An email from Congressman John Conyers
100,000 Signatures Needed on Downing Street Letter
Please forward widely!
by Congressman John Conyers
http://tinyurl.com/76b5r - direct link to sign the letter.
I have written to you in this space on a number of occasions about my
profound concern about the implications of the "Downing Street Memo,"
which actually consists of the minutes of a July 2002 meeting between
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers. During this
meeting, Blair and his advisers reveal details about conversations
with their American counterparts. These details cast substantial
doubt on the honesty of contemporaneous claims made by the
Administration to Congress and to the American people about the Iraq
war.
First, the memo appears to directly contradict the Administration's
assertions to Congress and the American people that it would exhaust
all options before going to war. According to the minutes, in July
2002, the Administration had already decided to go to war against
Iraq.
Second, a debate has raged in the United States over the last year
and one half about whether the obviously flawed intelligence that
falsely stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction was a
mere "failure" or the result of intentional manipulation to reach
foreordained conclusions supporting the case for war. The memo
appears to close the case on that issue stating that in the United
States the intelligence and facts were being "fixed" around the
decision to go to war.
These are not routine questions within a partisan give and take.
Under the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8), the
Congress has the sole power to declare war. If the Executive Branch
deceives the Congress in this duty, it represents an attack of our
democracy of the most serious nature. These Constitutional questions
are not going away and must be answered forthrightly and completely
by this Administration.
I and 88 of my colleagues (that number is growing - more on that
soon) asked the Administration to come clean about these troubling
allegations. Our inquiries have been met with silence.
The press has also been negligent in giving this matter the attention
it deserves.
I am committed to seeing this through until we get the answers we
deserve. But I need your help.
The conventional wisdom, which unfortunately governs Washington's
political discourse, hold that the American people have long ago made
peace with the mistakes or deceptions which led us into war. Help me
prove them all wrong. I want to show the White House, the Press and
my congressional colleagues that nothing could be further from the
truth.
That is why today I am giving you the opportunity to sign on to a
letter asking the same questions of the President that now nearly 100
Members of Congress have asked. If I get at least 100,000 signatures
on this, I will personally deliver the letter to the White House.
If you want to sign on to this letter, go to my website:
www.johnconyers.com
I also want you to know that I am exploring many, many avenues to get
to the truth about this matter.
Thank you in advance for your help and assistance.
http://tinyurl.com/76b5r - direct link to sign the letter.