Downing Street memo

E932065

The Downing Street memo is a leaked 2002 British government document suggesting that intelligence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was being shaped to justify the U.S.-led invasion, making it a central piece of evidence in debates over the war’s legitimacy.

All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
BBC reporting on Iraq dossier 1
Downing Street memo canonical 1
Downing Street minutes 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (55)

Predicate Object
instanceOf leaked government document ⓘ
political memorandum ⓘ
primary historical source ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Downing Street minutes ⓘ
linked to: Downing Street memo

Rycroft memo ⓘ
linked to: Downing Street memo
archivedIn UK National Archives (copy and references) ⓘ
asserts U.S. had begun "spikes of activity" in bombing Iraq prior to war authorization ⓘ
U.S. had no patience with the UN route ⓘ
U.S. military action against Iraq was seen as inevitable ⓘ
author Matthew Rycroft ⓘ
authorOccupation British diplomat ⓘ
authorRole Downing Street foreign policy aide ⓘ
controversy alleged manipulation of intelligence on Iraqi WMD ⓘ
alleged pre-determination of the Iraq invasion ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
createdAt 10 Downing Street ⓘ
createdFor Prime Minister Tony Blair ⓘ
linked to: Tony Blair
date 2002-07-23 ⓘ
documentType confidential memo ⓘ
firstPublicationCountry United Kingdom ⓘ
firstPublishedBy The Sunday Times ⓘ
keyQuote "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" ⓘ
language English ⓘ
leakDate 2005-05-01 ⓘ
leakedTo The Sunday Times ⓘ
mediaNickname "smoking gun" memo ⓘ
meetingParticipantsIncluded Admiral Sir Michael Boyce ⓘ
Alastair Campbell ⓘ
Geoff Hoon ⓘ
Jack Straw ⓘ
Jonathan Powell ⓘ
Lord Goldsmith ⓘ
Richard Dearlove ⓘ
Sir John Scarlett ⓘ
Sir Richard Wilson ⓘ
Tony Blair ⓘ
meetingRecorded 23 July 2002 meeting at 10 Downing Street ⓘ
relatedEvent 2003 invasion of Iraq ⓘ
Iraq War ⓘ
relatedOrganization MI6 ⓘ
UK Cabinet ⓘ
linked to: British Cabinet

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office ⓘ
UK Ministry of Defence ⓘ
subject Iraq War planning ⓘ
United Kingdom foreign policy ⓘ
United States foreign policy ⓘ
intelligence and policy-making ⓘ
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ⓘ
topic UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq ⓘ
legality of the Iraq War ⓘ
regime change in Iraq ⓘ
usedIn U.S. congressional discussions on Iraq War ⓘ
UK parliamentary debates on Iraq ⓘ
public debate on Iraq War legitimacy ⓘ
year 2002 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Downing Street memo → alsoKnownAs → Rycroft memo ⓘ
linked to: Downing Street memo
Downing Street memo → alsoKnownAs → Downing Street minutes ⓘ
linked to: Downing Street memo
Hutton Inquiry → subjectOf → BBC reporting on Iraq dossier ⓘ
linked to: Downing Street memo