A BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES  

Questions Prompted by the Downing Street Memo

As we post this item, Rep. John Conyers has already held unofficial minority (Democratic) hearings in the basement of the Capitol and adjourned to join a rally before the White House, where the petition of 560,000 signatures, including those of 122 members of Congress, is to be presented. We hope our readers will find ways to implement Contributor Munro-Leighton's suggestions for keeping the issue before the public, the media, and the Congress and the President in the coming days. (The hearing will be rebroadcast Friday at 8 EST on C-Span 2.)

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Judy Munro-Leighton

On Thursday, June 16th, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan will open hearings in Congress to investigate the Downing Street Memo, dated July 23, 2002, which contains minutes from a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers. These minutes indicate that the U.S. and Britain agreed to attack Iraq, well before George W. Bush sought Congressional authority to engage in military action. The minutes also indicate that U.S. officials were deliberately manipulating intelligence to justify the war.

BuzzFlash readers know that Rep. Conyers has done more than anyone to press the Bush administration for the truth about the Downing Street Memo. He asked for a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee where he serves as Ranking Minority Member. But the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Republican James Sensenbrenner, said no--you can't have a hearing. This is, of course, the same Sensenbrenner who gained notoriety last Friday when he pounded his gavel to quiet four witnesses testifying before the Judiciary Committee about Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. If you watched C-SPSN and saw Sensenbrenner's rude hostile behavior, you know the problems that Conyers faced setting up Thursday's hearing on the Downing Street Memo. Sensenbrenner even denied Conyers the use of a meeting room.

As a result, only Democrats will attend Conyers' hearing on Thursday. No Republicans will attend this session, which will address the most important question of our time--when and why did Bush and Blair decide to invade Iraq? Conyers' hearing will focus on the five questions that he and 89 Members of Congress submitted to President Bush more than six weeks ago. To date, Bush has not responded to Conyers or answered these questions prompted by the Downing Street Memo:

1. Do you or anyone in your administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document? 2. Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization to go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time?
3. Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?
4. At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq? 5. Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

You can support Rep. Conyers and his colleagues on Thursday by organizing a press conference in your city or town, in front of your Federal Building or City Hall. Contact your local media and issue a press release like the one we sent in Louisville KY (below). Alert your email lists and encourage people to come with copies of the Downing Street Memo. Read the Memo and Rep. Conyers' five questions into the microphone. Ask your Senators and Representative to submit these questions to the Bush White House for an immediate response. Encourage your friends and neighbors to call your representatives each day until the Bush administration addresses the disturbing and detailed revelations in the Memo. Finally, call Rep. Conyers and thank him for his efforts to save our democracy.

Here's our press release, which you can adapt for your press conference:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONFERENCE Concerning the Downing Street Memo June 16, 2005, 5:00pm

The Louisville Peace Action Community (LPAC) will hold a press conference on Thursday, June 16, 2005 at 5:00pm, in Martin Luther King Park outside the Mazzoli Federal Building at 6th and Chestnut Streets. We will highlight the significance of the Downing Street Memo dated July 23, 2002, which contains notes from the meetings of highest British intelligence officials. This Memo proves that the American war against Iraq was not a war of last resort, but was a preemptive act of aggression by the Bush Administration. LPAC will hold this press conference on Thursday June 16th, in support of Rep. John Conyers' hearing in Congress on the Downing Street Memo. Description: Thursday June 16th is "Downing Street Memo Day." Rep. Conyers will open his hearing on the Memo, but no Republicans will attend. All Buzzflash need to know this. They need the list of five questions that Conyers submitted to Bush. They also need to plan actions on Thursday to bring the DSM into public awareness and they need to support Conyers' courageous efforts on our behalf.

Judy Munro-Leighton
Louisville, Ky

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION