Kucinich to reveal text of impeachment article RAW STORY

Published: Wednesday July 9, 2008





Print This Email This Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was expected to make his latest article of impeachment against President Bush, which will hit the floor Thursday, public Wednesday night ahead of an early Thursday press conference. "There has been a breach of faith between the Commander in Chief and the troops," the Congressman wrote in a letter to his colleagues Tuesday. "It is worse than heartbreaking that George W. Bush, as Commander in Chief, caused this country to go to war based on information which was false, and which he knew to be false," he went on. "The consequences for our troops have been devastating. We have lost 4,116 of our beloved servicemen and women since the war began, with over 30,000 physically wounded and countless others emotionally wounded. The toll on the service persons and their families will be felt throughout their lives." "There can be no greater responsibility of a Commander in Chief than to command based on facts on the ground, and to command in fact and in truth," the letter continued. "There can be no greater offense of a Commander in Chief than to misrepresent a cause of war and to send our brave men and women into harms way based on those misrepresentations. "Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or with Al Qaedas role in 9/11. Iraq had neither the intention nor the capability of attacking the United States. Iraq did not have weapons of Mass of Destruction. Yet George W. Bush took our troops to war under all of these false assumptions. Given the profound and irreversible consequences to our troops, if his decision was the result of a mistake, he must be impeached. Since his decision was based on lies, impeachment as a remedy falls short, but represents at least some effort on our part to demonstrate our concern about the sacrifices our troops have made." Rep. Kucinich will hold a press conference at Cannon Terrace in Washington D.C., at 2pm on Thursday, to discuss the article. "At President Bush's request, Congress passed an authorization for the use of military force against Iraq on October 16, 2002," Kucinich opened in his Wednesday announcement. "At least a dozen key material representations made to Congress by the President in that authorization, in furtherance of Congressional action, were false at the time they were made. The breadth and depth of the Presidents misrepresentations do not argue for incompetency as a defense, but for deceit as an impeachable offense. " "We have arrived at a teachable moment in our Constitutional history. Congress must insist on accountability. We must regain our rightful role as a co-equal branch of government charged with providing a check and balance to Executive abuse of power. In Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, our Founders placed the war power in the hands of the House of Representatives. This separation of powers was expressly intended to prevent a President from unilaterally summoning troops to war in the manner of a king. "Are we willing to respect our institution, our Constitution and ourselves? Will this President, at last, be held accountable for lying to Congress to gain authorization for the use of force against Iraq? Will we allow future Presidents to take office knowing they can commit the same acts with impunity?" DEVELOPING...