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Thursday, May 05, 2005

Sunday Times: Secret British Meeting Says Americans "Fixed" Facts and Intelligence to Justify War in Iraq

JB

These secret minutes of a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top aides on July 23d, 2002, leaked by the Sunday Times, have put Blair in hot water just before the British elections today. But they should also raise some concerns about President Bush's honesty:
C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.
. . .
The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had 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 his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

The Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change.
. . .


Comments:

Far be it from me to correct anyone's use of English...so I'll let Webster's do it for me:

Fix, vb 1: to make firm, stable or stationary 2: to hold or direct steadily 3: to set or place definitely: ESTABLISH 4: to set in order 5: to get ready: PREPARE 6: REPAIR; MEND

So there are a multitude of options for what the word means in this context. Also does it make sense to say futher on in the same memo,

"Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

if they didn't think he had WMD? No it wouldn't make sense. The only way the memo ISN'T nonsense is if you read it to mean that the Bush Administration in July of 2002 was building its case around terrorism and WMD claims...which is exactly what they did.
 

Well, there are at least two things in this story that should raise concern. First, the memo does *not* suggest that Bush didn't believe that there were no WMD's in Iraq; rather it suggests that the evidence that the WMD's posed a significant threat worth going to war over was "thin," but that Bush was determined to go to war anyway, and that the intelligence and facts were being read (or firmed up or established or prepared or pick your favorite synonym) in such a way as to support this foregone conclusion. It suggests that facts were not going to get in the way of what Bush wanted to do.

Second, the memo suggests that Bush was determined to go to war as early as July of 2002, although he kept insisting to the United States and the world community that he had not made up his mind to go to war until near the end of March in 2003.
 

Yeah - The absence of evidence that Bush might have thought Saddam didn't have WMDs is something we should take away from this memo? There is no evidence that I am not a war criminal either.

Besides, there is no way we thought Saddam had WMDs prior to July 2002 - right?

I am with the midwesterner - this secret memo is fixed in my mind as nonsense.
 

Fix around, vb: to bend or warp into conformity
 

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