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Departments War More damning than Downing Street With Congressman John Conyers holding hearings, the media are finally starting to cover the Downing Street memo. This transcript of a July 23, 2002 British Prime Minister's meeting, whose legitimacy the British government confirms, details their response to the Bush administration’s intention to go to war against Iraq, no matter how Saddam Hussein responded, and even while claiming they were still seeking peaceful solutions. “It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided,” states the document. “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.” As the document states, “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” The document is damning, particularly coupled with the testimony of former Bush ghost-writer Mickey Herskowitz that Bush was talking about invading Iraq as early as 1999. But it’s even more disturbing as we start learning that this administration began actively fighting the Iraq war well in advance of the March 2003 official attack--before both the October 2002 US Congressional authorization and the November United Nations resolution requiring that Saddam Hussein open the country up to inspectors. I follow Iraq pretty closely, but was taken aback when Charlie Clements, now head of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, described driving in Iraq months before the war “and a building would just explode, hit by a missile from 30,000 feet –‘What is that building?’” Clements would ask. “’Oh, that's a telephone exchange.’” Later, at a conference at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base, Clements heard a U.S. General boast “that he began taking out assets that could help in resisting an invasion at least six months before war was declared.” Earlier this month, Jeremy Scahill wrote a powerful piece on the website of The Nation, describing a huge air assault in September 2002. “Approximately 100 US and British planes flew from Kuwait into Iraqi airspace,” Scahill writes. “At least seven types of aircraft were part of this massive operation, including US F-15 Strike Eagles and Royal Air Force Tornado ground-attack planes. They dropped precision-guided munitions on Saddam Hussein's major western air-defense facility, clearing the path for Special Forces helicopters that lay in wait in Jordan. Earlier attacks had been carried out against Iraqi command and control centers, radar detection systems, Revolutionary Guard units, communication centers and mobile air-defense systems. The Pentagon's goal was clear: Destroy Iraq's ability to resist.” Why aren’t we talking about this? As Scahill points out, this was a month before the Congressional vote, and two before the UN resolution. Supposedly part of enforcing “no fly zones,” the bombings were actually systematic assaults on Iraq’s capacity to defend itself. The US had never declared war. Bush had no authorization, not even a fig leaf. He was simply attacking another nation because he’d decided to do so. This preemptive war preempted our own Congress, as well as international law. Most Americans don’t know these prewar attacks ever happened. There was little coverage at the time, and there’s been little since. The bombings that destroyed Iraq’s air defenses were under the radar for both the American media and American citizens. If coverage of the Downing St memo continues to increase, I suspect the administration will try to dismiss it as mere diplomatic talk, just inside baseball. But they weren’t just manipulating intelligence so they could attack no matter how Saddam Hussein responded. They weren’t only bribing would-be allies into participation. They were fighting a war they’d planned long before. They just didn’t bother to tell the American public. --- Paul Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books), named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and American Book Association. See http://www.theimpossible.org/ You can read more about the Downing St memo at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org |
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White phosphorous: the U.S. used it; the U.S. says it's illegal Behind the steel curtain: the real face of the occupation Waiting is the hardest part Scotland: stop the war! Not even to save our lives Inconvenient journalists How pre-war Iraq intel was cooked Chalabi pushes Iran card in last ditch self-promotion offensive Staying a wrong course US war photos Banging at the gates of empire -- Washington, DC; September 24-26 What Else Shall We Do? Will we use the power we have on September 24? The war in Iraq is increasingly unpopular and must end -- An interview with Dennis Kucinich What eating Cindy Sheehan? Waiting for the outside world Families ask that fallen soldiers be honored Sunday by a tolling of bells Making the Iraq War and Occupation Personal President Bush Knows the True Reasons He Started A War in Iraq, But He's Not Going to Tell Armstrong bikes with president over Sheehan grave Sheehan breakthroughs, unbridgeable divides, and taboos unbroken The people must demand peace: An interview with Tom Hayden Will celebrity-addicted America miss the point? Jefferson would have stood with Cindy Sheehan Why is violence escalating in Iraq? How the United States Marked the 3rd Anniversary of the Downing Street Memo Someone Tell Bush That Iraq Wasn’t Responsible for 9/11 Before another War Breaks Out More damning than Downing Street Messengers of Truth: Untangling a Knot of Lies How Much Proof Needed Before the Truth Comes Out? Silent Death in Iraq Media Black Out Downing Street Minutes Getting Out of Iraq Will Be Tougher than Getting Out of Vietnam No Troops, No Wars Iraq’s Election Will Not Guarantee Democracy The U.S. Supreme Court is AWOL on Iraq Read War Articles by Year: |
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