White House Memo

Greens call military-style police measures and violation of citizens' rights a "breakdown of law"

Greens condemn curfews, anticonstitutional police harassment of innocent citizens in Arkansas and DC, and the War on Drugs as "self-defeating" in efforts to eliminate crime

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party candidates and leaders called the 24-hour curfew imposed on the city of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a gross violation of the rights of local citizens and a symptom of the rapid growth of unrestrained police power over the past two decades.

Politicians and law enforcement officials have justified such measures as part of the war on drugs. Greens have endorsed an immediate end to the drug war, calling it a catastrophic failure.

by Linda Milazzo

(Photo by Linda Milazzo)

There are adjectives that come to mind when describing famed former prosecutor and renowned author, Vincent Bugliosi, who for forty years has set the standard for prosecutorial skill in America. Some are intrepid, brave, independent, brilliant, driven, indomitable, respected, focused, relentless and confident. Each fits perfectly well. But after interviewing Mr. Bugliosi at his California home, and reading his latest book, "The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder," I am compelled to add two more adjectives to that already formidable list: PATRIOTIC and ENRAGED. Beyond all other characterizations one may ascribe to Vincent Bugliosi, the principal descriptors TODAY for this inherently honorable man are PATRIOTIC and ENRAGED - emanating equally from his love for his nation.

Of course, there's another descriptor that has long been associated with Vincent Bugliosi. That descriptor is JUSTICE, to which Bugliosi has devoted his life. Yet not until now - not until George W. Bush caused the murders of over 4,000 Americans and countless innocent Iraqi men, women, children and babies, has JUSTICE assumed an even greater role for Bugliosi - arguably this nation's preeminent prosecutor. JUSTICE has morphed from a noun to a verb - enacted by Bugliosi with a vengeance - fueled by his intense love of nation, his profound knowledge of law, and his unparalleled ability to dispense it. Vincent Bugliosi is a man of action. While others speak of JUSTICE, Bugliosi creates the ways to achieve it - and he has done so in this book.

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April 08, 2006
By PHILIP C. RESTINO
COMMUNITY VOICES

On Monday, March 27, The New York Times ran a story on the "White House Memo" which detailed the two-hour meeting between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair held in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, where they discussed ways to mislead the public and government officials of their respective countries into supporting President Bush's pre-determined plan to invade Iraq.

Believing the evidence fell short, Bush discussed with Blair the possibility of inciting a conflict with Iraq, British author says.
By John Daniszewski, Los Angeles Times

LONDON — It was the end of January 2003. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was five days away from giving a critical speech at the U.N. Security Council, laying out the case that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction and posed a danger to world peace.

Peter Rothberg at the Nation has a blog about the White House Memo.

Democrats.com Offers $1,000 Reward to Any Reporter Who Will Ask Follow-Up Question to Bush

At a White House press conference on June 7, 2005, Steve Holland of Reuters asked President Bush and Prime Minister Blair the $1,000 question: (1)

Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones, Prison Planet.com

This week's revelations that George W. Bush and Tony Blair considered staging a war provocation by painting a US spy plane in UN colors and flying it over Iraq, in the hope that Saddam would order it shot down, illustrates a desperate depth of criminality only rivaled by previous notorious historical examples.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/04/british-memos/

The Independent confirms a report by the Guardian on a newly-revealed British memo. The memo claims that Bush made the decision to attack Iraq two months prior to the war. Furthermore, the memo states that Bush was thinking about baiting Iraq into a breach of UN resolutions by “flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colors.

IRAQ: BUSH VOLEVA 'PROVOCARE' SADDAM PER SCATENARE LA GUERRA
LO RIVELA PHILIPPE SANDS NELLA NUOVA EDIZIONE DEL SUO 'LAWLESS WORLD'
Londra, 3 feb. (Adnkronos) - Il 31 gennaio 2003 George Bush, pronto a muovere guerra all'Iraq anche in assenza di una seconda risoluzione Onu, discusse con Tony Blair dell'ipotesi di 'fabbricare' il pretesto per attaccare Saddam facendo sorvolare ad un aereo da ricognizione U2 con i colori Onu il paese nella speranza che il dittatore iracheno lo abbattesse. A rivelarlo e' Philippe Sands, avvocato ed esperto di diritto, autore di una nuova edizione di 'Lawless World' in cui cita un Memorandum della Casa Bianca in cui si riferisce il contenuto del colloquio.

By Rosemary Bennett and Michael Evans, Times of London

PRESIDENT BUSH had plans to lure Saddam Hussein into war by flying an aircraft over Iraq painted in UN colours in the hope he would shoot it down, a book reveals.

Sampling of Extensive International and Alternative Coverage:

Channel 4 News Memo Extracts, Article, Video Report and Commentary; Guardian Article; Guardian Commentary; Guardian Timeline; BBC Article; AfterDowningStreet Commentary; David Corn's Commentary; The Australian Article; Telegraph Article; Mail and Guardian Article; Financial Times Article; Independent Article; Times of London Article; Another BBC Article; Scotsman Article; People's Daily Article (China); Journal of Turkish Weekly Article (Turkey); Mirror Article; Mirror Article 2; Herald Article
Democracy Now!

Complete US Corporate Media Coverage:

Associated Press Article; Associated Press Article 2; USA Today Marginalizes Story on a Blog, What about some coverage in the paper?; Christian Science Monitor Article; Olbermann on MSNBC; Feb. 11 Los Angeles Times;

By BBC

Tony Blair and George W Bush had already decided to invade Iraq in January 2003, a new book by a human rights lawyer has claimed.

The book - an updated edition of Lawless World by Philippe Sands - says the two leaders discussed going to war regardless of any United Nations view.

By: Gary Gibbon, http://www.channel4.com

Revealed: Bush and Blair discussed using American Spyplane in UN colours to lure Saddam into war.

Watch the report
Watch Menzies Campbell reaction
White House Meeting Memo Special Report

By David Swanson

The Guardian is reporting that Bush told Blair "that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of 'flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours'. Mr Bush added: 'If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]'."

By Oliver King and Paul Hamilos, Guardian (UK)

Tonight's revelations about Tony Blair and George Bush's White House meeting on January 31 2003 show that the prime minister was prepared to go to war in Iraq before he had tried to get a second UN resolution. Given that the attorney general and Foreign Office lawyers believed at this time that war would be illegal without one, the story throws further doubt on the legality of the conflict.

By Oliver King, Guardian (UK)

A Guardian exclusive tonight reveals that President Bush suggested to Tony Blair in January 2003 the idea of painting UN colours on American U2 spy planes in the hope that Saddam would shoot one down.

By Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian (UK)

· PM backed invasion despite illegality warnings
· Plan to disguise US jets as UN planes
· Bush: postwar violence unlikely

Tony Blair told President George Bush that he was "solidly" behind US plans to invade Iraq before he sought advice about the invasion's legality and despite the absence of a second UN resolution, according to a new account of the build-up to the war published today.

Published on Sunday, January 29, 2006 by The Mail on Sunday (London)
By Simon Walters

A White House leak revealing astonishing details of how Tony Blair and George Bush lied about the Iraq war is set to cause a worldwide political storm.