Downing Street Memo Campaign

The Downing Street Memo Campaign is being led by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, who began "circulating a letter calling for a further inquiry into a secret U.S.-UK agreement to attack Iraq" on May 2, 2005, the day following the exposure of the Downing Street memo by the United Kingdom's The Sunday Times, May 1, 2005. [1]

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Signatories in the Campaign

The Raw Story reported June 17, 2005, that to date 123 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Conyers, have "signed onto Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) letter calling on President Bush to answer new questions about the Downing Street documents." [2]

House Resolution (H.Res.) 375

August 24, 2005: "Congressman Jim Leach (R, Iowa) has informed Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D, California) that he will co-sponsor her Resolution of Inquiry [H.Res. 375] into Bush Administration communications with the U.K. about Iraq at the time of the Downing Street Memos.

"Leach is the first Republican member of Congress to publicly support a demand for an inquiry into the Bush Administration's pre-war claims. The 131 congress members who have signed Congressman John Conyers' letter to the President about the Downing Street Memo are all Democrats. The 11 Senators who have asked the Senate Intelligence Committee to do the investigation it committed to in February 2004 but never did are all Democrats.

"The Resolution, H. Res. 375, is a privileged resolution which must be brought to a vote in the House International Relations Committee by September 16th, or Lee is permitted to demand a vote of the full House. Fifty-two Democrats, including Lee, have co-sponsored the Resolution. Leach is the first Republican to join them, and he is a member of the International Relations Committee." [3]

List of Co-Sponsors

As of August 23, 2005, there are 52 co-sponsors for Resolution of Inquiry on Downing Street Memos [H. Res. 375].

Memo "Meeting", June 16, 2005

The initial stage of the campaign came to fruition with the June 16, 2005, meeting on the Memo and pre-Iraq War intelligence chaired by Rep. Conyers. Witnesses who testified included former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, CIA analyst Raymond McGovern, Cindy Sheehan, of Gold Star Mothers for Peace and mother of a fallen American soldier, and constitutional lawyer John Bonifaz.

For video highlights of their testimony, see Video 1: Cindy Sheehan, and Video 2: Ray McGovern, John Bonifaz, and Ambassador Wilson, posted at Crooks and Liars.

Commentary on the "Meeting"

Hoffmania, while watching a replay of the proceedings on C-Span, wrote that the

"Democratic meeting (they weren't allowed to call it a 'hearing') in a basement room (they weren't allowed to hold it in official chambers) with makeshift tables (they didn't earn the right to use real furniture) on the Downing Street revelations (which the White House claims are 'discredited' even though they haven't been discredited).

"It truly looks like the kids' table at Thanksgiving without the frills - a place to plunk these uppity Dems to have their little fun while the Repubs use all the adult rooms. It really is an amazing demonstration of how the GOP leadership is genuinely making the Democrats a true oppressed minority - devoid of the same rights, the same visibility and the same access as the fortunate majority. There's no reason at all why this shouldn't be a full-fledged hearing, other than the fact that the GOP has everything to hide.

"When you consider that Conyers was promised a hearing if he got 100,000 signatures to his petition (he got over half a million), and the Repubs [......] him over by refusing that hearing, this is an insane era in American history. It's our worst nightmare - the total rejection of not just opposing views, but the ad hoc suppression of the TRUTH.

"That said (and I say this with guarded optimism), it's beginning to look like the fallout is beginning to gel."

Related SourceWatch Resources

• After Downing Street
• Bush administration lies that led to war
• Bush administration rationales for war in Iraq
• Bush administration scandals
• Bush lies and deceptions
• Downing Street documents
• invasion of Iraq
• Oil and War in Iraq
• Pentagon Papers
• The case for impeachment of President George W. Bush
• The leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, July 21, 2002: "Iraq: Conditions for Military Action"
• weapons of mass destruction investigation

External links

Websites

• After Downing Street website.
• Big Brass Alliance/Big Brass Blog.com. See Wikinews item.
• Downing Street Memo.com website.

Timelines

• Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane, "The Path of War Timeline," The Raw Story website.

Documents

• Letter to George W. Bush Signed by 88 Members of Congress, May 5, 2005, re the "troubling revelations in the Sunday London Times apparently confirming that the United States and Great Britain had secretly agreed to attack Iraq in the summer of 2002, well before the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action."
• 109th Congress, 1st Session, H. Res. 375.

Articles & Commentary

• "Rep. calls for deeper inquiry into secret Iraq attack plan," The Raw Story, May 2, 2005.
• John Daniszewski, "British Documents Stir Protest in United States," Los Angeles Times, May 12, 2005.
• Sylvester Brown, Jr., "Conyers looks for news in the wrong place," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15, 2005.
• "The Downing Street Memo Campaign," Why Are We Back In Iraq?, May 29, 2005.
• Rep. John Conyers, "The Fix Was In. Did Bush Deliberately Deceive America About Iraq?" Counter Punch, June 6, 2005.
• "Memogate Hearings Scheduled for June 16," posted on Common Dreams, June 10, 2005.
• Dick Polman, "Memo offers Bush's critics hard evidence on prewar intelligence," Knight Ridder, June 12, 2005.
• "Gold Star and Military Families Call for Truth Regarding Downing St. Memo, Members to Visit Congress," U.S. Newswire, June 14, 2005.
• Terry M. Neal, "Democrats Looking for a Road Map to Downing Street," Washington Post, June 14, 2005.
• Greg Palast, "Palast for Conyers: The OTHER ' Memos' from Downing Street and Pennsylvania Avenue," gregpalast.com, June 15, 2005: "Greg Palast, unable to attend hearings in Washington Thursday, has submitted the following testimony."
• "Democrats Sent to the Slums of Congress," Hoffmania, June 16, 2005.
• "A complete list: 123 House members in Downing push," The Raw Story, June 17, 2005.
• "Congressman Conyers hammers the Washington Post's Dana Milbank," posted at The Raw Story, June 17, 2005.

• re Dana Milbank, "Democrats Play House To Rally Against the War," Washington Post, June 8, 2005.

• David Swanson, "Rep. Lee Introduces Resolution of Inquiry into Iraq War Planning," AfterDowningStreet, July 21, 2005.
• David Swanson, "Republican Congressman Breaks Ranks, Joins Demand for Documents on Downing Street Memos," Political Affairs Magazine, August 24, 2005. re