Letter to Honorable Fred Upton, US House

Dear Mr. Upton,

I am dismayed at the lack of substantive investigation on the Downing Street Memo, which is in fact a report of the minutes of a meeting with British and US officials in the summer of 2002. In that report, as you probably know, implication had been made that the Bush administration had already decided to invade Iraq and intelligence was being "fixed" around that scenario.

Mr. Upton, you had answered questions on WKZO-AM 590 Kalamazoo with Dave Jaconet (?sp) at one point in October or November of 2002 when you assured listeners that "your buddy Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the intelligence committee" was aware of "good intelligence" that WMD were present in Iraq, and you felt the US should overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Since 2002, we have learned that WMD did not exist in Iraq; and the intelligence was at best mistaken, and possibly manufactured. Our sons and daughters are dying in Iraq, Mr. Upton. Iraqi civilians are dying; our diplomatic allies have abandoned us and our treasury is being depleted. You are my representative in the US Congress, and I ask that you join Rep. John Conyers and perform your due diligence in pursuing this grave error in events that has taken place in the US foreign policy.

The 9/11 Commission investigated the quality of intelligence, but never pursued the administration's hand in effecting those faulty intelligence reports. The Downing Street Memo needs to be pursued, if for no other reason, to add transparency to our government.

As much as I disdain nearly everything the Bush administration has done these past few years, Mr. Upton, I believe that citizens elect persons not parties, so I split my ticket to vote for you in 2004, as I had in the past. My disappointment has been growing, however, with each congressional vote when administration policies are merely rubber stamped without critical thought or investigation.

This nation is heading toward an unfixable situation in Iraq, please pursue these issues as part of your service to your constituency and nation.

Sincerely,