Thumbs Down On Downing
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pb...7/1035/opinion
By JANE NORMAN
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU
September 18, 2005
The House International Relations Committee on Wednesday turned down an attempt to obtain documents from the Bush administration on the so-called "Downing Street memo," despite the support of Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa.
The leaked memo, very popular among bloggers on the left, is thought by some to show that President Bush and his advisers had their minds made up about the war in Iraq long before hostilities began. Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, had introduced a resolution calling on the White House to turn over information on the memo.
Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois issued a statement opposing any inquiry. "A demand for the communications between heads of state would cripple the president's ability to act in this country's interests," he said. "Neither President Bush nor future presidents of this country could effectively manage our foreign affairs if foreign leaders feared that their supposedly private communications could be made public."
Some other versions of the resolution are floating around in other committees, but it seems unlikely this debate would ever be allowed onto the floor by Republicans.
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