mirrorpool: June 2005

Seven more memos have been released to the Sunday Times of London, bolstering the case for investigating the already famous Downing Street minutes. The first of the new batch was a briefing paper passed around at the Downing Street meeting, written two days earlier. The inevitability of the Iraq invasion and the need to get around it's illegality was discussed, and also the Bush administration's lack of a real plan for the aftermath. When the story broke, American mainstream news sources only reported the latter allegation.

The other memos are various letters and memorandums to and from Tony Blair's top cabinet members. Much doubt is expressed about the legality or necessity of invading Iraq; a stark contrast to the public face our leaders were presenting. Also hinted at are the early bombings of Iraq, before Congressional or Parliamentary approval was obtained. These reports should be the ones that certainly finish both administrations. Unfortunately, it's also possible these documents could get lost in the maze of circumstances. The more scandals pile up, the easier it seems for at least the Bush administration to escape any particular scrutiny.

Maybe we'll finally see how powerful they really are, or how dangerous. It's scary to contemplate what events they could use to distract us from the truth. Some of these disasters are standard policy, like the almost obligatory take-over of Iran. Others include another possible attack on the United States. If either occurred, they know it would be hard to impeach a 'war' president. Darker days surely lie ahead rather than brighter ones. No matter what happens, it will be painful for all of us, regardless of ideology.

Even if obtaining oil by any means necessary is somehow in America's interest, it's still against international law. Perhaps these countries would be more likely to sell us oil in the first place if we weren't such bullies. It's rather late for diplomacy, though, and it's our fault. Without a change in course, we are heading straight for another world war. Our country doesn't seem to be trying to stop it, but rather the opposite. A commission to study the use of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq war would be instructive as a beginning to understanding the true intentions of our government.

The distractions that help the Bush administration escape accountability also help them achieve their goals. They have now created the conditions to control Iran's oil, too. (Not to mention natural gas reserves, second largest in the world.) We need to move quickly, before they institute their plans anyway as par for the course. Full investigations and hearings need to happen before a viable excuse can be manufactured again for another invasion. Impeachment hearings could weaken Bush enough to lessen his clout. It may be the only way to stop the next world war.

Sources:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1663752,00.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1669292,00.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1669640,00.html

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0623-25.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines05/0612-02.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0612-01.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0615-33.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0602-25.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0618-04.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0618-28.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0619-30.htm