LA Times - Michael Smith - The Real News in the DSM

[realFedUp]

(of course any discussion of these plans are in
op ed pieces, not on front pages...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-smith23jun23,0,1838831.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

The Real News in the Downing Street Memos
By Michael Smith

Michael Smith writes on defense issues for the Sunday Times of London.

June 23, 2005

It is now nine months since I obtained the first of the "Downing Street memos," thrust into my hand by someone who asked me to meet him in a quiet watering hole in London for what I imagined would just be a friendly drink.

snip

American media coverage of the Downing Street memo has largely focused on the assertion by Sir Richard Dearlove, head of British foreign intelligence, that war was seen as inevitable in Washington, where "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

But another part of the memo is arguably more important. It quotes British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon as saying that "the U.S. had already begun 'spikes of activity' to put pressure on the regime." This we now realize was Plan B.

Put simply, U.S. aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone were dropping a lot more bombs in the hope of provoking a reaction that would give the allies an excuse to carry out a full-scale bombing campaign, an air war, the first stage of the conflict.

continued

[westcor]

1. holy shizz

if they dont go down for this, we no longer live in a democracy

[realFedUp]

2. democracy in name only

If you haven't figured that we are owned by
corporations by now...

[katty]

7. Indeed-"Corleone-bushco's are completely legit"

[MsUnderstood]

3. welcome to DU

I hate to burst your bubble but our democracy has been in suspension since Nov 2000.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. More like about 1981

when the RayGunites got their collective teeth into our hide.

[Catfight]

4. And for christ-sakes, don't forget that those bad Iraqi's make their

men grow beards and abuse their women, so unlike American's under the Bush regime.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Right. Here you don't have to grow a beard.

[OETKB]

8. Even worse than you think

We had boots on the ground in Iraq months before we attacked in March of 2003. A surgeon at my Hospital was patching up special forces who had crossed from Kuwait into Iraq to watch "crates." We now know they held nothing of importance. He is a army surgeon in the reserves and has also spent time in Afghanistan. In short we had already invaded the country months before our public intentions were known. I believe there was a WP article mentioning these facts.