Posted on 06/16/2005 8:27:21 PM PDT by kristinn
WASHINGTON - A hearing Thursday on a secret British intelligence memo that said President Bush was committed to waging war on Iraq months before he said so publicly ended with a request for Congress to open an inquiry into whether Bush should be impeached for misleading the nation.
"All we're asking is to know the truth," said John Bonifaz, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet,org. "Some of his supporters want to say it's a question of failed intelligence. If that's all it was, so be it."
But if not, said Bonifaz, "then the American people and the U.S. Congress deserve to know."
The hearing focused on the now-famous Downing Street memo, named after the Downing Street office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The memo was written on July 23, 2002, by a top Blair adviser.
The memo reports that Bush appeared determined in summer 2002 to proceed with war and had "fixed" intelligence to boost his case before the country and the world. The war began March 19, 2003.
The Sunday Times of London published the secret memo May 1, 2005.
At one point the memo says: "It seemed clear that Bush has 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 WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."
Bush and Blair have denied twisting intelligence or intentionally misleading the public.
Thursday's hearing on the memo was organized by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
It was held in a cramped Capitol basement room and was attended by about 20 House Democrats and some anti-war activists. Republicans, who control Congress, refused to hold an official hearing or to participate, so Conyers termed it a "forum."
SNIP
Conyers delivered petitions signed by 105 members of Congress and some 540,000 signatures sent via e-mail to a security gate at the White House early Thursday evening. The petitions urged Bush to thoroughly answer questions about the memo. MoveOn Pac helped Conyers collect the signatures.
Several hundred supporters of a full investigation into the memo gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House late Thursday afternoon. It was organized by Code Pink and Progressive Democrats of America.
Protesters held signs reading "Bush Lied, Innocents Died," "We Impeached Clinton For Lying" and "Impeach for Peace."
One protestor, Werner Lange, 58, from Ohio, came dressed as Uncle Sam. He carried a sign saying "Impeach Him."
"Because of this lie, hundreds of thousands have died," Lange said. Bush "should be charged with war crimes."
Allison Yorra, 44, of Washington, D.C., said, "I want the truth to come out about this war. It's all been lies. It certainly breaks my heart every time I see or hear about a soldier being killed."
Yorra said of Bush: "How do you sleep at night, knowing you did this for your own benefit?"
Six members of the D.C. chapter of Freerepublic.com held a small counter-protest in support of Bush's policies. They brought an Iraqi expatriate, Nofel al Jazairi, who stood solemnly and held a sign reading "Saddam Lied, Millions Died."
Organizer Kristin Taylor said the Downing Street memo is "much ado about nothing."
"I think President Bush stands on the side of freedom and democracy, and I think he did the right thing for the Iraqi people and the American people and the world by taking the fight to the terrorists in Iraq," Taylor said.
Thank God for the Freeprs. What a great job...they made Reuters! I got chills seeing the picture..they made Reuters!Yippee.
And here is the so-called "victim mother" that was so devastated by her son's loss and blamed the Bush administration on army suicides instead of THE RATS WHO ENCOURAGE GUILT! She's a b*tch who is commie in disguised. She once called her son's death a "waste". God Bless the man in the picture she is VAINLY holding.
Thanks for that FReeper photo, BTW.
We'll post a report tomorrow.
Way to go, Kristin & Cohorts!
Thanks D.C. chapter, I'm glad you represented me while I wasn't able to attend. I'll do the same in return when the need arises in Chicago.
It is Al-Reuters.....
Hard to find the lies....
No, 100,000 were not killed. No, Bush didn't lie. Yes, Saddam had WMD and used them on Iran and the Kurds. Yes, he was involved with the first WTC bombing, the perps used passports stolen when Iraq was in Kuwaitt.
No, it isn't about oil. There are cheaper ways to get oil.
No, it isnt about Halliburton. Halliburton won a competitive long term support contract during the Clinton Administration, and its role was continued after that.
Yes, the Arabs hit the buildings with aircraft. If it was a detonation, then the demolitions and connections would have been visible to the workers....
She testified in the Conyers investigation today I might add.
I agree, there should be no war....
All the terrorists should surrender tomorrow.
Tell that to the b*tch who sucked up to Conyers sympathizers in his DSM hearing that took place today, belittling HER OWN KID. She's going to be in Moore's next "documentary" no doubt.
Thank you for your tireless efforts to confront those who would destroy our country! God bless the DC Chapter of FR.
FYI, a news report on the DSM hearings and the demo following.
This memo sounds like some leftist rantings at the time, Im sure their are plenty of leftists in the UK intelligence agency. It actually sounds typical of their paranoid imaginings. Less then Libya?. yeah right. They are scraping the bottom of the barrel with this.
Thank you Kristinn, and the rest of you FReepers who were there!
You get some interesting perspectives reading how the different left-wing media spin this totally orchestrated travesty. This story says the lefty Democrats and "some anti-war activists" attended. The Knight-Ridder version says "Democrats and a small audience heard statements." The New York Times, on the other hand, reports it as a hearing "in a jammed room in the basement of the Capitol."
Good going for the Freepers.
Good job today, Kristinn.
If I recall, didn't Tommy Franks in his book note that Bush asked about war plans in the Middle East early in his presidency? After 9/11, he asked Rumsfeld (who asked Franks, as CENTCOM commander), to review the Iraq war plan, and Franks/Rumsfeld said it was inadequate. Bush then tasked Rumsfeld/Franks to update it so that we could take it "off the shelf" if we needed it.
To me, the salient points include:
1) In 1998, the Congress passed, and Clinton signed, a bill stating that the policy of the USA was regime change in Iraq, and provided money to the Iraqi ex-pats willing to work for regime change. Most if not all of the Democrats signed on to this, based on the WMD intelligence and the elimination of UN inspections by Saddam.
2) After he became President, Bush asked for a review of the existing war plans in the Middle East, found them outdated or lacking, and requested they be updated if they were needed.
3) By summer 2002, the Iraq plan had been updated, and was presented to Bush (see the Franks book). This led to the strategy session with the Brits (from whence came the Downing St Memo and several others), the meeting in Crawford in August 2002 (that Fatso Kennedy keeps whining about) that laid plans to challenge Iraq by going to the UN (in September), the Congress for approval (in October), etc.
4) The intelligence from CIA, the Brits, the French, the UN, etc. all said the same thing in 1998 and 2002 - Saddam had WMD, and we think he still has them -- the worst case scenario is that he might be making nuclear, chemical and bio weapons. Something has to be done...
It seems to me that Bush was just doing his job - trying to stay on top of things if the GWOT became wider. I think many of us would want to impeach him if he hadn't done all of this!
I know - preaching to the choir here, but it's helpful to me to write it down.
The dims can't read. The UK papers announced what the Downing St. meeting was about before as it occurred. Please see this thread-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1424615/posts?page=3#3
That is indeed a classic: the commissariat's info bureau at work and play...
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