British Report: Bush Administration Cooked Facts

A highly classified British intelligence report, which was released during the latest political campaign, asserts that "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the [Iraq] policy." Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee (pdf) has written President Bush, noting that "If the disclosure is accurate, it raises troubling new questions regarding the legal justifications for the war as well as the integrity of your own Administration" and asking a series of questions to the President.

1. Do you or anyone in your Administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?
2. Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain’s commitment to invade prior to this time?
3. Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?
4. At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?
5. Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

The document summarizes a July 23, 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his advisers; at this point in time, the Bush Administration was stating publicly that no decision had been made to go to war.

The memo was first reported by the Sunday Times of London. A Knight-Ridder report says that the National Security Council, headed by now Secretary of State Rice, "had no patience with the U.N. route."

According to news.google.com, the story has been reported only in these US newspapers: Chicago Tribune, Dallas-Ft Worth Star-Telegram, San Jose Mercury News, St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, Seattle Times, Spokane (WA) Spokesman Review