Downing Street Memo

Most people who aren't active political bloggers probably don't know anything about this because the "liberal" media is too conservative to report anything negative about the administration. This actually confirms everything I was saying back in 2003. That Bush was set on going to war way before he ever started talking about it to the public. It's still my opinion that Bush was set on going to war from the minute he entered the oval office. This memo certainly helps that belief.

The worst quote I've ever heard in my life was in 2003, someone I know said "I think Sadaam has weapons of mass destruction and I hope he uses them to prove all these anti-war people wrong." At the time I was shocked to hear this statement actually come out of this person mouth, and I'm still shocked to this day. But I guess that's the lengths people will go to. I'm still amazed at people's ability to believe that Bush was 100% honest in getting us to war with Iraq. I just don't understand how people can live in a world of such delusion.

Anyway, back to the memo. The memo is actually meeting minutes taken from the British Prime Ministers meeting on July 23, 2002. A full 8 months prior to the US invasion of Iraq. I'm not going to post the whole thing here because it's too long. But I definately encourage you to go read it all here.

Here's the most relevant paragraphs:

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.

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. 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 Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action.

So yeah, basically what this is saying is that Bush wanted a regime change and he was fixing intellegence to fit this policy decision. This memo proves that Bush lied to the country in the weeks leading to war with Iraq.