Cheney Says Dems Can't Stop Bush's War With Iran

[Imagevision]

<snip> Seymour Hersh has a new report about how the Bush Team plan to prevent Congress from interfering with any actions Bush wants to take against Iran, even if this action violates legislation passed by Democrats to prevent funding of regime change in Iran. Does anyone remember Iran-Contra scandal?

A month before the midterms, Cheney told participants of a national-security discussion that if the Democrats won control of Congress, it would not prevent the Bush Team from proceeding to take action against Iran:
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/11/19/144758/22

When Bush signed the Iraq war resolution, he issued a statement challenging the constitutionality of the War Powers Act, indicating that he could take the nation to war without obeying its restrictions. Unfortunately, even if the president were to agree to the act's restrictions, he could still attack Iran and have up to 90 days before being required to get congressional authorization for the attack.

What to do? Congress should not wait. It should hold hearings on Iran before the president orders a bombing attack on its nuclear facilities, or orders or supports a provocative act by the U.S. or an ally designed to get Iran to retaliate, and thus further raise war fever.

....The law should be attached to an appropriations bill, making it difficult for the president to veto. If he simply claims that he is not bound by the restriction even if he signs it into law, and then orders an attack on Iran without congressional authorization for it, Congress should file a lawsuit and begin impeachment proceedings.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_02/010684.php

[Kurovski]

1. And that's why impeachment is the way to go.

Literally.

[GreenTea]

4. Impeachment would take at least a year...US will be at war with Iran

deep into war by then.

[JackRiddler]

15. Impeachment can be done almost overnight

You're remembering how it went with Clinton. But if the required majority in House and 2/3 in Senate want Bush out now, he's out - it can be done almost instantly, they can decide to avoid debate and just do it.

Of course, this isn't the case. And it needs Republicans. So the only way it will happen is if Bush produces some awesome disaster that outdoes all of the disasters to dayte. Unfortunately, this is exactly what's being set up with the combination of the surge and the propaganda preparation for an unwinnable war with Iran.

[ArbustoBuster]

34. I'm trying to imagine a worse disaster than the ones already created by the Bush Maladministration.

They ignored the warnings regarding 9/11 (gross incompetence); they lied us into war in Iraq, which allowed bin Laden to escape in Afghanistan (both of these, in my opinion, give aid and comfort to our enemies and are therefore treason under the Constitution); and they botched up the response to Katrina (more gross incompetence).

The only thing I can imagine worse than these things would be if Bush personally drove a nuke into New York and set it off himself. And even then, Fox Noise Channel would try to say it was a manly and bold thing to do.

[cui bono]

35. I know. If anyone had told you years ago that this would happen and that

he would still have staunch supporters in congress willing to kiss his ass and play the little games they're playing would it have even been conceivable?

[MADem]

7. The Congress NEEDS to start investigations NOW. Not when Monkey sends aircraft over Esfahan.

For the life of me, I cannot understand the lack of aggression. The Senate is a disgrace. They need to go back to the old days, when there were actual DEBATES. None of this backroom shit, with unanimous consent agreements. There needs to be a knock-down, drag out discussion. I agree with Hagel's 'money where your mouth is' assertion, frankly. Enough of this damned pussyfootin' around!!!!

Of the two chambers, the House is a bit more outspoken, but I think this general air of timidity needs to just STOP. If they don't get off their asses and start INVESTIGATING, they won't have what they need to initiate impeachment proceedings. You can't impeach without investigations, and they're moving like molasses.

If we start bombing Iran, who knows what will happen. Mister "Rosy Scenario" Monkey and his Peppershot Pal weren't so accurate when it came to Iraq, so I rather doubt whatever halfassed plan they've pulled out of their asses will work the way they hope. These are the idiots who didn't realize their were SECTS in Islam, after all. The stupid fucks probably thought the briefer was talking about SEX, and they tuned out because they didn't want to know the dirty details...

I'm sure they know nothing of Iran's LONG and RICH HISTORY, their nationalism which stretches back CENTURIES (and it matters not who rules them), and the Iranian's high opinion of themselves. They have a rich culture and they're proud of it.

I'm not interested in being dragged back into uniform as meat for the grinder of the next world war. Congress needs to check those assholes, and do it NOW--before they start it up in another southwest asian nation.

[AdHocSolver]

14. Bush/Cheney aren't planning to win a war in Iran, just to grab Iran's oil fields.

Bush/Cheny sent troops to Afghanistan, not to get bin Ladin, but to put in a government willing to sign a deal for a gas pipeline to be built through that country. As soon as the pipeline contract was signed, Bush/Cheney lost interest in bin Ladin and created a pretext for going into Iraq.

