|
Green Party: Impeach Bush and Cheney
Now
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
January 3, 2006
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
Congress must impeach Bush and Cheney, say Greens, citing White House
lawlessness, growing threat to U.S. democracy, and war crimes.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Citing a litany of alleged high crimes and misdemeanors,
abuses of power, and violations of the U.S. Constitution, Green Party leaders
urged Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against President George W.
Bush and Vice President Cheney as soon as possible.
"The evidence that President Bush has abused his office and betrayed the
trust of the American people is now so overwhelming that failure to undertake
impeachment would make Congress even more complicit in this administration's
lawlessness," said Nan Garrett, Georgia Green Party co-chair and spokesperson
for the National Women's Caucus. "Three more years of Bush and Cheney will do
lasting damage to the rule of law and result in even more death and destruction
under Bush's reckless policies."
"The Bush Administration blocked an independent probe into 9/11 while making
fraudulent statements about the reasons for invading Iraq, and now admits that
it spies on American citizens in disregard of legal limits. What more does
Congress need before it says enough is enough?" Ms. Garrett added.
The Green Party of the United States called for Congress to commence
impeachment of President Bush in July, 2003, after he ordered the invasion of
Iraq. The resolution accused the President of numerous deceptions to justify
the invasion, as well as violations of the U.S. Constitution (restriction in
Article II on the deployment of Armed Forces to defense of U.S. borders;
required adherence to international treaties in Article VI) and of
international law (U.N. Charter; Geneva conventions).
"In early 2003, there already existed credible evidence that the war was
based on White House fraud: false claims that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs,
sought nuclear weapons materials, and colluded with al Qaeda. But most
Democrats feared accusations that they'd be soft on terrorism and unpatriotic
if they criticized the invasion," said Jody Grage Haug, co-chair of the Green
Party of the United States. "Three years later, after more than 2,100 U.S.
troop deaths, tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians, a continuing military
quagmire in Iraq, and indications that the invasion and occupation inflamed
anti-U.S. sentiment around the world, especially in Islamic nations, some
Democrats have caught up to the Green Party."
In addition to White House falsehoods leading up to the war on Iraq, Greens
listed other grounds for impeachment:
*
President Bush ordered the National Security Agency to spy on American
citizens without obtaining a warrant in accord with the Fourth Amendment and
the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Recent FBI targets of
surveillance (nonviolent peace and human rights organizations, Catholic Workers
Group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Vegan Community Project)
prove that his administration's goals have more to do with politics than with
preventing terrorism. Mr. Bush's insistence that such surveillance is justified
and will continue is further proof of his contempt for the law.
*
Numerous Bush Administration policies -- denial of due process,
extraordinary rendition, secret detention centers, and torture at various
sites, including Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay -- have violated U.S. and
international law. Vice President Cheney attempted to gain a license from
Congress for torture, even though it has been proven ineffective for gathering
accurate information (e.g., Ibn Al Shaykh Al Libi's testimony about links
between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, later recanted). Greens noted that the
agreement reached by Mr. Bush and Sen. John McCain purportedly outlawing
torture allows a significant loophole (see "Tortured Logic: McCain-Bush deal
has a big loophole" by James Ridgeway with Michael Roston, The Village Voice,
December 19, 2005,
<http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0551,ridgeway,71143,2.html>).
*
Congress must investigate whether the White House endorsed the use of
outlawed weapons materials such as depleted uranium, which causes radioactive
contamination of humans (U.S. troops as well as Iraqi civilians) and the
environment; white phosphorus, a chemical whose use in warfare is proscribed by
international agreement; and cluster bombs, which do not distinguish between
civilians and combatants. Their use in Iraq is a war crime for which either the
President himself or the Defense Department must be held accountable. Other war
crimes, which require impeachment if based on White House orders, include the
military targeting of journalists, individual reporters as well as television
stations (Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi), and looting of hospitals, museums, and
private homes.
"Many Americans have realized that the Bush-Cheney ideology is about
installing a permanent corporate elite in power, buttressed by military power
and public fear over perceived and fabricated threats, while missing real
dangers to our security," said Jake Schneider, treasurer of the Green Party of
the United States. "The response to Katrina, dismissed evidence of global
warming, manipulated scientific research, energy policy crafted in secret with
corporate lobbies, new prescription drug policy, attack on Social Security,
2000 and 2004 election irregularities, and other evidence should lay to rest
any illusion about this Administration's disregard for the interests of the
American people."
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
|
|