Progress Report: British Briefing Papers Revealed

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Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:45:22 -0700 (PDT)

Progress Report: British Briefing Papers Revealed

 

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney,

Mipe Okunseinde and Christy Harvey

 

 

www.progressreport.org

6/13/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

IRAQ

 

British Briefing Papers Revealed

 

The Washington Post reported this weekend on more secret British

memos, including an eight page paper written in July 2002,

approximately around the time of the Downing Street Minutes, that

warned the Bush administration had given " little thought " to " the

aftermath [of war in Iraq] and how to shape it. " The American Progress

Action Fund obtained the series of memos written by high-level British

officials and has revealed their full text this morning. Although the

Post's coverage of the memos focused on the British warnings that Bush

lacked a post-war plan for Iraq, the Briefing Papers also shed further

light on the key allegation in the Downing Street Minutes – that the

intelligence on Iraq was being " fixed. " The newly released documents

show that the Bush administration was indeed selling the Iraq war

based on evidence it knew was weak.

 

PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE WAS KNOWN TO BE WEAK: The Downing Street Minutes

alleged that the intelligence on Iraq was being " fixed " around Bush's

policy of attacking Iraq. Recent media spin surrounding the Minutes

has sought to argue that when the British wrote " fixed, " they actually

meant something other than " manipulated. " The new Briefing Papers

reveal that the British knew the Iraq intelligence was weak, further

suggesting that the definition of " fixed " is what most have read it to

mean all along. The Iraq: Options Paper noted, " There is no greater

threat now that [saddam] will use WMD than there has been in recent

years, so continuing containment is an option. " British Foreign Office

Political Director Peter Ricketts wrote, " US is scrambling to

establish a link between Iraq and Al [Qaida] is so far frankly

unconvincing. " British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, " There has

been no credible evidence to link Iraq with UBL [usama bin Laden] and

Al Qaida. "

 

BRIEFING PAPERS REPEATEDLY WARNED THAT BUSH WAS FAILING TO PLAN FOR

IRAQ: The Post writes of a July 2002 memo that warned the Bush

administration had given " little thought " to " the aftermath [of war in

Iraq] and how to shape it. " The claims in the newly uncovered Briefing

Papers demonstrate that the Bush administration, to the detriment of

our troops and national security, simply chose to ignore the

recommendations of its key ally. Bush similarly chose to ignore the

State Department, which also foresaw the problems the U.S. has

encountered in Iraq. In August 2003, the Joint Chiefs of Staff

prepared a secret report that confirmed what the British and the State

Department had predicted. The report entitled, " Operation Iraqi

Freedom Strategic Lessons Learned, " blamed " setbacks in Iraq on a

flawed and rushed war-planning process that 'limited the focus' for

preparing for post-Saddam Hussein operations. "

 

WHITE HOUSE SPIN CONTRADICTS BUSH: The White House has gone into full

spin mode on the revelations of the British papers. " There was

significant post war planning, " said spokesman David Almacy. " More

importantly, the memo in question was written eight months before the

war began; there was significant post war planning in the time that

elapsed. " President Bush, however, in an interview he gave to the New

York Times last August, admitted he made " a miscalculation of what the

conditions would be " in post-war Iraq.

 

BLAIR'S ADVISER WARNED THAT BUSH WAS NOT PREPARED FOR WAR: In a paper

written to Prime Minister Blair on 3/14/02, David Manning – Blair's

former foreign policy adviser and current British ambassador to the

U.S. – wrote about a meeting he had with Condi Rice. He reported,

" Bush has yet to find the answers to the big questions: how to

persuade international opinion that military action against Iraq is

necessary and justified; what value to put on the exiled Iraqi

opposition; how to coordinate a US/allied military campaign with

internal opposition (assuming there is any); what happens on the

morning after? " In a dire prediction of what came about, Manning

wrote: " I think there is a real risk that the Administration

underestimates the difficulties. "

 

BRITISH COULD NOT UNDERSTAND BUSH'S RUSH TO ATTACK IRAQ: Underlying

the Briefing Papers is a sense that the British did not know the true

motivations driving the Bush administration's Iraq policy. " Military

operations need clear and compelling military objectives, " wrote the

British Foreign Office Political Director Peter Ricketts. " For Iraq,

'regime change' does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge match

between Bush and Saddam. " A British paper entitled " Iraq: Options

Paper " sought to further understand Bush's motivations. " The US has

lost confidence in containment. Some in government want Saddam

removed. The success of Operation Enduring Freedom, distrust of UN

sanctions and inspection regimes, and unfinished business from 1991

are all factors. "