The purpose for getting rid of Saddam was because he was trying to make deals for selling Iraqi oil outside of OPEC. This would upset U.S. and British oil company control of the world's oil supplies, and hence price and profits. The huge oil company profits the last couple of years is due directly to the "success" of the Iraq invasion. Currently, the U.S. is pushing the Iraqi (puppet) government to sign long-term, exclusive contracts for their oil. Some Iraqi officials are not happy with the terms. If they had already signed a deal, we would have invaded Iran already. Their is no need to "win" a war. Just get control of the oil fields.

Since the Democrats got control of the House and can start hearings on these issues, and the Iraq war is no longer "popular", Bush/Cheney is pushing to start a war in Iran to have a pretext for grabbing Iran's oil fields. There is no need to win a war, only start one. Since Bush/Cheney can achieve their goal without expending the resources necessary to actually win a war, they will do in Iran exactly what they did in Iraq. This is the corporate mentality that Bush/Cheney bring to the White House.

The point I am trying to make here is that it is an error to assume Bush/Cheney are simply misguided in thinking they can win a war in Iraq and win a war in Iran. Their actions and statements show that their goals in Afghanistan and Iraq have been achieved, and they are in a hurry to achieve their goal for Iran before they leave office.

[MADem]

16. That'll piss off China and the Russkies, though--they buy most of Iran's oil

Iran actually imports forty percent of their gasoline, because their infrastructure really sucks--they have no refining capacity at all. It went to hell during the Iran-Iraq war and never has been adequately repaired. What leaves their shores is crude.

Anyway, I doubt China and Russia will let that sort of scenario stand, unless we give them some of the spoils. In that case, to hell with sovereignty.

[tblue37]

21. China freakin *owns* us. They are in our finances

buying up all our debt. All our debt are belong to them. No way they let us get away with this without plunging us unto financial crisis.

[SquireJons]

36. Isn't Russia a net oil exporter?

They have energy resources out the wahzoo. But China is a very different matter. They need lots of oil, and have been wooing both Iran and Venezuela for a few years now.

[MADem]

40. They have a shitload of refineries, though many aren't up to snuff.

But hey, who cares? At least I'm sure that's what they're thinking at this stage of the moneymaking game.

The more 'ready for market' your product is, the more money there is to be made.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi AdHocSolver!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[catzies]

38. Welcome to DU, AdHocSolver! Your post is word-for-word spot on!

I intend to quote that because it is so succint. Well done and welcome!

[Imagevision]

2. Tagging Cheney with some serious war-crimes charges would slow the process so

the world can take a look at an administration hell-bent on attacking another country using fabicated intel and lies to make their war points.

[dysfunctional press]

3. to war! to war! freedonia's going to WAR!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ae2d5d24-badd-11db-bbf3-0000779e2340.html

Too late to halt Iran’s nuclear bomb, EU is told

Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it, an internal European Union document has concluded.

In an admission of the international community’s failure to hold back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the document – compiled by the staff of Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief – says the atomic programme has been delayed only by technical limitations rather than diplomatic pressure. “Attempts to engage the Iranian administration in a negotiating process have not so far succeeded,” it states.

The downbeat conclusions of the “reflection paper” – seen by the Financial Times – are certain to be seized on by advocates of military action, who fear that Iran will be able to produce enough fissile material for a bomb over the next two to three years. Tehran insists its purposes are purely peaceful.

“At some stage we must expect that Iran will acquire the capacity to enrich uranium on the scale required for a weapons programme,” says the paper, dated February 7 and circulated to the EU’s 27 national governments ahead of a foreign ministers meeting yesterday...


cheney just got a chubbie.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Hail caesar, impeach the vice geezer.... these people are quite

mad you know.

[Swamp Rat]

6. RICO the bastards!

[Pachamama]

27. I agree...I think the Rico act should be used against these criminals!

:hi:

[Straight Shooter]

8. Senate Majority Leader should be Jim Webb instead of Timid Harry.

Webb understands the intricacies of going to war a lot better than Timid Harry. What's Reid doing, anyway? Anything substantial? If he is, I haven't heard about it.

Frickin' hand-wringers need to step aside and let the ass-kickers take over.

[wtmusic]

10. Thank you.

Couldn't have said it better. :thumbsup:

[chimpymustgo]

33. Second that e-motion. Why this timidity? Do what is right and what the American

people WANT!!!

It's not that hard, is it?

[Hoosier]

37. Exactly

The time to stand, point a finger, and say stop is over.

