More memos from Bush/Blair meetings come to light... ----------------- Bush was poised for Iraq war without UN blessing LONDON (AFP) - Fresh evidence that US President George W. Bush was determined to invade Iraq with or without UN approval emerged in an updated book from a prominent British expert on international law. Philippe Sands, citing a confidential memo in a new edition of "Lawless World," said Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair on January 31, 2003 that he already had a date -- March 10, 2003 -- for starting the war. Blair responded that he was "solidly with the president and ready to do whatever it took to disarm" Saddam Hussein's regime -- despite no hard evidence from UN inspectors that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Bush even went so far as to suggest that a US military plane could masquerade as a UN aircraft, in the hope that Iraq would shoot at it, thus justifying a green light from the United Nations for war, according to Sands. Sands told reporters Friday that his revelations came out of a note from the two-hour meeting in the White House, prepared by one of six close aides and advisers who were present. He said the revelations were important in the current context of the United States and its European allies trying to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its feared pursuit of nuclear weapons. "What this material tends to indicate is that we cannot have a high level of confidence in the American president and Britain's prime minister's ability to take future important decisions in an informed and sensible way," he said. "That I think is the fundamental issue at stake here." A spokesman for Blair said: "We do not comment on the prime minister's conversations with other leaders." He added that the prime minister only committed British troops to Iraq once he secured approval from parliament on March 18, 2003 -- two days before the war actually began. The letter from the January 31, 2003 meeting builds on the so-called "Downing Street Memo," which came to light in May last year in the Sunday Times newspaper and provoked fresh skepticism in the United States over the war. That document summed up a July 23, 2002 meeting on Iraq at the prime minister's office, attended by Blair and close aides, in which it was reportedly said that Bush "had made up his mind to take military action". When Bush and Blair met in Washington on January 31, 2003, the focus was on getting one last UN Security Council resolution declaring that Iraq was in breach of earlier UN resolutions and effectively giving its blessing for war. Sands, citing the memo, said Blair raised "no objection" when told by Bush that bombing would begin on March 10 and that, in the lawyer's paraphrasing, "the diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning". "It is clear (from the note) that they had no information of their own which could give rise to an expectation of hard evidence emerging" that would enable the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution, Sands wrote. Quoting from the note, Sands also revealed that Bush told Blair on January 31 that "the US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours." "If Saddam fired on them," in the words of the note, "he would be in breach" of earlier UN resolutions -- making it easier for Washington and London to get a final resolution from its reluctant UN Security Council partners. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2006020...wOtzzas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-
Funny how you Bushbots are incapable of realizing even the most obvious of true-isms....this one being the fact that Bush was determined to invade Iraq from day one of his administration, and how he used 9-11 to justify it.
why do u think that the texans lost all those games this year? so his illegit son can be the running back in houston think about it
im a bushbot cause i made a bush joke? ok.. i'll label you a brokebackbot! lets play label people random stuff..
So Bush was hoping for war, and trying to avoid a peaceful solution. It is shameful that the leader of our nation would suggest such underhanded schemes in an effort to avoid peace. What a horrible quality in a leader.
my jokes are funny and people hear jump on my threads like im ralph laren im the greatest poster on this board, democrats, republicans, straights, bi-sexs, ui-sexs, brokebacks, you are all in inferior i disquise myself one day as a bush person, the next day a democrat, the next day as a juwan hater.. i can control all you weak minded people because i am that much better i sucker you into replying to you get so angry that you throw your computers out the window and your mom wakes up.
No, that's Jorgie's job. tinman care to actualy comment on the article? Or are you more into derailing threads?
dont ever dispute my statements, look at this news: http://www.brokennewz.com/displaystory.asp_Q_storyid_E_1168artestbush President Bush Requests Ron Artest For Security Detail 12/7/2004 - Matt Myford Print This Page In a surprise move Saturday, President Bush announced he'd "love to have" embattled Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest as part of his personal security detail. The NBA suspended Artest for the rest of the season after brawling with Detroit Pistons fans last month. Bush's desire for Artest's services comes immediately after one of his Secret Service agents was briefly detained by Chilean security forces during a swing through South America last week. "I'll show the brawl tape to every country's security," Bush said in a memo. "That way we'll avoid any mishaps like the one in...where was that country again? Somewhere below the equator, I think." Bush also warned Iraq's insurgents, saying "you may have rocket launchers and AK-47s, but we have Ron Artest." A militant Islamic website mentioned, "by Allah, we're in trouble if the dog Bush releases this jump-shooting infidel into our sacred streets." An anonymous Pistons fan, who was slugged by Artest, said the whole "Fallujah situation" would've been over in two days if Artest could do damage "house-to-house" the way he did "front row seat-to-front row seat." Bush also stressed that having Artest as a bodyguard would help the unemployed. "Mr. Artest has been suspended without pay," Bush said. "I'd make sure he was able to feed…however many kids he has, plus it would be good for our December job numbers."
dude, i make the thread good. i'm not derailing it, im putting people on the: i make you look inside your soul.
Why are libs surprised by this *new* revelation? To some extent, Saddam was tricked into the 1st Gulf War with US-led forces.
