Now to the Downing Street memo. Coming on the heels of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit to Washington this week, momentum is building for a Congressional investigation into new proof that the Bush administration deliberately misled Congress and the UN in the months leading up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The memo, as it is being called, is minutes of a meeting of Tony Blair’s top advisers from July 2002 in which they make clear that US officials have told them that the war was a foregone conclusion and that the US had begun escalating its attacks against Iraq, essentially beginning the air war, months before UN or Congress voted on the issue. Earlier this week, Bush was finally asked about it despite the fact that the memo was published more than a month ago by the Sunday Times of London. Here is what Bush said Tuesday when he and Tony Blair held a joint press conference:

“Well, you know, I read, kind of, the characterizations of the memo, particularly when they dropped it out in the middle of his race. I’m not sure who “they dropped it out” is, but I’m not suggesting that you all dropped it out there. (LAUGHTER) And somebody said, “Well, you know, we had made up our mind to go to use military force to deal with Saddam. There’s nothing farther from the truth. My conversations with the prime minister was how could we do this peacefully, what could we do. And this meeting, evidently it took place in London, happened before we even went to the United Nations — or I went to the United Nations. And so it’s — look, both of us didn’t want to use our military.”

President Bush speaking on Tuesday. Yesterday, Senator Ted Kennedy became the first senator to raise the issue of the Downing Street Memo in the Senate. In a statement, Kennedy said “The contents of the Downing Street Minutes confirm that the Bush Administration was determined to go to war in Iraq, regardless of whether there was any credible justification for doing so. The Administration distorted and misrepresented the intelligence in its attempt to link Saddam Hussein with the terrorists of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden, and with weapons of mass destruction that Iraq did not have.” Kennedy continued, “The Downing Street Minutes also confirm what has long been obvious — that the timing of the war was linked to the 2002 Congressional elections, and that the administration’s planning for post-war Iraq was incompetent in all its aspects. The current continuing crisis is a direct result of that incompetence.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the other Massachusetts Senator, John Kerry, also addressed the issue. In a statement to the Boston Phoenix newspaper, Setti Warren said, QUOTE “Senator Kerry believes every American deserves a thorough explanation of the Downing Street memo. The Administration and the Washington Republicans who control Congress insult Americans by refusing to answer even the most basic questions raised in this memo about pre-war intelligence and planning for the aftermath of war. That’s unacceptable, especially with the lives of America’s sons and daughters on the line. John Kerry will demand answers in the Senate. Stay tuned.”