LETTER TO CONGRESS: 3 duties to voters: Iraq, Iran, & Impeachment

[yurbud]

Since the vice president and several of the relevant agencies failed to cooperate with the GAO investigation of the Cheney energy task force of 2001, I urge you to investigate that again with subpoena power and most importantly, see what if any connection there was between the energy task force and the Iraq War.

A recent poll found that 70% of Americans already know this war was about oil. We are still waiting for our elected officials to deal directly with this issue rather than obliquely by talking about ending our dependence on foreign oil, a worthy goal, but one that doesn't address the loss of our tax dollars, lives, and our good reputation in Iraq, and the criminal and anti-democratic behavior of the Bush administration.

You insult the intelligence of the American people by continuing to talk about stability and spreading democracy in Iraq, and even the war on terror when it is increasingly obvious these are excuses not reasons for the war and coming war in the countries with the second and third largest oil reserves in the world.

Like many Americans, I will measure this Congress by a couple of simple goals:

• preventing a war in Iran,
  
  
• ending the war in Iraq,
  
  
• removing Bush & Cheney from office.

Any good thing you do apart from that makes it look like you made some kind of faustian bargain with the Republican business interests to give them their war in exchange for some incremental improvement in social programs here at home. LBJ did some great things on the domestic front, but that isn't what people remember him for now. If today's Democrats fail to stop Bush, they will have a similar reputation with voters.

If you fail to act on these matters, it will be obvious you are serving someone other than the people who elected you, and respect democracy about as much as the Bush administration does.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Good letter, but run it through spell check before sending it.

[yurbud]

3. did I miss anything besides force? I thought I had corrected it, but I copied and pasted several

times and might have picked up an uncorrected version.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. That's the one that I noticed.

[porphyrian]

2. I'll kick that. - n/t

[patrice]

5. Meanwhile: the new Bait in the new Bait and Switch is the Blood of American Troops.

Have you read this yet? http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/070305fa_fact_hersh

RE: General Pace's testimony before the Senate Appropriations committee yesterday - Pace is saying one third of the total military force in Iraq will not be fully manned, fully trained, or equipped AND he (Cheney) doesn't want Murtha to do anything about that.

Pace also said before the Senate Appropriations Committee that a weak Iraqi government (Shia) results in stronger militias (Sunni). The "Redirection" documented by Seymour Hersh (linked above) describes a process that is weakening Shia in the region and strengthening Sunnis.

So, as the Sunni Iraqi militias get stronger they have to decide whether to kill more Americans or more Shia. Doesn't the fact that the Administration is resisting Murtha's plan, and thus leaving those forces weak in that situation, suggest that this is supposed to push the Sunni Iraqi militias in the direction of attacking the Shia instead?

It's the old "Bait and Switch" routine again. Only this time it is American Blood being waved under the noses of the Sunnis in the region to get them into what's going on, and then through the use of special Sunni operative$$$$$$$$, their efforts are turned on the Shia instead.

[pat_k]

6. Impeachment is the ONLY road to sanity in the Middle East. . .

Any Member of Congress who hopes to inject sanity, change direction in Iraq, and stop the "decider" from another horrific "preemptive" (agressive) attack, needs to forget about Iraq and Iran, remember their oath, and become a champion of impeachment.

[yurbud]

7. yeah, I just this minute realized the problem with the Murtha "death of a thousand conditions"

strategy--signing statements. Bush will simply add a signing statement saying he reserves the right to ignore any conditions the Democrats place on appropriations.

[pat_k]

11. Worse, Dems are talking about handing Bush an out -- a "waiver". . .

Their "tough" bill may well formally give Bush and "out" -- to violate it he just needs to sign a "waiver."

Mind-boggling.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=36259&printerfriendlyVers=1&

. . .The idea of adding a presidential waiver process to Murtha's proposed troop readiness restrictions was also floated to the caucus Tuesday, but it was not clear whether it would be backed by liberals who support Murtha's original idea to stop troop increases in Iraq, or by conservatives who balked at his initial plan.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. That's three simple goals

Not "a couple of simple goals".

[yurbud]

9. If you want just one, impeachment. They'd have to get off the fucking dime for that to help other

two though.

[Senator]

10. Number 3 Will Accomplish Numbers 1 and 2

Impeachment is the only mechanism by which to be substantively, effectively "Anti-War."

Removal of bushcheney will return rationality -- perhaps even to the beltway.

It is our only moral, patriotic option.

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