Conyers: Memo proves Iraq war is unjust

U.S. lawmaker says British briefing report shows U.S. invasion was based on lies.

Friday, June 17, 2005 - WASHINGTON -- Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, said he thinks a British briefing paper dubbed the "Downing Street Memo" that suggests the Bush administration manipulated facts about Iraq is proof that the president set out to go to war under false pretenses.

"This means that more than 1,600 brave Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis would have lost their lives for a lie" if the memo is true, Conyers said Thursday at an informal public forum he chaired at the Capitol.

The July 2002 memo, first reported by the London Sunday Times, said "it seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action ... but the case was thin."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan referred to Conyers as "an individual who voted against the war in the first place and is simply trying to rehash old debates ... and our focus is not on the past." - By Lisa Zagaroli / Detroit News Washington Bureau