88 members of Congress signed a letter that gives the president a chance to expl

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Fri, 27 May 2005 12:58:44 -0700 (PDT)

88 members of Congress signed a letter that gives the

president a chance to explain himself

 

 

http://www.tompaine.com

 

These Are The Crimes That Try Men's Souls

Patrick Doherty

May 09, 2005

 

We're proud to have pushed this issue in the American press. On May

3rd and 4th, John Prados and Ray McGovern, respectively, let TP.c

readers—and the world—know what the mainstream American media was

loathe to report—that a leaked memo from Downing Street finally

confirmed that Bush fabricated the entire war. On May 5th, 88 members

of Congress signed a letter that gives the president a chance to

explain himself. That letter is reprinted below and can be viewed as a

PDF here.

 

————————————

 

May 5, 2005

 

The Honorable George W. Bush

President of the United States of America

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

 

Dear Mr. President:

 

We write because of troubling revelations in the Sunday London

Times apparently confirming that the United States and Great Britain

had secretly agreed to attack Iraq in the summer of 2002, well before

the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to

engage in military action. While various individuals have asserted

this to be the case before, including Paul O'Neill, former U.S.

Treasury Secretary, and Richard Clarke, a former National Security

Council official, they have been previously dismissed by your

Administration. However, when this story was divulged last weekend,

Prime Minister Blair's representative claimed the document contained

" nothing new. " If the disclosure is accurate, it raises troubling new

questions regarding the legal justifications for the war as well as

the integrity of your own Administration.

 

The Sunday Times obtained a leaked document with the minutes of a

secret meeting from highly placed sources inside the British

Government. Among other things, the document revealed:

 

*

Prime Minister Tony Blair chaired a July 2002 meeting, at

which he discussed military options, having already committed himself

to supporting President Bush's plans for invading Iraq.

*

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged that the

case for war was " thin " as " Saddam was not threatening his neighbours

and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea, or Iran. "

*

A separate secret briefing for the meeting said that Britain

and America had to " create " conditions to justify a war.

*

A British official " 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. "

 

As a result of this recent disclosure, we would like to know the

following:

 

1.

Do you or anyone in your Administration dispute the accuracy

of the leaked document?

2.

Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of

allies, before you sought Congressional authorization go to war? Did

you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to

invade prior to this time?

3.

Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons

inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the

minutes indicate?

4.

At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first

agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?

5.

Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence

community and/or British officials to " fix " the intelligence and facts

around the policy as the leaked document states?

 

We have of course known for some time that subsequent to the

invasion there have been a variety of varying reasons proffered to

justify the invasion, particularly since the time it became evident

that weapons of mass destruction would not be found. This leaked

document - essentially acknowledged by the Blair government - is the

first confirmation that the rationales were shifting well before the

invasion as well.

 

Given the importance of this matter, we would ask that you respond

to this inquiry as promptly as possible. Thank you.

 

 

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