete proof of this, and accusations that he lied were repeatedly brushed off as hot air. But a document leaked from the United Kingdom now suggests otherwise.

As with many memos that come out of any government office, this one was highly classified. Its header reads “SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY”. However, a quick glance shows that there is nothing personal about this document, which is actually a record of the minutes from a British cabinet meeting.

In the document is the smoking gun. “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.” On July 23, 2002, a record was made President Bush had planed to invade Iraq months before he brought the matter to Congress or the United Nations. Authorization for military action in Iraq was sought in October 2002, and UN Resolution 1441 passed in November 2002.

The memo can be viewed at http://www.downingstreetmemo.com

Four days after the London Times published the leaked memo, US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) wrote a letter to the President, signed by 88 colleagues, demanding an explanation. The White House has not responded. Conyers has threatened impeachment and will convene a meeting in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, June 16 at 2:30 PM to look into the matter and open an official investigation. The meeting will be covered on C-SPAN 3. The letter has been posted at http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/letters/bushsecretmemoltr5505.pdf and a list of co-signers is found at http://www.house.gov/htbin/leave_site?ln_url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html

In the United States, there has been hardly any coverage of this in the mainstream media. There have been no televised reports on CNN, and articles are scarce at CNN.com. MSNBC has engaged in similar behavior. Fox News tried to discredit the report. Time Magazine has not mentioned the incident. In The New York Times, this story has not appeared on the front page.

Meanwhile, this news has been explosive in the United Kingdom. The London Times put the story on its front page, while the BBC has been behind a string of continuous reports on the memo. Tony Blair has come under fire. In the British elections held just a few days after the memo was published, the Labour Party lost a significant number of seats in the House of Commons.