The memo is being misinterpreted.
Let's start with this phrase from the Downing Street Memo:
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.
Let's condense this down a little so it makes more sense:
Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, BUT the facts were being fixed around the policy.
It certainly sounds like the intelligence and the facts being "fixed" around the policy were PREVENTING Bush from removing Saddam through military action??
Something was stopping Bush from removing Saddam through military action?
What was?
The facts fixed around the policy.
Now, if someone tries to convince us that Bush "fixed the facts", or manipulated them, then according to the Downing Street Memo, Bush was preventing himself from using military action to remove Saddam.
The memo goes on to say: "No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January [2003]..."
It appears the Downing Street Memo interpretation being passed around on blogs such as the Democratic Underground (which state the memo is a "smoking gun") is inconsistent with what is even in the memo, itself.
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