Another piece of the puzzle.

[Career Prole]

Without informing Congress (and quite possibly illegally), Shrub diverted $700 million from funds allocated to the Afghanistan war "to pay for early preparations for war in Iraq".

He diverted these funds in July of 2002.

The date on the Downing Street Minutes? July 23, 2002.

Just one more "amazing" coincidence!

[tallahasseedem]

1. Coincidence?

Try breaking the law. This is bad, but not nearly as bad as a blow job.

[Liberaler]

9. We all know that

a blow job is much worse than lieing and taking your country to war resulting in the death and maiming of young men and women. How can anyone not agree?? < /sarcasm off >

[politicaholic]

13. Blow job vs. War...both death and sex make great TV!

You can call Bush one of the great entertainers of our time...

Too bad he's a absolutely incompetant president.

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[WillyT]

23. Welcome To DU Liberaler !!! - Glad Ta Have Ya Aboard !!!

:hi::bounce::hi:

[shraby]

2. AND.....drum roll please......

another part of the DSM that says they wanted to start the war to time it for the elections in the spring.

[walkon]

3. Long been known but

will it come back to haunt him now? Definitely another piece of a large, wicked, evil puzzle.

[ewagner]

4. Forgot about that!!!!

Wasn't there a whitewash of that though?

Wasn't there some double-talk from GAO saying it was okay?

[Patty Diana]

24. In Bushworld the only thing that is guaranteed it WHITEWASH

White Wash Delivered to WMD Commission Offices!


nconfirmed sources report a massive amount of white wash has been delivered to the office where the commission to examine Iraq intelligence failures will be based. The white wash, believed to be "extra strength" should be enough to cover all traces of Mr Bushes involvement in exaggerating the threat posed by Iraq. The white wash is the same brand used by Mr Blair and Mr Hutton during their probe.

Delivered with the white wash was the final draft of the report the commission will release next year after the election. The report will confirm that while all the intelligence used to decide to go to war was bad, the decision based on that intelligence was correct.

[libertypirate]

5. Good find....

[annabanana]

6. nice catch!

The timeline is the story... If the corporate media ever put the TIMELINE of events in front of the public..the truth would scream out.

[BattyDem]

7. Send it to Conyers

Every bit of evidence helps. :bounce:

[Career Prole]

17. I guess I'd better...looks like a great time for it

Since I just read this!


The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings on the 2002 minutes between senior British and American officials which asserted that intelligence was "being fixed" to support the case for war in Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.

The hearings, which will be held next Friday, will bring renewed attention to what is being called the "Downing Street memo," actually official minutes of a secret 2002 meeting.

Conyers office has revealed that they will introduce new documents that corroborate the Downing Street Memo at the hearings June 17.

“We expect to release new documents that corroborate the Downing Street memo," a Judiciary aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RAW STORY Thursday afternoon. "None of the documents are as earth-shattering as the Downing Street minutes but all of them corroborate the accuracy of what it says.”

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/House_Judiciary_Democrats_to_hold_hearings_on_Downing_Street_mi_0609.html

[LunaC]

25. Oh please, please let those "new documents"

be the PNAC's 1998 letter to Clkinton
=========================
My recent email to Conyers:

On January 26, 1998, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle, Richard Armitage, and John Bolton (among others) signed a letter to President Clinton issued by the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) urging an attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. All of the aforementioned signators were elevated into the Bush Administration hierarchy immediately after the 2000 Election.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm


It is obvious that the PNAC-populated White House intended to attack Iraq years before the actual event.

Why isn't the PNAC policy being connected with the Downing Street Minutes?
==========================

Now THAT would be sweet and enough to break this WIDE OPEN!

[Career Prole]

26. I hope your e-mail got through!

I got a "mailbox quota exceeded" message sent back.

[punpirate]

8. While I think of it as you do...

... it can be explained away as necessary to put troops on the border of Iraq as a threat--to make Hussein more compliant with the inspectors' instructions.

But, even that doesn't excuse the misappropriation of funds, which is what it is. The Bushies could have gone to Congress for the money to do what they wanted, with full disclosure, but they didn't. They, instead, chose to hide their use of the money, and that, in itself, is damning.

[MsUSA]

10. Who usually posts that drip, drip, drip line??? Well hopefully here

we go, and drip, drip, drip.

[tex-wyo-dem]

11. Nice find!

The dots are connecting all over. Does anyone have a compilation of historical news stories that support the DSM? If so, be sure to send it to Conyers and others.

