The Downing Street Memo

Go HERE for the most clearly outlined discussion of the Downing Street Memo. Haven't heard of it? The media is only now starting to tiptoe into these troubled waters. I don't think anyone wants to face the reality of the memo's implications. The DSM is the undisputed (at the time of this writing) record of a meeting with Bush, P.M. Tony Blair and several other high level officials where Bush's plans to take military action against Iraq are discussed as a certainty even though Bush continued to tell the American people he was still open to peace with Iraq for almost a year after the meeting took place.

I don't know exactly what to make of all of this. I know we were all sold a bill of goods about Iraq's (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction and its (non-existent) ties to bin Laden in an effort to justify the war on Iraq, which by the way seems to have no end in sight. But for the U.S. citizenry to be manipulated in such a blatant way for a year raises my cynicism-levels to new heights. England also seemed very concerned about the lack of planning in terms of ending the U.S. involvement in the conflict, a fear that seems to have been justified.

Someone please convince me this is not real. I don't want to believe Americans were consciously deceived for months so that tens of thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and the world's opinion of Americans could be destroyed over issues that didn't even exist. An honest mistake is hardly forgiveable under these circumstances. I don't know what a dishonest mistake means for us and our president.