E
Eduardo Kaftans
Guest
Nader: Iraq an Unconstitutional, Illegal War
Based on Five Falsehoods: CONGRESS SHOULD BEGIN IMPEACHMENT
INQUIRY OF BUSH AND CHENEY
"All public policy should revolve around the principle that
individuals are responsible for what they say and do." --
George W. Bush, 1994.
Washington, DC: Building on his call for the impeachment
of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, Independent
Presidential candidate Ralph Nader today is calling on
Members of the House of Representatives to begin an
impeachment inquiry to investigate two distinct
impeachable offenses.
An Impeachment Inquiry is the first step toward considering
Articles of Impeachment. During an Impeachment Inquiry the
House would investigate whether there are potential
impeachable offenses.
Impeachment Inquiry and the Process of Impeachment
While the Constitution is clear in granting the
impeachment power to the House, it leaves the development
of mechanisms for exercising the power to the House. As
noted by the Association of the Bar of the City of New
York in "The Law of Presidential Impeachment By the
Committee on Federal Legislation" (see:
http://www.abcny.org/presimpt.htm):
"A variety of methods have been employed to institute
impeachment proceedings: Charges may be made orally on
the floor by a Member of the House; a Member may submit
a written statement of charges; one or more Members of
the House may offer a resolution and place it in the
legislative hopper; a presidential message to the House
may initiate proceedings. The House has also received
charges from a state legislature, from a territory, and
from a grand jury. Finally, there may be a report of a
committee of the House which may submit facts or charges
that will lead to impeachment. Under the rules governing
the order of business in the House a direct proposition
to impeach is a matter of highest privilege and
supersedes other business. Similar privileged treatment
is given to propositions relating to a pending
impeachment."
The purpose of the Impeachment Inquiry is to have a
Committee develop a report for the House which then can be
considered for the purpose of determining whether to
proceed with impeachment proceedings. The House determines
whether to impeach based on a majority vote. It is
important to remember that impeachment does not mean
conviction - that is left to the Senate. Impeachment is
the equivalent of an indictment, making formal charges,
which the Senate then considers. Conviction requires two-
thirds of the Members present in the Senate to vote for
conviction.
Two Potential Articles of Impeachment that Should be Part of
an Impeachment Inquiry
The Impeachment Inquiry should focus on two areas involving
President Bush and Vice President **** Cheney.
The unconstitutional war in Iraq.
"The Inquiry should examine whether President Bush and
Vice President Cheney have gone beyond the bounds of the
Constitution, defied the rule of law, and if so, whether
impeachment is the appropriate constitutional punishment,"
said Nader. The United States Congress never voted for the
Iraq war. Congress voted for a resolution in October 2002
which unlawfully transferred to the President the decision-
making power of whether to launch a first-strike invasion
of Iraq. The United States Constitution's War Powers
Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11) vests the power
of deciding whether to send the nation into war solely in
the United States Congress. This can only be changed by a
constitutional amendment.
"Our founders had seen what could occur when the power to
declare war was vested in one person, a King or a Queen,
so they took clear steps to ensure no one person could
declare war for the United States. As James Madison wrote:
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be
found, than in the clause which confides the question of
war and peace to the legislature, and not to the executive
department," noted Nader.
Five Falsehoods that Led to the Iraq Quagmire:
Making matters worse in this situation, the illegal first-
strike invasion and occupation of Iraq was justified by
five falsehoods. Nader calls for a second area for
Impeachment Inquiry to examine: the "five falsehoods that
led to war." In 1994 George W. Bush said: "All public
policy should revolve around the principle that
individuals are responsible for what they say and do." In
2000, he ran as the "responsibility " candidate.
Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security
intelligence data, if proven, would be "a high crime"
under the Constitution's impeachment clause. Article II,
Section 4 of the Constitution provides: "The President,
Vice President and all civil Officers of the United
States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes
and Misdemeanors."
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
The weapons have still not been found. Nader emphasized,
"Until the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was our
government's anti-communist ally in the Middle East. We
also used him to keep Iran at bay. In so doing, in the
1980s under Reagan and the first Bush, corporations were
licensed by the Department of Commerce to export the
materials for chemical and biological weapons that
President George W. Bush and Vice President **** Cheney
later accused him of having." Those weapons were destroyed
after the Gulf War. President Bush's favorite chief
weapons inspector, David Kay, after returning from Iraq
and leading a large team of inspectors and spending nearly
half a billion dollars told the president :We were wrong."
See: David Kay testimony before Senate Armed
Services Committee, January 28, 2004.
IRAQ TIES TO AL QAEDA:
The White House made this claim even though the CIA and
FBI repeatedly told the Administration that there was no
tie between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. They were mortal
enemies - one secular, the other fundamentalist.
SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES:
In fact, Saddam was a tottering dictator, with an
antiquated, fractured army of low morale and with Kurdish
enemies in Northern Iraq and Shiite adversaries in the
South of Iraq. He did not even control the air space over
most of Iraq.
SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS A THREAT TO HIS NEIGHBORS:
In fact, Iraq was surrounded by countries with far
superior military forces. Turkey, Iran and Israel were
all capable of obliterating any aggressive move by the
Iraqi dictator.
THE LIBERATION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE:
There are brutal dictators throughout the world, many
supported over the years by Washington, whose people need
"liberation " from their leaders. This is not a persuasive
argument since for Iraq, it's about oil. In fact, the
occupation of Iraq by the United States is a magnet for
increasing violence, anarchy and insurrection.
Nader urges the Congress to investigate the illegal nature
of the war, and how the five falsehoods became part of the
Bush Administration's drum beat for war, in a formal Inquiry
of Impeachment.
--
For further information, contact:
Kevin Zeese
1-202-265-4000
--
Department as terrorist organizations;
the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path/Sender Luminoso) and the Kurdish
Workers Party (PKK) are are closely associated with RIM. (The PKK is no
longer a formal member of RIM; however, it was one of RIM's founders. The
Shining Path is still a member.) Other groups that comprise the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement are the Communist Party of
Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran)and the
Nepal Communist Party.
The RIM via its publication A WORLD TO WIN declared its belief in the
Palestinian intifada. The February 28, 2002, edition stated "the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement once again reaffirms its unwavering
support .and calls on all revolutionary and progressive people to step up
their actions on (the Palestinians') behalf." Another edition advised
Palestinians to "link up with .the parties and organizations that make up
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. With the weapon of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and its military strategy, people's war, the
Palestinian people's fight will surely become .more integral part of the
world revolution, hastening the day when imperialism, Zionism .meet their
doom."
These Maoist terrorist organizations are financing their activities by
trafficking in controlled substances. According to December 13, 2000,
testimony by Frank Cilluffo, to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) " is heavily
involved in the European drug trade, especially in Germany and France.
French law enforcement estimates that the PKK smuggles 80 percent of the
heroin in Paris." Cilluffo is Deputy Director, Global Organized Crime
Program Counterterrorism Task Force at Washington, D.C.'s Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
This same testimony reveals the Nepal Communist Party, ".turned to drug
trafficking for funding. Nepal serves as a hub for hashish trafficking in
Asia." The CIA Fact Book lists Nepal as
Based on Five Falsehoods: CONGRESS SHOULD BEGIN IMPEACHMENT
INQUIRY OF BUSH AND CHENEY
"All public policy should revolve around the principle that
individuals are responsible for what they say and do." --
George W. Bush, 1994.
Washington, DC: Building on his call for the impeachment
of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, Independent
Presidential candidate Ralph Nader today is calling on
Members of the House of Representatives to begin an
impeachment inquiry to investigate two distinct
impeachable offenses.
An Impeachment Inquiry is the first step toward considering
Articles of Impeachment. During an Impeachment Inquiry the
House would investigate whether there are potential
impeachable offenses.
Impeachment Inquiry and the Process of Impeachment
While the Constitution is clear in granting the
impeachment power to the House, it leaves the development
of mechanisms for exercising the power to the House. As
noted by the Association of the Bar of the City of New
York in "The Law of Presidential Impeachment By the
Committee on Federal Legislation" (see:
http://www.abcny.org/presimpt.htm):
"A variety of methods have been employed to institute
impeachment proceedings: Charges may be made orally on
the floor by a Member of the House; a Member may submit
a written statement of charges; one or more Members of
the House may offer a resolution and place it in the
legislative hopper; a presidential message to the House
may initiate proceedings. The House has also received
charges from a state legislature, from a territory, and
from a grand jury. Finally, there may be a report of a
committee of the House which may submit facts or charges
that will lead to impeachment. Under the rules governing
the order of business in the House a direct proposition
to impeach is a matter of highest privilege and
supersedes other business. Similar privileged treatment
is given to propositions relating to a pending
impeachment."
The purpose of the Impeachment Inquiry is to have a
Committee develop a report for the House which then can be
considered for the purpose of determining whether to
proceed with impeachment proceedings. The House determines
whether to impeach based on a majority vote. It is
important to remember that impeachment does not mean
conviction - that is left to the Senate. Impeachment is
the equivalent of an indictment, making formal charges,
which the Senate then considers. Conviction requires two-
thirds of the Members present in the Senate to vote for
conviction.
Two Potential Articles of Impeachment that Should be Part of
an Impeachment Inquiry
The Impeachment Inquiry should focus on two areas involving
President Bush and Vice President **** Cheney.
The unconstitutional war in Iraq.
