The minutes of a Downing Street meeting before the Iraq war published by the Sunday Times two weeks ago are finally becoming news in the United States.

Democratic congressmen lead by Rep. John Conyers, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, have sent a letter to President George W. Bush asking for an explaination for the memo’s suggestion that the Iraq war had been decided before the justifications for it had been established.

The liberal media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting had this week charged the American media with downplaying the story.

In further developments in the “special relationship” over Iraq, anti-war MP George Galloway will testify before Congress next week to clear his name of allegations that he benefited from the oil-for-food programme in exchange for his support for the former regime in Iraq.

That should be fun to watch. I’m not a fan of Galloway, but he is quite an orator, and the Congressmen will have their work cut out for them.