Congressional Democrats Hold Discussion on British Memos on Prewar Iraq WMD Intelligence

A group of congressional Democrats led by Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) yesterday held an “unofficial hearing” on the so-called Downing Street memos, 2002 British documents which critics say show the Bush administration had committed to war against Iraq months before the invasion, the Dallas Morning News reported (see GSN, June 8).

The memos “establish a prima facie case of going to war under false pretenses,” Conyers said.

The hearing featured former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who in 2003 complained about forged documents allegedly proving that Iraqi had sought uranium from Africa, forcing a White House retraction, according to the Morning News.

The lawmakers said they planned to hold future hearings, and delivered what they estimated were more than 550,000 petitions regarding the memo to the White House following the event (David Jackson, Dallas Morning News, June 17).

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