"The Inquiry should examine whether President Bush and
Vice President Cheney have gone beyond the bounds of the
Constitution, defied the rule of law, and if so, whether
impeachment is the appropriate constitutional punishment,"
said Nader. The United States Congress never voted for the
Iraq war. Congress voted for a resolution in October 2002
which unlawfully transferred to the President the decision-
making power of whether to launch a first-strike invasion
of Iraq. The United States Constitution's War Powers
Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11) vests the power
of deciding whether to send the nation into war solely in
the United States Congress. This can only be changed by a
constitutional amendment.
"Our founders had seen what could occur when the power to
declare war was vested in one person, a King or a Queen,
so they took clear steps to ensure no one person could
declare war for the United States. As James Madison wrote:
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be
found, than in the clause which confides the question of
war and peace to the legislature, and not to the executive
department," noted Nader.
Five Falsehoods that Led to the Iraq Quagmire:
Making matters worse in this situation, the illegal first-
strike invasion and occupation of Iraq was justified by
five falsehoods. Nader calls for a second area for
Impeachment Inquiry to examine: the "five falsehoods that
led to war." In 1994 George W. Bush said: "All public
policy should revolve around the principle that
individuals are responsible for what they say and do." In
2000, he ran as the "responsibility " candidate.
Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security
intelligence data, if proven, would be "a high crime"
under the Constitution's impeachment clause. Article II,
Section 4 of the Constitution provides: "The President,
Vice President and all civil Officers of the United
States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes
and Misdemeanors."
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
The weapons have still not been found. Nader emphasized,
"Until the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was our
government's anti-communist ally in the Middle East. We
also used him to keep Iran at bay. In so doing, in the
1980s under Reagan and the first Bush, corporations were
licensed by the Department of Commerce to export the
materials for chemical and biological weapons that
President George W. Bush and Vice President **** Cheney
later accused him of having." Those weapons were destroyed
after the Gulf War. President Bush's favorite chief
weapons inspector, David Kay, after returning from Iraq
and leading a large team of inspectors and spending nearly
half a billion dollars told the president :We were wrong."
See: David Kay testimony before Senate Armed
Services Committee, January 28, 2004.
IRAQ TIES TO AL QAEDA:
The White House made this claim even though the CIA and
FBI repeatedly told the Administration that there was no
tie between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. They were mortal
enemies - one secular, the other fundamentalist.
SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES:
In fact, Saddam was a tottering dictator, with an
antiquated, fractured army of low morale and with Kurdish
enemies in Northern Iraq and Shiite adversaries in the
South of Iraq. He did not even control the air space over
most of Iraq.
SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS A THREAT TO HIS NEIGHBORS:
In fact, Iraq was surrounded by countries with far
superior military forces. Turkey, Iran and Israel were
all capable of obliterating any aggressive move by the
Iraqi dictator.
THE LIBERATION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE:
There are brutal dictators throughout the world, many
supported over the years by Washington, whose people need
"liberation " from their leaders. This is not a persuasive
argument since for Iraq, it's about oil. In fact, the
occupation of Iraq by the United States is a magnet for
increasing violence, anarchy and insurrection.
Nader urges the Congress to investigate the illegal nature
of the war, and how the five falsehoods became part of the
Bush Administration's drum beat for war, in a formal Inquiry
of Impeachment.
--
For further information, contact:
Kevin Zeese
1-202-265-4000
--
Department as terrorist organizations;
the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path/Sender Luminoso) and the Kurdish
Workers Party (PKK) are are closely associated with RIM. (The PKK is no
longer a formal member of RIM; however, it was one of RIM's founders. The
Shining Path is still a member.) Other groups that comprise the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement are the Communist Party of
Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran)and the
Nepal Communist Party.
The RIM via its publication A WORLD TO WIN declared its belief in the
Palestinian intifada. The February 28, 2002, edition stated "the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement once again reaffirms its unwavering
support .and calls on all revolutionary and progressive people to step up
their actions on (the Palestinians') behalf." Another edition advised
Palestinians to "link up with .the parties and organizations that make up
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. With the weapon of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and its military strategy, people's war, the
Palestinian people's fight will surely become .more integral part of the
world revolution, hastening the day when imperialism, Zionism .meet their
doom."
These Maoist terrorist organizations are financing their activities by
trafficking in controlled substances. According to December 13, 2000,
testimony by Frank Cilluffo, to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) " is heavily
involved in the European drug trade, especially in Germany and France.
French law enforcement estimates that the PKK smuggles 80 percent of the
heroin in Paris." Cilluffo is Deputy Director, Global Organized Crime
Program Counterterrorism Task Force at Washington, D.C.'s Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
This same testimony reveals the Nepal Communist Party, ".turned to drug
trafficking for funding. Nepal serves as a hub for hashish trafficking in
Asia." The CIA Fact Book lists Nepal as
