Downing Street memo

The Downing Street memo (or the Downing Street Minutes), sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the smoking gun memo, is the note of a 23 July 2002 secret meeting of senior British government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified United States policy of the time. The name refers to 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British prime minister.

Comment: enThe Downing Street memo (or the Downing Street Minutes), sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the smoking gun memo, is the note of a 23 July 2002 secret meeting of senior British government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified United States policy of the time. The name refers to 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British prime minister.
Date: enSeptember 2022; 3 June 2005; 2 November 2005; 8 February 2009; 29 April 2011; 12 May 2011
Has abstract: enThe Downing Street memo (or the Downing Street Minutes), sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the smoking gun memo, is the note of a 23 July 2002 secret meeting of senior British government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified United States policy of the time. The name refers to 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British prime minister. The memo, written by Downing Street foreign policy aide Matthew Rycroft, recorded the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) as expressing the view following his recent visit to Washington that "[George W.] Bush wanted to remove Saddam Hussein, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."It quoted Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying it was clear that Bush had "made up his mind" to take military action but that "the case was thin."Straw also noted that Iraq retained "WMD capability" and that "Saddam would continue to play hard-ball with the UN."The military asked about the consequences "if Saddam used WMD on day one," posing Kuwait or Israel as potential targets.Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith warned that justifying the invasion on legal grounds would be difficult. However, the meeting took place several months before the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, the resolution eventually used as the legal basis for the invasion of Iraq. UNR687 also provided a pre-existing basis, as it required Iraq to divest itself of "100%" of all WMD capacity, which the Memo agreed it had not. A copy of the memo was obtained by British journalist Michael Smith and published in The Sunday Times in May 2005, on the eve of British elections. Smith stated that the memo was equivalent to the Pentagon Papers which exposed American intentions in the Vietnam War and alleged the American media did not report more about it due to a perceived bias towards support for the war. Though its authenticity has never been seriously challenged, the British and American governments have stated that the contents do not accurately reflect their official policy positions at the time.
Hypernym: Note
Is primary topic of: Downing Street memo
Label: enDowning Street memo
Link from a Wikipage to an external page: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/4332485.stm; web.archive.org/web/20051102024951/http:/www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/7132720.htm; web.archive.org/web/20110429094859/http:/www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article527701.ece; web.archive.org/web/20110512175205/http:/www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article532480.ece; web.archive.org/web/20090208172958/http:/www.csmonitor.com/2005/0517/dailyUpdate.html; web.archive.org/web/20080221073216/http:/thinkprogress.org/index.php%3Fp=951; web.archive.org/web/20040923065343/http:/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Fxml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F09%2F18%2Fnwar118.xml; web.archive.org/web/20050603004216/http:/www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uswmd074251820may09,0,7225183.story; articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/23/opinion/oe-smith23; www.afterdowningstreet.org; www.dailykos.com; www.downingstreetmemo.com