It's time to sock the bully in the mouth and kick him in the nuts.

[Skink]

9. Watch out for a Trillion dollar supplemental.

[ninkasi]

11. Bush and Cheney have to be stopped

It can be done by impeachment, or by an act of Congress, as the OP says, by attaching to an appropriations bill. Too many innocent lives are threatened by these madmen. In my almost 64 years, I can never remember being so ashamed by my country. This is not the America that our Founding Fathers tried to fashion when they drafted the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Under this administration, we have even done away with rights that were made law when the Magna Carta was signed. That was in the thirteenth century. What more is needed before the members of Congress we voted into office to stop the sociopath heed our message?

[indepat]

32. From all indications, they seem hell-bent in taking this nation down the tubes

[Why Syzygy]

12. K&R .. Where is the UN

in all this? What are they saying?

To stand by and watch our 'government' totally do stoopid sh*t is almost unbearable.
We DO NOT need to attack Iran. What do the Saudis think about the idea? What do Pakistan and India think about it? Do we have any allies at all? Will GW and the gang attack any sovereign nation as they see fit? Would they like to take over the world? Do they understand the concepts of consequences and repercussions?

Since they cannot even admit that Iraq is an absolute disaster of a galactic magnitude, there is nothing to deter them from doing the same to ANYONE. Our law makers and media are absolutely under the thumb of the scoundrels. How the HELL did that happen? When will it turn around?
We grow weary. :cry:

[Emit]

13. Bastids! n/t

[Imagevision]

17. Bush said, it'll be up to future presidents on when the Iraq war ends because after

he bombs Iran the new President and administration will have their hands full.

I'm still dumbstruck a president can get away with total irresponsible behavior and actions starting up another war before leaving office, and it seems this new house & senate are merely watching Bush do it!

[sce56]

41. Maybe it is time to update the Constitution adding something along the lines of a no Confidence Vote

http://web.archive.org/web/20030602211200/

October 17, 2006,Will be remembered as the Enabling day of the 21st Century!
"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures..."
~Adolf Hitler, March 23, 1933, before the German Parliament (Reichstag) as he urged them to pass his "Enabling Act"





Fascism Accomplished!

[TheWatcher]

18. It Is TIME.

Remove Them, Try Them, Incarcerate Them, and THROW AWAY THE KEY.

Wake Up America.

The Hour Is Late.

[Doondoo]

19. K&R

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. From the time that President Cheney and his team decided they were

going into Iran, the Congress would have had those 90s days. They need to act NOW.

[spanone]

22. I M P E A C H T H E B A S T A R D

[magellan]

23. If the only hope is for Congress to "pre-empt" a strike on Iran

...then I'm afraid that if BushCo are intent on doing it, it will be done.

[TZ]

24. I'd love impeachment but..

if the Dems can't even pass a non-binding resolution to condemn the surge, what makes you think Congress can do anything. Cheney (and I think its him who has done this) has been hard at work in the last few years making sure that only the Executive branch has real power. He has totally destroyed the constitutional checks and balances. Chimpy isn't smart enough to have done this.:cry:

[tex-wyo-dem]

26. Dear Democratic Congressmen....sounds like Darth is issuing a challenge...

Are you going to take it up, or slink back into that hole that's been your comfort zone for so long?

TAKE A STAND, DAMN IT!!

[Time for change]

28. But what about this clause of the War Powers Act?

At any time that United States Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities outside the territory of the United States, its possessions and territories without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.

That seems to say that Congress can stop it any time, doesn't it?

[Martin Eden]

29. YES -- take action BEFORE war with Iran begins

This should be the #1 priority of this Congress.

[Mrspeeker]

30. yeah this actually dates back to the civil war!

Lincoln waited tell winter recess to declare war on the South, Once its started, It was to late to stop it!

The executive branch has far to much power to even consider ourselves a Democratic Republic.
Can You say Cesar!!!!

[Senator]

31. Only Impeachment ... Can Stop Anything They Are Doing or Will Do

The rest is just (masturbatory) rationalization for inaction.

Yes, even "Cut the Funding II -- The Sequel." (We've watched this movie before.)

Only Impeachment... is a substantive act.

It IS our positive agenda.

It is our ONLY moral, patriotic option.

--

[Hailtothechimp]

39. This Congress will not impeach. And they know this.

As much as we throw the "I word" around here, it will only gain traction with the public at large when the media begins talking about it. And if Wolf Blitzer's sniveling in the face of Dick "You're outta line" Cheney is any indication, that just won't happen.