British Memo Indicates Bush Administration Fixed Intelligence to Justify Iraq Invasion

Interview with Greg Palast, investigative reporter and author, conducted by Scott Harris

Just before Britain's parliamentary elections, the Sunday Times of London published a leaked British government memo that laid out the Bush administration plan for an invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, justified on intelligence fixed around the policy. The memo, dated July 23, 2002, summarizes a meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair with his security advisers and indicates that President Bush had already made a decision to attack Iraq in the summer of 2002

The memo, front page news in Britain and Europe, specifically says, "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy," in a reference to the rationale for war -- namely weapons of mass destruction -- which have never been found. The revelation made just before the British people went to the polls, may have played a role in significantly weakening Tony Blair's Labor Party May 5th election victory.

Although the U.S. press has paid little attention to the implications of the memo, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., joined by 88 members of Congress, has asked the White House to explain the memo's explosive assertions. Between The Lines, Scott Harris spoke with investigative reporter and author Greg Palast, who examines the political significance of the leaked British memo.

Greg Palast is a former columnist with Britain's Guardian newspapers and is the author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Visit his website at www.gregpalast.com

Related links:

"Impeachment Time: Facts Were Fixed," www.buzzflash.com, May 4, 2005

"British Memo Indicates Bush Made Intelligence Fit Iraq Policy," by Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott, Knight Ridder, May 6, 2005

"A New Memo-gate?" Editor and Publisher, May 6, 2005

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