The developments came as the bill for the war continued to grow, with the House debating a measure that would provide an additional $45 billion for military operations in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. That would come on top of the $350 billion for combat and reconstruction appropriated so far.
Rep. Charles Rangel of New York was among Democratic House members at a forum to air demands that the White House provide more information about what led to the decision to go to war in Iraq.
"Quite frankly, evidence that appears to be building up points to whether or not the president has deliberately misled Congress to make the most important decision a president has to make, going to war," said Rangel, senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee organized the forum to investigate implications in a British document known as the Downing Street memo. The memo refers to meetings by British officials with senior administration officials and says the White House was determined to fix thin evidence about weapons of mass destruction to fit the predetermined policy of ousting Hussein.
Conyers noted statements by Bush in the run-up to invasion that war would be a last resort. "The veracity of those statements has, to put it mildly, come into question," he said.
Conyers delivered petitions signed by 105 members of Congress and about 540,000 signatures sent via e-mail to a security gate at the White House Thursday evening. The petitions urged Bush to thoroughly answer questions about the memo. The group MoveOn PAC helped Conyers collect the signatures.
War decision debated
In the opening hours of the forum, witnesses spoke mainly about their views on the decision to go to war and not the memo, which the Bush administration has dismissed.
"We are having this discussion today because we failed to have it three years ago when we went to war," former Ambassador Joseph Wilson said.
Wilson wrote a 2003 newspaper opinion piece criticizing the Bush administration's claim that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger. After the piece appeared, someone in the Bush administration leaked the identity of Wilson's wife as a CIA operative, exposing her cover
Wilson has said he believes the leak was retaliation.
The Downing Street memo states the "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy," recounting a July 23, 2002, meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his national security team. The meeting took place after British officials returned from Washington.
U.S. officials and Blair deny the assertion about intelligence and facts being "fixed," a comment that the memo attributes to the chief of British intelligence at the time.
Meanwhile, with polls showing public support for the war and the Bush administration falling, two Republican and two Democratic congressmen introduced a resolution that would require the president to announce by year's end a plan for withdrawing troops.
It is the first such resolution by lawmakers from both parties, although most Democrats and six House Republicans voted in 2002 against sending troops to Iraq.
While many Democrats and some Republicans repeatedly have voted against continued funding for the war, there has been no concerted joint effort before to bring troops home.
A low-water mark of 41 percent of adults said in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll this month that they supported Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. And a Gallup poll released Monday found that 6 in 10 Americans say they think the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.
Among the resolution's sponsors are Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who voted for the Iraq war but now says the United States has done what it can in Iraq and the reason for going to war--Hussein's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction--has been proved false.
"After 1,700 deaths, over 12,000 wounded and $200 billion spent, we believe it is time to have this debate and discussion on this resolution," Jones said.
----------------
I reacon some truths just wont stay hidden under the carpet.
That in itself, was reason enough to put Bu$h out of your misery.the Bush administration leaked the identity of Wilson's wife as a CIA operative, exposing her cover
Again: History will not Bode well for your Mr. Bu$h Corp.
