NYT: No War Decision Made

To their credit, the bloggers are finally getting their day in the court of public opinion as the MSM picks up on stories "The Downing Street Memo" and pre-war intelligence in Iraq. Today, the New York Times wrote an article on pre-war intelligence based off of a British cabinet-level memo which seems to leave the "Downing Street Memo" on shaky ground

This memo written in late July 2002 states that "no political decisions" had been made to invade Iraq. Like many intelligence experts in 2002, the memo makes assumptions that Saddam had WMD's, and that military operations would remove these weapons from his regime.

While everyone is focusing on the decision to go to war (which seems like a given during that time period any way you look at it), few seem focused on the lack of post war planning. The most interesting portion of this memo in my mind, is the explicit warning about the lack of a plan once Saddam was removed from power:

U.S. military plans are virtually silent on [post-war occupation]. Washington could look to us [Great Britain] to share a disproportionate share of the burden.

Does this new intelligence revelation finally debunk the "Downing Street Memo?" The blogosphere put the pressure on the MSM to report this, but their "smoking gun" is looking flimsier by the minute. If the blogging community wants respectability, they've got to focus on the facts and not make the facts fit their ideology.