Home > Is There Still Time to Impeach the President before Nov. 2?

Is There Still Time to Impeach the President before Nov. 2?

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 9 October 2004
8 comments

Edito Jason Leopold


by Jason Leopold

John Dean, the former counsel to President Richard Nixon, made a case last year for impeaching President George W. Bush if the president intentionally misled Congress and the public into backing a war with Iraq.

"To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked," Dean wrote in a June 6, 2003 column for findlaw.com. "Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution’s impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."

On Wednesday, a 918-page report released by the Iraqi Survey Group, headed
by former United Nations weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, said Iraq
eliminated all of its illicit arms programs in the mid-1990s, shortly after
the first Gulf War. In other words, Iraq wasn’t a threat Bush’s dire warning
turned out to be misleading and, as we now know, factually wrong, and, even
worse, lies. That’s grounds for impeachment.

"Presidential statements, particularly on matters of national security, are
held to an expectation of the highest standard of truthfulness," Dean wrote
in a June 6 column. "A president cannot stretch, twist or distort facts and
get away with it. President Lyndon Johnson’s distortions of the truth about
Vietnam forced him to stand down from reelection. President Richard Nixon’s
false statements about Watergate forced his resignation."

Some of Bush’s most frightening statements about Iraq’s non-existent weapons
program:

* "We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized
Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons — the very weapons the
dictator tells us he does not have."

(Radio Address, October 5, 2002)

"The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological
weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons."

"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents,
including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."

"We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of
manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical
or biological weapons across broad areas. We’re concerned that Iraq is
exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United
States."

"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons
program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear
scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" - his nuclear holy
warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at
sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has
attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment
needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear
weapons." (Cincinnati, Ohio Speech, October 7, 2002).

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials
to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent." (State
of the Union Address, January 28, 2003).

Remember, this a government that impeached a president for accepting sexual
favors in the oval office and lying about it. You would think that the
punishment for taking a country to war on false pretenses would be worse.

Forum posts

  • It is a nice thought but will never happen the Republicans and the supreme court will make sure of that....long live Hitler, I mean Bush.

  • Clinton was impeached for lying about Monica...gimmee a freaking break. WTF is wrong with congress!! Our democracy has been replaced by a demockery. Of course we have reason to impeach Bush. He should be in prison for his disgusting crimes against humanity. And if we don’t put the whole cabal away, they will come back another day. WTF did people think would happen after they took over in the sixties??!! Did people really believe that MLK, JFK, RFK....were killed by lone wackos? C’mon people- what kind of freaking country did you leave us to deal with??

    We are still slaughtering innocent civilians every day! Where is the accountability? I am sick to my stomach every day over what our government is doing. It is time for Americans to open up that window and yell "I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore" We must all rise up together and demand the truth about this evil and futile war. Screw the election. Both Bush and Kerry are full of shi* when it comes to the war. "we will win" WTF is winning? Killing everyone? Every time we slaughter one innocent Iraqi, ten more will rise up. And who can blame them?

    Bush is toast. The emperor has been exposed and is now standing naked in front of the world. Any pundit, any media organization saying this election is close is LYING! It is time for Americans to ’kill your television’. They have no control if we ignore them. They are going to lie, and then attempt to steal the election.

    Are we just going to watch this happen folks? Are we just going to watch this ’democracy’ as if it is a very bad movie that can’t really be happening? This is a shout out to all great Americans that still have their courage, who still care about our great country and believe we can save it......We must rise up NOW!!!

  • Please. Everyone had the same intelligence; the President, congress, UN, UK etc. Let’s move on. Whatever the case was, the world is safer without Saddam. The world is lucky to have George W. Bush’s strength and resolve to defeat the terrorists.

    • With some of the comments on how good O’l George Bush is, its no wonder at all this world is in the state its in...Far too many people have the wool (the whole sheep) pulled over thier eyes for this to change in the near future..I hope my daughter’s children see it....Sometimes my optimism wanes when I hear uninformed masses express their views...Wow

    • The President and his staff always have access to intelligence that others down the chain don’t. In this case the Bush administration ignored dissenting opinions from within the CIA and external professional bodies regarding Iraq’s WMD capabilities. Those dissenting opinions were NOT passed along to the Congress or the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. They heard only what the Bush administration wanted them to hear so they would approve giving Bush the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Hussein.

      About the terrorists in Iraq: the Bush administration was aware of al Zarqawi’s presence there in June 2002. He was setting up a weapons camp in N. Iraq. The Pentagon drafted plans to take Zarqawi out no less than three times. Each time the National Security Council killed the plans. The White House felt destroying the camp would undermine its case for war with Iraq. Had Bush taken the opportunity to off Zarqawi, many US soldiers and Iraqi/foreign civilians would still be alive today.

      So much for Bush’s strength and resolve to defeat terrorists.

      Finally, you may recall Richard Clarke’s testimony to the 9/11 Commission that the White House was focused on war with Iraq from the very moment this administration took office; a charge everyone from Bush on down vehemently deny. I suggest you read the letter that the Project for a New American Century wrote to President Clinton in 1998. Note the content — the appeal to get tough with Iraq and the justification. Also note the names of those who signed the letter.

      http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

      Bush ran on a platform of "restoring integrity to the White House". What he and his administration have done is turn the truth on its head. But he won’t be impeached. And the only reason he won’t is because there’s a Republican majority in Congress.

      You want to know why this country is so divided? Learn about the neocons, what their goals are and how they achieve them through the use of divisive propaganda. I’m an independent who has voted for both parties in the past; learn why this isn’t your father’s Republican party. Turn off the talking heads on tv and radio. Educate yourself instead of agreeing only with the opinions you like. This country’s greatest enemy is the uninformed masses that the Bush administration has flattered into ignorance.

    • I find it really scary that anyone would say the world is lucky to have George W. Bush’s anything.

  • You are a sore loser. You are the ones that are liars and trying to cheat with false votes. You are measuring our apples in your basket.

    • FOR FEAR OF SOUNDING REPETITIVE,SADDAM IS GONE(PROBABLY TO A MANSION IN BEVERLY HILLS NEXT TO OSAMA),SO WHY ARE THE US STILL THERE.HOW INSULTED DO YOU THINK THE IRAQIS FEEL WHEN THE US TRIES TO STEAL THERE COUNTRY AND OIL BY SAYING THEY ARE NOT COMPETENT TO RUN IT THEMSELVES.SEEMS YOU HAVEN’T HAD MUCH LUCK GETTING RID OF YOUR DICTATOR OR MANAGING YOUR OWN ECONOMY EITHER SO SHOULD SOMEONE COME AND APPOINT AN INTERIM GOVERNMENT FOR THE US UNTIL YOU CAN GET IT TOGETHER.