The recent disclosure of the British memo that was dated eight months before the invasion of Iraq (May 7) provides clear and disturbing evidence that President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair duped the citizens of both countries to rationalize the Iraq war.

The memo stated that the war would be justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” This manipulation of intelligence and the blatant lies of these two leaders have led to the deaths of more than 1,500 of our servicemen and servicewomen, 176 other coalition soldiers and an estimated 22,000-100,000 Iraqi civilians.

In the United Kingdom, this memo and other incriminating memos have been splashed across the newspapers, and Blair – although his party won the recent elections – is likely to be pressured by Labour Party members in Parliament to step down. In the United States, this outright fraud and its tragic consequences has received scant attention in the mainstream media, although I thank the Sun Journal for placing this story on its front page.

What will be the consequences for our president? If these lies and manipulation of the intelligence do not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, what does? What will it take for our citizens to demand action by the Congress?

Sandy Doctoroff, Auburn

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