Comin' Out Amidst The Whitewash
Topic: Iraq
"This is how the takedown of an American President begins..."

More information is leaking out about this administration's plans for "regime change" in Iraq. It's too bad that the mainstream press doesn't get off of it's ass because they could probably dig up a whole slew of evidence before September 11th to show that this administration had violent military action against Iraq at the top of its priority list.

It is good to see that at least the Washington Post decided to start covering the Downing Street Memo on it's front page, Memo: U.S. Lacked Full Postwar Iraq Plan, albeit in a way that demonstrates that they have an excellent ability to miss the greater point. Hey Washington Post, why not try a headline like this,

"NEWSFLASH: Secret British Memo Vindicates Liberals Everywhere: THE PRESIDENT LIED US INTO WAR"

The Sunday Times in Britian reported that Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’. Read the full document that the article references here, "Cabinet Office paper: Conditions for military action," which comes out of a meeting in Crawford between Blair and Bush on April 6, 2002 and is just full of juicy tidbits like,

"Even with a legal base and a viable military plan, we would still need to ensure that the benefits of action outweigh the risks. In particular, we need to be sure that the outcome of the military action would match our objective as set out in paragraph 5 above. A post-war occupation of Iraq could lead to a protracted and costly nation-building exercise. As already made clear, the US military plans are virtually silent on this point."

And...

"US views of international law vary from that of the UK and the international community. Regime change per se is not a proper basis for military action under international law."

But wait, there's more...

"Agree to engage the US on the need to set military plans within a realistic political strategy, which includes identifying the succession to Saddam Hussein and creating the conditions necessary to justify government military action, which might include an ultimatum for the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq."

Incidentally, in the press conference during the meeting that lead to the memo, Bush stated unequivocally that his goal in Iraq was "regime change," which is ironic because as I remember it, the "excuse" that this administration gave the world for the Iraq war, at least the one they gave alot more often and alot louder, was WMD (notice the "WAS"). Or was it was because Iraq had ties to Al-Queda? No that's definitely not true. Oh that's right, it was to bring freedom and democracy there. No that's not true either. I don't know it's just so confusing. I wish this administration would make up its mind already. (Press Conference: Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush)

Hopefully the U.S. press realizes that there are volumes of evidence waiting to be found that point to the conclusion that George W. Bush and company lied us into war not over WMD but for yet unreported motivations.