The
New York Review of Books will become the first US publication to print the Downing St. Memo in the June 9 issue. There also will be an article by
Mark Danner (who has an extensive website).
His article, the Secret Way to War, has been posted early by Tom Engelhardt (who co-taught a course
at Berkeley with Danner) along with some good commentary on the lack of coverage of the memo. Danner also wrote an NY Review article on the Iraq election.
Engelhardt writes in his intro:
To me, perhaps the most telling line in the memo, given what's happened since, is the observation of Sir Richard Dearlove, the head of M16 (the British CIA equivalent), just back from a U.S. visit, that "[t]here was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action." This line not only represented the greatest gamble the Bush administration's top officials would make, but the hubris with which they approached the taking of Iraq. As true believers in force - nothing impressed them more than the advanced technology of destruction they possessed and its possible applications -- they were already awed by themselves and deeply believed in the shock to come once they hit Iraq hard. As the British smoking-gun memo indicates in that single classic line, they placed their deepest faith in their conviction that, once the invasion was completed successful and Saddam had fallen, everything else in Iraq would simply fall into place as well. Planning for a post-war occupation? What me worry? "
While there havre been other diaries today on the
Washington Post coverage and
how to spread the word about the memo, this is an important article for everyone to read.
It also is worth
subscribing to the NY Review and supporting their work since it has done some of the most critical reporting on Iraq (just as it did during the Vietnam War).
You also get a free email subsription to
Tom Dispatch on his site.
