news links regarding the conference David Swanson a Washington Democratic activist working to persuade Congress to pursue an inquiry into the memo said the document s timing and the U N resolution calling for Saddam to disarm do not disprove the memo s contents I am not sure what point they thought they were making said Swanson the co founder of These minutes mesh perfectly with a building pile of evidence including testimony from former administration officials and if that s going to be a matter of sheer coincidence we need an explanation of why was the most attention paid by the media in the USA so far to the Downing Street memo first reported on May 1 by The Sunday Times of London The memo is said by some of the president s sharpest critics such as Democratic Rep John Conyers news bio voting record of Michigan to be strong evidence that Bush decided to go to war and then looked for evidence to support his decision Behavioral scientists have identified many powerful factors that drive us to war factors so numerous and so compelling that it s hard to imagine how we ll ever overcome them Evolution seems to have equipped us men especially with strong tendencies to organize and kill As General John J Pershing stated Men go to war because they enjoy it Like many mammals we also possess the natural tendency to protect our territory Society is capable of suppressing genetically based tendencies but when it comes to war most cultures actually fuel the flames We deliberately instill nationalistic pride in our children and we teach them to assume roles and follow orders all characteristics of the good soldier In addition we deindividuate people by giving them uniforms we diffuse responsibility by having them use weapons in teams we dehumanize enemies by labeling them heathens animals and so on Throw in financial incentives some propaganda and a charismatic leader or two and we become more antlike than ever A Partner in Shaping an Assertive Foreign Policy Elisabeth Bumiller New York Times Late Edition East Coast New York N Y Jan 7 2004 pg A 1Ms Rice was in similar lock step with Mr Bush and Mr Cheney on going to war with Iraq senior advisers to the president said and served as an implementer of the president s wishes Richard Haass the former director of policy planning at the State Department who is now the president of the Council on Foreign Relations recalls going to see Ms Rice in July 2002 well before the president began making a public case for ousting Mr Hussein to discuss with Ms Rice the pros and cons of making Iraq a priority Basically she cut me off and said Save your breath the president has already decided what he s going to do on this Mr Haass said