New Downing Street Memo comes to light

scandium · 03-27-06, 06:36 AM

The details should suprprise nobody, but then you never know. Plus its one thing to have speculated on it at the time, but without any proof, and another to have something come to light later proving what you'd suspected all along. The article (apologies for the long URL):
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/in...age&oref=login

Some quotes:

"Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says

LONDON â€” In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war.

But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.

[snip]

The memo indicates the two leaders envisioned a quick victory and a transition to a new Iraqi government that would be complicated, but manageable. Mr. Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups." Mr. Blair agreed with that assessment.

The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Mr. Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein"

Its amusing to contrast what they were saying behind closed doors (essentially that the invasion was inevitable) with what they were saying publicly (that no decision had been made and that their only goal was for Iraq to comply with UN resolutions and disarm). Small wonder they made sure inspections were brought to an end before being concluded so that they could begin the invasion. I only wonder at how many can still believe that WMD were ever anything more than a pretext, or how Bush supporters rationalize the fact that he was essentially lying to the American people throughout this period, saying one thing publicly and quite another privately.

The third quoted paragraph also shows their costly simple minded optimism. How these two continue to remain in power is amazing.

03-27-06, 06:36 AM	#1
scandium Ace of the Deep Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,098 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	New Downing Street Memo comes to light The details should suprprise nobody, but then you never know. Plus its one thing to have speculated on it at the time, but without any proof, and another to have something come to light later proving what you'd suspected all along. The article (apologies for the long URL): http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/in...age&oref=login Some quotes: "Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says LONDON â€” In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war. But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times. [snip] The memo indicates the two leaders envisioned a quick victory and a transition to a new Iraqi government that would be complicated, but manageable. Mr. Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups." Mr. Blair agreed with that assessment. The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Mr. Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein" Its amusing to contrast what they were saying behind closed doors (essentially that the invasion was inevitable) with what they were saying publicly (that no decision had been made and that their only goal was for Iraq to comply with UN resolutions and disarm). Small wonder they made sure inspections were brought to an end before being concluded so that they could begin the invasion. I only wonder at how many can still believe that WMD were ever anything more than a pretext, or how Bush supporters rationalize the fact that he was essentially lying to the American people throughout this period, saying one thing publicly and quite another privately. The third quoted paragraph also shows their costly simple minded optimism. How these two continue to remain in power is amazing.