> 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 Dick 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 Dick > 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 > > -- > Communist Party (RCP). Clark Kissinger, > co-director of NION and the RCP, was quoted as saying that when the RCP took > over, "it would be necessary to shoot everyone who didn't agree with them." > > The RCP is a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist group that practices Lenin's "vanguard" > philosophy, which states that a vanguard of intellectuals is needed to lead > the proletariat in establishing a worker's utopia. It fosters the worldwide > revolution through its membership in the Revolutionary International > Movement (RIM). It is through this affiliation that the RCP is related to > two organizations listed by the State 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
