Open Letter to Members of Congress Regarding “Downing Street Memo”
The Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee strongly urges the US Congress to support an investigation into what has been dubbed the “Downing Street Memo”. As citizens and taxpayers, the members of the HCDCC believe it is imperative that our people be able to trust their government and our Commander in Chief.
This British government document calls into question the truthfulness of the Bush Administration in regards to its actions prior to the beginning of the war in Iraq. The memo, dated July 23, 2002, shows the Bush Administration was already committed to attacking Iraq nearly a year before the President told Congress war was the only option. The memo also indicates that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy” to justify the invasion by the Bush Administration. Subsequent documents, published by the Times of London reveal that British government officials were told they had no choice but “to create the conditions in which we (British government) could legally support military action.” If the statements made in this memo are true, they directly contradict what President Bush communicated to Congress in his letter of March 18, 2003, which was a formal determination as required by the joint resolution on Iraq passed by the United States Congress. If President Bush deliberately misled the United States Congress, he has violated criminal law, including the Federal Anti-Conspiracy Statute which makes it a felony, “to commit any offense against the United States or to defraud the United States or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose,” and the False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.
To date, according to the Department of Defense, over 1,700 US servicemen and servicewomen have been killed in the Iraq War and 12,855 have been wounded in action. Estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths range from 25,000 to over 100,000. More than $200 billion in taxpayer moneys are paying for this war, which translates to $177 million per day, $7.4 million per hour and $122,820 per minute.
Congress requires accurate information before it can decide to sanction war, and the people of this country deserve to know the facts before sending their family members to fight and die on foreign battle fields. Investigating the allegations made in this memo will show whether or not the President exhausted all other options before he took our country to war, or whether he manipulated information in order to take our country to war to fulfill a predetermined administration agenda.
Sincerely,
Jim Williams, Communication and Education Committee Chairperson
Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee