David Swanson: The Melbourne Minutes: New Downing Street Memos from Down Under

[understandinglife]

Over a year before the United States launched an endless war on Iraq in what President George W. Bush to prevent an attack with nonexistent weapons by non-Iraqi terrorists…

Eleven months before Bush that a good way to start a war on Iraq would be to paint planes with U.N. colors, fly them low, and get them shot at…

Five months before the were taken at a meeting revealing the knowledge top British officials had of the secret war plans of the Bush administration…

Just a week or two before several of the recorded U.S.-British discussions of the coming war…

On February 27, 2002 – just five months after 15 Saudis, 2 Lebanese, and 2 Yemenis flew airplanes into U.S. buildings – Trevor Flugge, who was then chairman of AWB, the Australian Wheat Board, a private corporation, told AWB's board that John Dauth, who was then Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, had revealed to Flugge the plans of the U.S. and Australian governments for war on Iraq.

It is tribunal time in the United States of America.

can't get underway any too soon.

[Kellyiswise]

1. I am really surprised that there no comments about this on the DU

This should be the leading story for at lest a week. I fear that the holidays will interfere with the attention this should get in the media. But we can rely on Keith to get the word out for us.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

[NMDemDist2]

2. the Downing Street Memos have been out for years and nary a blip

on the MSM

why would this be any different?

and BTW, Welcome to DU! and Happy Thanksgiving!

:hi:

[understandinglife]

3. Welcome to DU. And, that is why I posted it within moments of David ...

... notifying all of us on the DSM blog that he had published it earlier today.

We will keep this in the news, since We are the media of the 21st Century America ....

Happy Thanksgiving,
Bob


BE AMERICA. ---

[jannyk]

4. Thank you for the post nt

[DemReadingDU]

5. England, Australia, other countries?

How many countries knew the U.S. was going to war with Iraq, before the American citizens?

Thank you for alerting us, K&R!

[Jcrowley]

6. K&R n/t

[DemonFighterLives]

7. Bring the warmongers and profiteers into the light

K & R
:dem:

[Poiuyt]

8. K&R

Pretty damning story. How much more before we can impeach the bastards

[Karenina]

9. K&R!

:kick:

[PuraVidaDreamin]

10. Maybe some intrepid newsman KO could ask JC to comment?

At least we know Mr. Conyors is paying attention,
and that makes me a whole lot more comfortable.

[indepat]

11. That bombardment, invasion, and occupation of Iraq was a done-deal from the git-go

which no one was gonna stop should be evident to all but the blind and faithful: it's the oil, stupid, with empire and hegemony thrown in as a bonus. :patriot:

[magellan]

12. Saw this in a LBN thread earlier in the week

Just more proof they were actively planning to invade Iraq from the very start while LYING to us about their intention every step of the way.

Here's some of the best evidence of the need for war crimes tribunals -- deeds rather than memos.

The Sunday Times (UK)
May 29, 2005

'RAF bombing raids tried to goad Saddam into war'
Michael Smith

THE RAF and US aircraft doubled the rate at which they were dropping bombs
on Iraq in 2002 in an attempt to provoke Saddam Hussein into giving the
allies an excuse for war, new evidence has shown.

The attacks were intensified from May, six months before the United Nations
resolution that Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, argued
gave the coalition the legal basis for war. By the end of August the raids
had become a full air offensive.

The details follow the leak to The Sunday Times of minutes of a key meeting
in July 2002 at which Blair and his war cabinet discussed how to make
“regime change” in Iraq legal.

Geoff Hoon, then defence secretary, told the meeting that “the US had
already begun ‘spikes of activity’ to put pressure on the regime”.

The new information, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, shows that the
allies dropped twice as many bombs on Iraq in the second half of 2002 as
they did during the whole of 2001, and that the RAF increased their attacks
even more quickly than the Americans did.

more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1632566,00.html

[Amonester]

13. K&R

Must be included in the upcoming investigations!

[fooj]

14. On the day of the mid-terms...

I heard Brian Williams say "Looks like we are going to hear all about the Downing Street Memo now..."

The MSM has KNOWN all along and simply sat on the story. OMG. I can't even describe how furious I was to hear him BLATANTLY say it! Grrrrrrrrrrrr...

[understandinglife]

16. "Looks like we are going to hear all about the Downing Street Memo now..."

I share your disgust, my friend.

But, we always knew we would prevail.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Bob


BE AMERICA. ---

[LWolf]

15. K & R

[bonito]

17. Kick & R n/t