THE GROWING CASE AGAINST BUSH'S WAR
EVEN REPUBLICANS ARE STARTING TO SAY THE "I" WORD!

By: Dorothy Anne Seese

It's one thing for liberal Democrats to attack a Republican party 
president. That can be expected and usually tossed in the wastebasket. 
 It's quite another when right-wing conservative Republicans (such as 
Ron Paul) and the Libertarians, all "right-wingers" of varying stripes, 
openly question whether President George W. Bush has committed 
high crimes and misdemeanors and broken constitutional provisions and 
federal criminal law in his misrepresentations leading to Gulf War II. 
If he indeed did knowingly tell lies to the public, these are impeachable
offenses, and the "I" word (impeachment) is being quietly uttered
among 
Republicans who are tired of being embarrassed by the likes of Nixon 
and Bush I.  

John Dean, Republican White House counsel (at age 31) to the late 
President Richard M. Nixon, has openly questioned whether George W. 
Bush deliberately misled the United States and the world by making 
absolute statements about Iraq that have proved, thus far, to have had 
no basis in fact.  The conclusion to which Mr. Dean comes in his rather 
lengthy article is that the Bush White House, quite adept at sweeping 
other blunders under the rug, now has on its hands -- absent the finding 
of loads of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- a president who could 
be impeached for lying to the American public, to the Congress and to 
the world to back a war that had no real basis other than his own desire 
to whack Iraq.  

Actions such as Mr. Bush's, of which your humble correspondent has 
been complaining for some time, have given the United States a long, 
no-exit occupation of two formerly sovereign nations and no bugaboo 
criminals such as Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein to show for the 
American lives lost and American dollars wasted ... not to speak of 
the bad example made by American aggression where no actual national 
security threat was found to exist.  Not only did the "bad guys" 
seemingly get away, but our excuses for such wars have evaporated 
more quickly than bin Laden's name has been forgotten by the media.  

The only profit from our conflicts belongs to the oil magnates and those 
who will inherit the reconstruction contracts.  More American lives have 
been lost in both Afghanistan and Iraq after each so-called "war" was 
declared over, and will continue to be lost as long as a Western power 
continues to occupy a Middle East or Central Asian nation.  Certainly 
these tribal peoples have their own forms of genocide and internecine 
warfare, but it 's absolutely none of America's business unless we 
intend to take over the whole world (which could be the intent of the 
Bush dynasty and its new world order thought machine).  

Meantime, we Americans will be distracted by media blowups of the 
Hillary Clinton book and the prosecution of Martha Stewart.  Now, this 
writer isn't particularly fond of either of those broads, but while Hillary 
probably isn't telling any more truth in her book than Bubba did in office, 
Martha's situation has yet to be tried in court and not by the media.  
Frankly, it's a mystery why the government picked on a rather small fish 
in light of scandals such as Enron. I trust she has incurred the wrath of 
some Bush-camper in order to deserve such special "treatment" over a 
few grand in stocks of ImClone (which are now headed back up) just as 
former Arizona Governor Fife Symington got some special attention from 
the Clinton/Reno team after he ran afoul of their program by opposing 
the Brady Bill and gun control.  

Bush-campers have repeatedly accused your humble correspondent of 
hating George W. Bush.  No, that is not true.  I hate lying, deceit, 
phony "conservatism" by the name "neo-con" or
"centrist" or any other 
whack label.  I hate the demolition of the Republic and the taking of 
American freedoms by spurious means, by intimidation of Congress and 
by out and out lying to the public and the world.  That ill serves the 
honorable cause of true conservatism as expressed by the late Barry 
Goldwater and currently espoused by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).  If there 
is hatred, it is hatred of senseless wars and senseless loss of American 
lives for the enrichment of those already far too wealthy, who think they 
can and should rule the lives of the people rather than being public 
servants as envisioned by our founders.  

I hate to see our Constitution and Bill of Rights shredded. And I hate 
to see politicians getting by with high crimes and misdemeanors, 
malfeasance of office and other impeachable offenses that make Dan 
Rostankowski's check-cashing deals look like a kid's game.  Oh yes, 
Ohio's James Traficant ran afoul of some bribery and racketeering 
charges that resulted in his ouster from Congress.  But the really big 
guns (as in Bubba Clinton and spouse) collect millions and like O.J. 
Simpson, spend their time in luxury looking for the "real" culprits.  
Yes, I hate that kind of deceit and debauchery in America.  And I have 
little use for the individuals who do such things.  

But when it comes to war, we're talking international law, constitutional 
law, public trust, and American lives.  

To quote from Mr. Dean's article on Findlaw.com,

To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war 
based on bogus information, he is cooked. 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."  

That was not written by a wild-eyed liberal.  It was written by a 
former White House counsel who went through Hell from then-President 
Nixon's "I am not a crook" Watergate scandal.  I'm sure Mr. Dean has 
no love for lying presidents, considering what it cost him personally.  

No American should admire and follow a George W. Bush who is now 
being seriously questioned by people in his own party about the real 
reasons for the war and all the lies he told ... as outlined in Mr. Dean's 
article with dates and places noted. As if that were not enough, there is 
a whole laundry list of other lies he has told, other promises he has 
broken, and his somewhat blotched (if hidden) military record.  Bush II 
is the most secretive president in United States history, and secrecy in 
personal affairs is not necessary to our national security!  

Haven't we had enough liars in office?  We thought one Bill Clinton was 
enough.  While Mr. Bush lies with more dignity and fervor, the 
implications and consequences for America are far greater.  Just how 
long will Mr. Bush's followers continue to be deceived?  So far, they've 
rallied around the flag (and in some cases a $300 tax "rebate" that 
really isn't) for noble-sounding causes that thus far have yet to be 
proved, and seem far from any proof.  

It seems the world has a case against the United States rather than 
vice-versa, and in September, 2001, the US had the world's sympathy.  
Not to mention some 2 million or more now unemployed who would like 
to have jobs, as Mr. Bush mentioned and then forgot in his wartime 
zeal.   

Election 2004 is coming up.  Maybe it's time to elect a REAL 
conservative to office?  

"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this 
notice and hyperlink intact."

Published in the June 10, 2003 issue of Ether Zone.
Copyright (c) 1997 - 2003 Ether Zone.

                            -==-

Source: Ether Zone - http://etherzone.com/2003/sees061003.shtml


Cheers, Steve..

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