Blogswarm: Bolton, Bustani, and the DSM

Slowly, slowly, the media is starting to cover the Downing Street Memo. In an interesting twist released (sneakily) this weekend, the AP mentions the Downing Street Memo in an article on John Bolton and his role in ousting Jose Bustani:

The Iraq connection to the OPCW affair comes as fresh evidence surfaces that the Bush administration was intent from early on to pursue military and not diplomatic action against Saddam Hussein's regime.

An official British document, disclosed last month, said Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed in April 2002 to join in an eventual U.S. attack on Iraq. Two weeks later, Bustani was ousted, with British help.

Now, if you're like me, Bustani's name has a vague ring of familiarity to it, and that's it. So here's the lowdown:

Jose Bustani was founding Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 1997 - 2002. The OPCW's inspectors oversee destruction of US, Russian and other chemical weapons under a 168-nation treaty banning such arms. They also inspect chemical plants worldwide to ensure they're not put to military use.

In 2000, Bustani was unanimously re-elected to the directorship for a 2001-2005 term, with strong US support; Colin Powell wrote a letter praising his leadership in 2001. But Bolton and his team didn't approve of Bustani's handling of the OPCW.

After the UN withdrew its weapons inspectors from Iraq in 1998, Bustani stepped up his initiative to bring Iraq into the chemical weapons treaty. Had this happened, the OPCW's inspectors would have confirmed the lack of chemical weapons in Iraq. This would have been a problem for the Bush administration, which was claiming that Iraq had a chemical weapons program, as part of their argument to convince the American public to go to war.

In 2002, with the backing of the Bush administration, Bolton started campaigning for Bustani to be fired. He couldn't get agreement through normal channels or through intimidation tactics, so in April, at US insistence, an unprecedented special session was called. Per the AP, "Only 113 nations were represented, 15 without voting rights because their dues were far in arrears. The US delegation had suggested it would withhold US dues - 22 percent of the budget - if Bustani stayed in office, stirring fears of an OPCW collapse." With British help, the required 2/3 votes were achieved and Bustani was ousted. In a 2003 investigation of the affair, the UN issued a stern rebuke to the US and awarded Bustani 50,000 euros in damages.

So - news to no one - Bolton is an underhanded, bullying bastard. And this is yet MORE evidence that the Busheviks would stop at absolutely nothing to get us into war. There has to be a formal inquiry into the actions that led us into the Iraq war. And if, as seems increasingly likely, those actions were based in deceit, the responsible parties must be held accountable. Sign the letter. Contact your congressperson.