June 10, 2005 - On September the Eleventh, 2001, our worst fears were realized. I will never forget that day and traveling home by subway in New York City. Looking into the shell-shocked faces of people I never met, would never see again, realizing how truly close we all were. We were bound together by the experience. A collective outrage, a collective understanding that we were in this together. Unfortunately, some took this opportunity to capitalize on our collective fear.

Terrorism became the tool, the weapon wielded so effectively by this administration for five years now. They color-coded our fear, using the terror chart to influence elections, and to distract from potentially damaging news. They warned us over and over again that it could happen again. They made us go buy duct tape and brought us new terms like "dirty bomb". Just enough to keep everyone on edge, and distracted, while they implemented the agenda they had all along. All the while, deregulating media, and winning hearts and minds of the corporations behind the mainstream media.

How much will be enough America? How many more lies will you tolerate from a media that is in the pocket of this President? This is not about party or even politics. It is about human decency in an age lapsing dangerously into moral corrosion. This is not about patriotism; it is about our collective civilization as we see the decay of society based on greed and corporate dominance. It is about the legacy we leave to our children and how history will view what we did as a people to respond to such egregious violations of basic humanity.

Every day there is another story that verifies our deepest fears about the government we now have. There are stories every day that should make the press outraged and demand answers. Instead we see coverage of the benign and misshapen. We should be dealing in the heart of the issues affecting this country and this world, and instead, we get the freak show. Tonight on "Hardball", Chris Matthews spent the first half-hour interviewing Russell Crowe, because let’s face it, when a movie star admits to throwing a phone at someone, that apparently should take precedence over the true news of the day. In a segment during the second half of the show, Matthews interviewed White House Communications Director Nicole Devenish and played his very best whiffle ball. In what can only be described as beyond fluff, Matthews paid lip service to the recently exposed, "Downing Street Memo", by asking her to comment on the fact that the memo apparently indicates that intelligence was "fixed" to justify the war in Iraq. Devenish responded by blowing it off and saying the memo arose during an election cycle in England and saying that Bush and Blair had already refuted it. Matthews smiled and moved on without the obvious follow up that America was screaming for.

For those who are unaware, because of the corporate media blackout, the Downing Street Memo are actually minutes from a meeting that occurred in Britain months before the Iraq War started. Richard Dearlove ("C"), the head of Britain's spy agency MI6 had reported in this meeting on his recent visit with Bush. The authenticity of the memo is not in question, as England and a US Administration official have verified that it is indeed wholly accurate. The parts which are quite telling are:

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors. Regime change and WMD were linked in the sense that it was the regime that was producing the WMD. There were different strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change. The two key issues were whether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan the space to work.

Let’s review the basic facts about this memo.

1) The memo has been verified as authentic.

2) The memo is from months before the invasion.

3) "Military action was now seen as inevitable".

4) "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

5) It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin

6) Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran

There is no question that this is a smoking gun that finally proves the facts we all suspected for some time. George Bush lied us into a war and tens of thousands of people are now dead because of it. These are war crimes, and certainly a basis for Articles of Impeachment. The spin coming out on the right so far has been tepid in its reality. We have heard so far:

Spin - The memo was leaked during the run up to Blair’s re-election in Britain recently.

Truth - Simply put, who cares? That does not detract from its veracity, which has already been established.

Spin – The 911-Commission has debunked the facts contained in the memo.

Truth – This is patently false. The commission never addressed the pre-war intel into the Iraq War.

Spin – Bush was simply acting on the intelligence everyone else, including Clinton had.

Truth – Another fabrication. First of all, the intelligence was cooked by the Office of Special Plans, headed by top Neocon, Douglas Feith. The Clinton intelligence was from 1998, and President Clinton bombed Iraq for four days, he did not invade the country for three years. This comparison is juvenile and a clear attempt to muddy the issue.

Spin – The word "fixed" can mean different things.

Truth – Anyone remember the definition of the word "is"? Word parsing cannot save Bush from the obvious statement that he had decided to FIX the intel and the facts, around the policy, of invasion.

As if this was not all bad enough, this memo came out months ago. It has been 35 days since a demand for a Congressional investigation was made. Have you heard about this memo? Have you seen a story on it? The mainstream American media has virtually ignored this issue. This has been the recent pattern under the Bush administration. The president is caught fudging global warming facts and employing a former oil executive to do so, and we get lead stories about Michael Jackson. American soldiers kill an innocent man in Afghanistan by beating his legs until they turned into pulp, and we get lead stories for a week about the runaway bride. No explanation for billions of dollars missing in Iraq, and we get Russell Crowe. Maybe in the third segment, there might be one question, with no follow up, about something substantive. If all else fails and the PR is getting to be too bad, a top official will soon be giving an "exclusive" to Sean Hannity so they can pimp more lies to the American people. Move along, nothing to see here. Everyone in America knows who won, and came in second, on American Idol, but how many of them have ever heard of the Downing Street Memo? That is part of what has gone horribly awry in this country. There are no "deep throats" left in America because they are all waiting to see who America’s next top model will be.

While the average American needs to be more responsible for holding our elected officials responsible, it is the media that is complicit. Our media has failed us time and again, only this time; there are people who have lost their lives because of it. When a verified memo arises that proves the President lied this country into a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, the blood screams out from the ground for justice. When the media, who are supposed to report the truth, no longer serve that truth, the blood is then on their hands.

It is time to demand accountability. It is time to tell your members of Congress ( http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ ) that they must do something this time. It is time you told them that the legacy we are leaving is no longer acceptable. It is time to call and write your media, and demand objective coverage of this story or you will simply no longer buy their product. Their product is now bathed in the blood we simply should not tolerate anymore. That blood was spilled over a lie. That lie has now been exposed.

Somewhere back in time we experienced a terrible moment of collective fear in this country. That fear was legitimate and pure. This administration took advantage of that fear. They exploited it for their own designs and purposes. They tainted and corrupted it. That collective fear has now been perverted and in its wake, the collective blood of humanity, spilt for lies, is screaming out to us from the sands of a desert where our fear was used as a weapon of mass destruction. It is screaming out to all of us. It is time to collectively honor it.

Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 37-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.

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