[Greyhound]

16. I've got some...

if any of the DU regulars are looking.

[central scrutinizer]

18. here's some related info

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0411/S00027.htm

a list of insiders who have criticized the Iraq policy - most of whom were then subjected to intense smear campaigns to discredit the messenger.

[Career Prole]

12. Kennedy vs. Wolfowitz on the $700 million...

In which Wolfboy also ups the ante to $750 million...

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY: There wasn't a word in this presentation about the weapons of mass destruction in this presentation here this morning. Now Mr. Secretary you were one of the principle architects of war with Iraq. It's been on your agenda since the end of the Gulf War, 1991.

PAUL WOLFOWITZ: The notion that an invasion of Iraq has been on the agenda since 1991 is simply wrong, sir.

KWAME HOLMAN: Kennedy also challenged Wolfowitz to explain assertions in a new book by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward that in 2002, the Pentagon rerouted millions of dollars Congress approved for rebuilding Afghanistan to begin preparations for the Iraq war.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY: Can you tell me why the administration diverted funds though when we were beginning to target Osama bin Laden, had him evidently, effectively trapped in Tora Bora and the administration diverted $700 million out of that to go to -- to advance the process in terms of Iraq? And if so, how much responsibility do you bear in that?

PAUL WOLFOWITZ: That $750 million number comes from a set of tasks that CentCom put together in the summer of 2002, as things that they would want to have in the event of an Iraq contingency. All the investments were designed to strengthen our capabilities in the region or support ongoing requirements. No funding was made available for those things that had Iraq as the exclusive purpose.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june04/trouble_04-20.html

"All the investments were designed to strengthen our capabilities in the region"...that's the same tactic Condescenda Rice used (as pointed out by David Sirota). And it's unadulterated hogwash!

From today's Progress Report...

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told CBS' Face the Nation she had no details about the President's alleged decision to secretly divert $700 million from Afghanistan operations to Iraq war planning without approval from Congress. However, she did say circumventing Congress was acceptable because Afghanistan and Iraq are "within the entire region." While she might have been referring to official military regions, her answer was deliberately evasive. The fact is, Asia and the Mideast are separate geographic regions - more than 1400 miles separate Kabul and Baghdad, which means by Rice's logic, Austin, Texas is in the same region as Nicaragua. In fact, the U.S. State Department has two separate bureaus and two separate Assistant Secretaries of State to deal with Iraq and Afghanistan. Her answer also ignores the fact that fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan (as approved by Congress) had nothing to do with invading Iraq.

http://www.davidsirota.com/2004/04/condi-rice-needs-geography-lesson.html

[bunny planet]

14. I'd forgotten about this little tidbit of information. It did appear in

the MSM 'memory hole' news for about two nanoseconds.

[central scrutinizer]

15. great line from the article

even though it came from that whore Woodward:

The money, about $700 million, was taken in July 2002 from a budget item that had been approved for the war in Afghanistan, Woodward wrote.

"Some people are going to look at that document called the Constitution, which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress," Woodward says in his CBS interview.

[Hubert Flottz]

19. The theft of 700 millions of tax dollars might be a high crime...

in the real world.

[Disturbed]

20. Conyers has the evidence that should lead to Impeachment of

GW Bush, Cheney, Rumsfailed and Rice. Charles Rangle has already put together Impeachment papers for Rumsfailed.

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public on TV that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Iraqi prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graihib but the prisoner was purposefully not listed at that location, also an illegal act. Rumsfeld also admitted to signing orders for tougher interogation methods which violated the Geneva Conventions.

Rumfailed has commited at least three violations of the Geneva Convention thereby also violations of The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that Rumsfailed and Tenet have not been charged speaks volumes. If Congress wishes to garner any respect they should move forward with Rep. Rangle's Impeachment Declaration of Rumsfailed and also proscecute Ex. CIA Tenet.


Does the US, Govt., Congress, and the Justice Dept no longer abide by the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA?

[tinrobot]

21. I remember that...

Combined with the DSM, it makes a great case for misappropriation of funds.

$700 million that could have gone to finding Osama. Instead it goes to a bogus war that kills thousands of our fine soldiers.

[progressoid]

22. Yeah, BFD.

Nothing will happen unless we win back congress. If we fuck up again in 2006, they'll get away with it. The foxes are guarding the hen house.

"Some people are going to look at that document called the Constitution, which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress," Woodward says in his CBS interview.

Some people, SOME DEMOCRATS, are going to have to get off their asses and fight.