Link from a Wikipage to another Wikipage: 10 Downing Street; 2005 United Kingdom general election; After Downing Street; Alastair Campbell; Argot; Article Two of the United States Constitution; Attorney General of England and Wales; Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002; Barbara Lee; Blog; Boston; British House of Commons; Bush–Aznar memo; Bush–Blair 2003 Iraq memo; Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom); Category:2002 documents; Category:2005 in American politics; Category:2005 in British politics; Category:Causes and prelude of the Iraq War; Category:Classified documents; Category:George W. Bush administration controversies; Category:History of the Labour Party (UK); Category:Memoranda; Category:Political scandals in the United Kingdom; Category:Stances and opinions regarding the Iraq War; Category:Tony Blair; Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom); Christian Science Monitor; Christopher Hitchens; Christopher Meyer; Cindy Sheehan; Colin L. Powell; Colin Powell; Condoleezza Rice; Confirmation bias; Congressman; Daily Kos; Daniel Okrent; David Manning; Democratic Underground; Elizabeth Holtzman; Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting; Francis Richards (diplomat); Fred Kaplan (journalist); Geoff Hoon; George W. Bush; Glen Rangwala; Government Communications Headquarters; Gwen Ifill; Impeachment in the United States; Iraq Dossier; Iraq Inquiry; Iraq War; Jack Straw; Jack Straw (politician); John C. Bonifaz; John Conyers; John Scarlett; Jonathan Powell (chief of staff to Tony Blair); Joseph C. Wilson; Kevin Zeese; Knight-Ridder; La Segunda; List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom; Los Angeles Times; Matthew Rycroft; Media Matters for America; Members of Congress; Memorial Day; Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce; Michael Smith (newspaper reporter); Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives; Movement to impeach George W. Bush; MoveOn.org; MSNBC; Nancy Pelosi; NBC; NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams; Newsday; New York Sun; Niger uranium forgeries; Office of Special Plans; Ombudsman; Op-ed; Operation Rockingham; Panorama (TV series); Paul Craig Roberts; Paul O'Neill (businessman); Paul Wolfowitz; Pentagon Papers; Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith; Peter Ricketts; Plaid Cymru; Plame affair; Presidency of George W. Bush; President of the United States; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Ralph Nader; Ray McGovern; Regime change; Resolution 1441; Reuters; Richard A. Clarke; Richard Dearlove; Richard Nixon; Richard Thomas James Wilson; Robin Niblett; Ronald Reagan; Saddam Hussein; Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton; San Francisco Chronicle; Scott McClellan; Secretary of State for Defence; Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Secret Intelligence Service; September Dossier; Star Tribune; State Department; Terrorism; The Boston Globe; The Christian Science Monitor; The Daily Telegraph; The Guardian; The Nation; The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer; The New York Times; The Sunday Herald; The Sunday Times; The Sunday Times (UK); The Washington Post; ThinkProgress; Tony Blair; UK Joint Intelligence Committee; Ultimatum; United Nations; United Nations Security Council; United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War; United Nations Security Council Resolution 1205; United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441; United States; United States Constitution; United States National Security Council; United States Secretary of State; University of Cambridge; Unofficial hearing; USA Today; Vietnam War; Weapon of mass destruction; Weapons of mass destruction; White House; Wikisource:Letter from Congress regarding Downing Street memo; ZNet
Reason: enExternal links should appear at the end of an article. Only wikilinks should appear in the body of the article text. Otherwise, use citations to the exact article deeplink.
SameAs: Downing Streetin muistio; Downing Street memo; Downing Street memo; Downing Street Memo; HXJN; m.064b1n; Q1253291
Subject: Category:2002 documents; Category:2005 in American politics; Category:2005 in British politics; Category:Causes and prelude of the Iraq War; Category:Classified documents; Category:George W. Bush administration controversies; Category:History of the Labour Party (UK); Category:Memoranda; Category:Political scandals in the United Kingdom; Category:Stances and opinions regarding the Iraq War; Category:Tony Blair
Title: enMemo: Bush manipulated Iraq intel; enMinisters were told of need for Gulf war 'excuse'; enRAF bombing raids tried to goad Saddam into war; enThe decisions, policies and intelligence behind the Iraq War; enWhy has "Downing Street memo" story been a "dud" in US?
Url: --05-09; 7132720.htm; article527701.ece; article532480.ece; dailyUpdate.html
WasDerivedFrom: Downing Street memo?oldid=1111321940&ns=0
WikiPageLength: 60251
Wikipage page ID: 1893624
Wikipage revision ID: 1111321940
WikiPageUsesTemplate: Template:Citation needed; Template:External links; Template:External links inline; Template:Iraq War; Template:Main; Template:Portal; Template:Quote; Template:Reflist; Template:Use British English; Template:Use dmy dates; Template:Webarchive; Template:Wikisource-multi

Downing Street memo

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