 

CORPORATE POWER

 

Community Internet Under Attack

 

Though outgoing FCC Chairman Michael Powell may find it funny to joke

about " a Mercedes divide, " the ever increasing gap " between those who

have access to information technology and digital content and those

who do not " is no laughing matter. Now the battle to close the digital

divide has spilled onto another front – the fight for free municipal

broadband services. After last year's Supreme Court ruling that states

can bar " cities from offering high-speed Internet services, " lobbyists

from the telecommunications industry swarmed on state capitals with

one singular purpose: " to take cities out of the broadband business by

state dictum. " Telecom enjoyed some initial success until

anti-municipal Internet bills failed in three straight states – Iowa,

Florida, and Texas. The ever determined industry then set upon " an

outrageous attempt ... to protect their duopoly over broadband from

competition " with the help of one of their own. Doing their shilling

on the steps of Congress is Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), a former

employee of Southwestern Bell, who recently introduced legislation

that " would extend the ban on municipal broadband services to every

city in the country. " Send a letter to your representatives telling

them to oppose the Sessions bill.

 

THE SOCIOECONOMIC DIVIDE ON BROADBAND: Similar to the gap seen in

basic Internet access, there is a vast divide between socioeconomic

classes when it comes to high-speed Internet access. A recent report

found that " virtually every rural state remains underserved and

uncompetitive " while " in urban areas, many families are priced out of

the market. " Telecom giants " have failed to bridge the digital divide

and opted to serve the most lucrative markets at the expense of

universal, affordable access. " One expert compared such high-speed

Internet access inequity to " having the moderate and upper classes in

IMAX theatres, while the underprivileged are still watching silent

movies. "

 

THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY INTERNET: Over the course of our nation's

history, municipalities have played a key role in " building and

maintaining critical infrastructure. " Therefore, a chief claim made by

opponents of municipal broadband – that local governments are

incapable of running complex broadband systems – is a statement that

" defies history and the experiences of daily life. " Also,

municipalities care about more than profits and do not " enjoy a wealth

of state and federal subsidies " and other perks thrown at telecom

giants. Local governments, which are " accountable to local citizens

[and] understand their own needs, " can " provide needed broadband

services designed to address community needs " rather than just the

bottom line. Municipal networks will " provide the competition

necessary to keep rates low and quality of service high " as well as

" increase investment in local communities. " Other developed nations

that have surpassed America in providing broadband access not only

permit but oftentimes encourage " local governments to build out

broadband networks. "

 

INNOVATORS NO MORE: Though President Bush would like to celebrate the

increased accessibility of the Internet, over the first three years of

the Bush administration, the nation " dropped from 4th to 13th place in

global rankings of broadband Internet usage and the latest

mobile-phone technology. " Once considered a leader of innovation, the

United States is being outdone by many other industrialized nations

that are " positioning themselves to be the first states to reap the

benefits of the broadband era: economic growth, increased

productivity, and a better quality of life. " In fact, broadband

service is seen as " essential to economic development. " As broadband

" becomes a necessary utility for commerce, education and healthcare, "

high-speed Internet services will be as critical to a nation's

infrastructure as water pipelines and electricity grids or schools and

hospitals.

 

THE CASE AGAINST CORPORATE-ONLY BROADBAND: Desperate to maintain their

monopoly, telecom giants have " done their best to demonize " municipal

broadband projects, launching " an aggressive lobbying and

misinformation campaign. " Earlier this year, Verizon, which

successfully blocked Pennsylvania residents from obtaining low-cost

Internet access without its permission, " circulated ... to lawmakers,

journalists and opinion leaders " a so-called fact sheet that was chock

full of erroneous statistics on the " " 'failures' of public

broadband. " In actuality, " municipal broadband has been a success for

those communities that have begun offering service ... [and] the

propaganda maligning municipal systems is nothing more than

industry-sponsored folklore. " All their shadowy lobbying work obscures

the fact that " the commercial broadband market has not only failed to

bring affordable access in 2005, it is nowhere close. "

 

Under the Radar

 

GITMO – MINORS AS YOUNG AS 14 DETAINED, LAWYERS SAY: " Lawyers

representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say that there still

may be as many as six prisoners who were captured before their 18th

birthday and that the military has sought to conceal the precise

number of juveniles at the prison camp, " the New York Times reports.

