What Do the Iraq Memos Tell Us?

Re “New Memos Detail Early Plans for Invading Iraq,” June 15: So what if documents show that British officials believed the U.S. favored military force a year before the war? British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush considered all the options, even the patsy concerns of some lying, self-serving European nations, and did the right thing in freeing Iraq and assuring a safer world and U.S. These memos only confirm that.

The antiwar people will use anything, as they do with these memos, to avoid reality, but thank whatever gods may be that some world leaders have the insight and tenacity to do what’s right at the time it needs doing, in spite of the fuzzy-headed people who can’t see the forest for the Blairing Bushes.

Richard M. Holbrook

Weatherford, Texas

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The memos that detail early plans for an Iraq invasion continue the incessant “drip” of sources and documents that reveal the deception in the administration’s disinformation campaign in advance of the invasion.

On the heels of the worst attack on U.S. soil in the country’s history, this administration piggybacked fears of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, suggesting imminent danger to the U.S. and its allies.

To further support its preconceived agenda, the administration had continuously linked Iraq to the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001. Although there are those who would disagree with the magnitude of this deception, the evidence is nonetheless compelling: The administration misled the people and the Congress prior to the ill-conceived invasion. After it was clear that there were no WMD, no connecting of Iraq to 9/11, the administration changed its message, pointing to a desire for democracy in Iraq.

Now, the situation in Iraq borders on civil war, with the U.S. embroiled in a quagmire, no end in sight, expensive both in human lives and resources. Today, the world community does not so much distrust the U.S., rather it questions the rational thinking of the American people and their leaders.

Gregory J. Ryan

Woodland Hills