Front Page YAHOO! "Memos Show British Concern Over Iraq Plans"

[BigBearJohn]

LONDON - When Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief foreign policy adviser dined with Condoleezza Rice six months after Sept. 11, the then-U.S. national security adviser didn't want to discuss Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida. She wanted to talk about "regime change" in Iraq, setting the stage for the U.S.-led invasion more than a year later.

President Bush wanted Blair's support, but British officials worried the White House was rushing to war, according to a series of leaked secret Downing Street memos that have renewed questions and debate about Washington's motives for ousting Saddam Hussein.

In one of the memos, British Foreign Office political director Peter Ricketts openly asks whether the Bush administration had a clear and compelling military reason for war.

"U.S. scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and al-Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing," Ricketts says in the memo. "For Iraq, `regime change' does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge between Bush and Saddam."

The documents confirm Blair was genuinely concerned about Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction, but also indicate he was determined to go to war as America's top ally, even though his government thought a pre-emptive attack may be illegal under international law.


ORIGINAL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050618/ap_on_re_eu/downing_street_memos_1;_ylt=Alk_.VT9HNMQ.j1LsxVLsuBX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl


{emphasis added}

[friesianrider]

1. Rate it up kids...

Let's keep the ball rolling :)

[inanna]

2. Done!

n/t

[Nite Owl]

3. I voted on this before

it was at 4 1/2 now it's down to a 3 star. The freeps have been at this. Get busy!

[BigBearJohn]

4. (I just found this 5 minutes ago)

[zapped 1]

5. go to google news front page..

there are 601 DSM related stories..click away

http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=us

[Coexist]

6. I love all the links to the text of the documents

great stuff!

[wookie294]

7. Just can't keep a good story down

Yippee! All aboard the Downing Street train, baby!!!

[sundancekid]

8. it's been freeped already ... let's get busy DUers; also, e-mail the story

to your political buddies to raise the story's status among "most e-mailed" too (currently ranking 9th, just above potato chips story)

http://news.yahoo.com/i/964

[Coexist]

9. question about emailing...

is it better to send to people one at a time or a group. If I send it to three people at once, does that count as one sent, or three?