One lawyer says his client was 14 when captured, and has told him that

" he was beaten regularly in his early days at Guantanamo, hanged by

his wrists for hours at a time and that an interrogator pressed a

burning cigarette into his arm. " On Friday, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL)

became the first high-profile conservative politician to say the Bush

administration should consider shutting Gitmo down.

 

ETHICS – ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER DELAY SCANDAL: Ever since the PAC

founded by House leader Tom Delay (R-TX) was found to have " broken the

law by failing to report $500,000 in donations, " DeLay has insisted he

never handled any of the PAC's donations personally and " had no

control over its day-to-day operation. " But the Los Angeles Times,

citing newly subpoenoed documents of conservative activists, shows

that's simply not the case. In one document, for example, a DeLay

fundraiser informs an aide that DeLay would " personally contact "

potential donors to the PAC. " Another exchange suggested that two

donor checks would be delivered to DeLay himself, " the Times reports.

(Oh yeah, and DeLay's " children's charity " is now under fire as well.)

 

CORRUPTION – DUKE'S DIRTY DWELLING DEALINGS: In November 2003, a

defense contractor named Mitchell Wade bought the house of Rep. Randy

'Duke' Cunningham (R-CA), a member of the influential defense

appropriations subcommittee. Wade ended up taking a $700,000 loss on

the purchase – but all was not lost. Wade's firm, which " had been

suffering through a flat period in winning Pentagon contracts, "

suddenly went on a tear, " reeling in tens of millions of dollars in

defense and intelligence-related contracts " from Cunningham's defense

appropriations subcommittee. Conflict of interest? Sure looks like it.

But Cunningham says otherwise: " My whole life I've lived aboveboard, "

the congressman told the San Diego Union-Tribune. " I've never even

smoked a marijuana cigarette. I don't cheat. "

 

IRAQ – TOP COMMANDER SAYS NO MILITARY SOLUTION: " A growing number of

senior American military officers in Iraq have concluded that there is

no long-term military solution " to the insurgency in Iraq,

Knight-Ridder reports. Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in

Iraq, said the military's efforts in Iraq had been struck " by the 'the

Pillsbury Doughboy idea' – pressing the insurgency in one area only

causes it to rise elsewhere. " Instead, the officials said, " the only

way to end the guerilla war " is through the Iraqi political process,

which itself is moving " further toward a political stalemate, "

according to yesterday's New York Times.

 

CORRUPTION – CUSTER'S REVENGE: Remember Custer Battles LLC? That's the

firm accused of defrauding U.S. taxpayers of $50 million in Iraq

reconstruction funds and banned from bidding on further government

contracts. For months, the Justice Department turned a blind eye to

Custer Battles, declining to even take part in the whistle-blower case

against the company. Now, AP has learned that former execs of the firm

" have continued doing contracting work [for the Pentagon] and have

formed new companies " to bid on contracts in Iraq. The new companies

(AP reports there are at least three) are all headed by Custer

Battles' former COO and housed in the firm's old office.

 

GOOD NEWS

 

Over the weekend, " G8 finance ministers agreed to wipe out $40 billion

of debt owed to multilateral institutions by 18 of the world's poorest

nations. "

 

DON'T MISS

 

TALKING POINTS: No Truth, No Plan on Iraq War.

 

MEDIA: The great Watergate cover-up ... of 2005.

 

REFORM: The one thing that may take down Tony Soprano? Congress.

 

PRIVACY: War against Roe v. Wade being waged at state level.

 

TERRORISM: The truth behind the admin's celebrated conviction rate.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" There's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al Qaeda ties. "

 

– President Bush, 9/17/03

 

VERSUS

 

" US scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and Al [Qaida] is so

far frankly unconvincing. "

 

– British memo, 3/22/02 (full text released today on ThinkProgress)

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Fred Jackson, news director of American Family Radio, called the

historic win by Los Angeles' first Hispanic mayor " a direct result of

what's been going on with illegal immigration, " warning that Latino

mayors would be popping up all over the nation.

 

© Copyright 2005 by American Progress Action Fund. All rights reserved.