Iraq War News Flash: Republican Joins Downing Street Inquiry & Bush Plans Escape from Camp Casey Sojourn

The Iraq War is widely acknowledged as a mess, and the majority of Americans now regard the US attack on Iraq as a deadly mistake. The tide of public opinion is rapidly turning against the Bush Administration's stubborn refusal to formulate an exit strategy.

For a quick and easy current status report of the War in Iraq, I compiled Iraq War Made Simple - Results & Statistics as of August 2005.

Last weekend, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) became the first senator to demand a specific date to withdraw US troops from Iraq. And as of today, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has collected 41,000 signatures on a petition demanding that President Bush "develop a strategy that can succeed in Iraq, defuse the terrorist insurgency, and bring our brave men and women home." Boxer plans to personally deliver the petition to the White House in early September.

In August, opposition to the Iraq War gained a unifying, sympathetic leader in Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. She and several hundred families of deceased Iraq War veterans captured the world's attention as they camped outside the President's Texas ranch, asking only for a few minutes to speak with Mr. Bush. They plan to stay until August 31, which is supposedly the last day of the President's vacation.

I say supposedly because I got word today that President Bush is scheduled to speak to "10,000 invited guests" at 8 AM on August 30 in the Coronado area of San Diego. My source tells me that the President will participate in a ceremony celebrating the anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of WWII. (Not much to celebrate in either the Iraq or Vietnam Wars....Sounds like quite the photo op.)

My guess is that this info was neither meant for public dissemination, nor is known (yet) by Cindy Sheehan and the other stalwarts in Camp Casey. George Bush has apparently made plans to be elsewhere when their sojourn ends.

Meanwhile, I hear reports that a first Republican member of Congress has broken ranks, and informed 131 Congressional Democrats that he will join them in September in demanding formal inquiry into the Downing Street Memos.

Congressman Jim Leach (R-IA) told Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) this week that he will formally co-sponsor her Resolution into Bush Administration communications during 2002 with Great Britain about Iraq and war planning. (Link leads to the 4-page Congressional resolution.)

To refresh your memory, in May 2005, confidential minutes (dubbed the Downing Street Memos) of a July 2002 meeting were leaked to the Times of London. The minutes recorded a meeting between Tony Blair and the head of British intelligence, and said that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, justified by...terrorism and WMD" and "...the intelligence and facts were being fixed around policy."

Many believe these memos contain impeachable offenses by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, as the memos seem to indicate that they lied to Congress, the UN and the American people in 2003 about war planning.

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The tide is turning. In fact, the tide may have already turned for the Bush Doctrine in Iraq, and it turned against it.

The American public.....US Senators....the first Republican member of Congress....families of Iraq War veterans. We can only pray that the President, at last, listens.

Read Iraq War Made Simple - Results & Statistics as of August 2005 to understand what the Bush Administration has achieved with $300 billion of US taxpayers' funds, 1,869 US soldiers dead and another 14,021 seriously wounded.