Sounds like something Nixon would take part in

Here we go kids. Another piece of evidence that shows why the war in Iraq is unjustified. It's like the watergate of Britain (Christie gets excited). I'm sure we all heard of the downing street memo. It's a note sent by a fp aide from downing street to all these big important liars who run Britain. Let the controversey begin.

Before I go towards actual content, I'd like to paste the disclaimer the memo had. It's frickin awesome.

This record is extremely sensitive. No further copies should be made. It should be shown only to those with a genuine need to know its contents.

Haha...good job. No further copies made. That's a noble goal.
ooh ooh, and also, the memo fricking explicitly states at the very beginning:

Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

HA! Bush Sawks!
Moving on...
So here is what we all know

It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.

Turns out the British wanted a part in this circus. How do they contribute?
Militarily:

The three main options for UK involvement were:
(i) Basing in Diego Garcia and Cyprus, plus three SF squadrons.
(ii) As above, with maritime and air assets in addition.
(iii) As above, plus a land contribution of up to 40,000, perhaps with a discrete role in Northern Iraq entering from Turkey, tying down two Iraqi divisions.

Wow, The British are big bois. I love how option 3 says discrete role.
The British also helped with the "justificiation":

We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

The plot thickens...

The Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change.
The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors. Regime change and WMD were linked in the sense that it was the regime that was producing the WMD. There were different strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change.

The bastards!
Blair and his cronies came up with the idea of having an ultimatum for U.N. inspections! It's shocking! The PM himself, stated that ultimatum was a good idea. What a genius. Force Saddam to refuse and take military action.
The only thing is...this memo got leaked. And nobody (exclusive only to the intelligent, screw the midwest) thinks the war is justified anymore. Go Downing Street Memo. Way to reveal the truth. Blair wanted to make a "big difference politically and legally". Well, he got his wish. Twice. And this second time kind of undermines the first one. Tricky bastards.

Part of the conclusion of the memo:

(c) CDS would send the Prime Minister full details of the proposed military campaign and possible UK contributions by the end of the week.
(d) The Foreign Secretary would send the Prime Minister the background on the UN inspectors, and discreetly work up the ultimatum to Saddam.

Well, so that's that. The British are butts who helped screw over Saddam. Military aide and political lying...i mean planning. political planning. of course. Theres a difference. Somewhere. I think...
You can now add the British to the list of countries that you can't trust. Now France and U.S. won't be so lonely on that list. Good stuff.
Payce