[Sosfbay-discuss] GPUS: Iraq War is Impeachable, Not Just a 'Strategic Blunder'

Thu Mar 1 16:16:26 PST 2007

Our National Party has got this straight!

Impeach for Peace!

Drew

Iraq War is Impeachable, Not Just a 'Strategic Blunder'

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Originally released February 15, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org

Greens to Congress: Debate over Iraq must address the war as an
impeachable crime, not as a strategic blunder requiring more U.S.
troops to correct

Congress must cut off funding for all U.S. military actions in Iraq,
compelling President Bush to call the troops home, say Greens, citing
Vietnam War precedent 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders urged Congress, as it debates a
nonbinding resolution on President Bush's proposal to send 21,500 more
U.S. troops to Iraq, to reject a discussion of the war on strategic
grounds, and instead address the war as a criminal act of military
aggression. 

Greens called on Democrats and Republicans in Congress who claim to
oppose the war to interrupt President Bush's agenda in Iraq by cutting
off funding for the U.S. occupation. 

"If antiwar Democrats and Republicans limit their discussion to whether
the U.S. should commit more troops, then President Bush will have won
the debate," said Liz Arnone, co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States. "The question Congress should ask isn't how many U.S. service
members should be sent to Iraq, it's how to end the Iraq disaster as
quickly as possible, how to hold the Bush Administration accountable
for its abuses of power and the deaths of over 3,000 U.S. troops and
hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and how to prevent such
abuses in the future." 

Congress must address the following points in its current discussion,
said Greens: 

The Iraq War didn't fail because the White House and Pentagon botched
it strategically, although it's evident that the invasion was
undertaken without regard for the protection of many U.S. service
personnel (e.g., inadequate body armor; illegal use of depleted uranium
and white phosphorus, which also harm civilians), the need to secure
Iraq's borders, and other basic military necessities. The Iraq War was
an inevitable disaster, said Green Party leaders, because it was a
preemptive invasion of one nation by another, justified before the
public by manipulated intelligence estimates and a disinformation
campaign (false claims about WMDs; Saddam Hussein's collusion with
al-Qaeda; Saddam's purported threat to neighboring countries and the
U.S.), with minimal consideration of the outcome (mass Iraqi civilian
deaths; probably civil war; international outrage, especially among
Muslim and Arab nations; empowerment of radical religious and terrorist
groups in the region). 

"Preemptive invasion is illegal under international law. Congress must
treat the Iraq invasion as a criminal atrocity, requiring impeachment
of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and investigation and
criminal prosecution of those responsible for the war," said Rebecca
Rotzler, co-chair of the Green Party and Deputy Mayor of New Paltz, New
York. Ms. Rotzler will participate in the Emergency Summit to Impeach
Bush for War Crimes, February 17-18 in New York City (more information
at <http://www.gp.org>). 

Congress must cancel all future funding for the Iraq War, compelling
the White House to withdraw U.S. troops and return them home safe and
sound. 

"It's obvious by now that the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq
will not improve the situation for the Iraqi people or lead to peace,
stability, or democracy," said Gretchen Dutschke of the Green Party's
International Committee. "If Congress members merely address President
Bush's strategic plan to send more troops, then Congress is debating
according to the White House's own terms, with a false choice between
victory and defeat for the U.S. Congress must reject the Bush
Administration's frame of the debate, and instead demand immediate
withdrawal. As in the 1970 Cooper-Church amendment, which prohibited
further funding for military action in Cambodia and Laos, Congress can
force a withdrawal from Iraq by preventing the White House from
spending another dime on the occupation." 

Congress must address the Bush Administration's numerous abuses of
power in connection with the Iraq War: Defense Department policy that
clearly encouraged torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib, as well as sites in
Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and secret sites in Europe; 'extraordinary
rendition' of prisoners to countries that allow torture to extract
information; favoritism for profiteering corporations and privatized
military operations like Halliburton and Blackwater USA, as well as for
U.S. and U.K. oil companies that are about to profit from the new Iraqi
'Hydrocarbon Law' ("Shock and oil: Iraq's billions & the White House
connection," The Independent, January 14, 2007
<http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2152438.ece>). 

Congress must address its own complicity in President Bush's decision
to wage war on Iraq, through October 2002 legislation that transferred
war power to President Bush. 

"The Iraq Resolution gave President Bush a blank check to launch the
invasion of Iraq -- contrary to the U.S. Constitution, which limits war
power to Congress itself, a necessary check on executive power," said
Katey Culver, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and
co-chair of the Green Party of Tennessee. "We ask Congress to repudiate
the Bush-Cheney doctrines of unitary executive power and perpetual
warfare, and restore the Constitution's checks and balances." 

In order to achieve stability in Iraq and the surrounding region and
security for the U.S. and the world, Congress must support an
integrated policy based on negotiation, diplomacy, and respect for
human rights instead of military force.

"Withdrawal from Iraq, diplomacy with Iran in combination with global
nuclear disarmament, and pressure on Israel to end its illegal
occupation of Palestinian lands and observe human rights and equality
are the necessary starting points for peace in the Middle East and
western Asia," said Green Party co-chair Jim Coplen. "Anything else ill
only encourage future war and violence, including terrorism against the
U.S." 

MORE INFORMATION 
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org  
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml  

"How Congress Helped End the Vietnam War"
By Julian E. Zelizer, The American Prospect,
February 6, 2007
prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12438 

Iraq War is Impeachable, Not Just a 'Strategic Blunder'

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Originally released February 15, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org

Greens to Congress: Debate over Iraq must address the war as an
impeachable crime, not as a strategic blunder requiring more U.S.
troops to correct

Congress must cut off funding for all U.S. military actions in Iraq,
compelling President Bush to call the troops home, say Greens, citing
Vietnam War precedent 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders urged Congress, as it debates a
nonbinding resolution on President Bush's proposal to send 21,500 more
U.S. troops to Iraq, to reject a discussion of the war on strategic
grounds, and instead address the war as a criminal act of military
aggression. 

Greens called on Democrats and Republicans in Congress who claim to
oppose the war to interrupt President Bush's agenda in Iraq by cutting
off funding for the U.S. occupation. 

"If antiwar Democrats and Republicans limit their discussion to whether
the U.S. should commit more troops, then President Bush will have won
the debate," said Liz Arnone, co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States. "The question Congress should ask isn't how many U.S. service
members should be sent to Iraq, it's how to end the Iraq disaster as
quickly as possible, how to hold the Bush Administration accountable
for its abuses of power and the deaths of over 3,000 U.S. troops and
hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and how to prevent such
abuses in the future." 

Congress must address the following points in its current discussion,
said Greens: 