Thursday, June 9, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
The Downing Street Memo proves that invasion of
Iraq wasn't the 'last resort' but Bush's intent all along, leading to
cooked intelligence and other impeachable offenses; Greens note
bipartisan and media complicity in overlooking evidence of deceit,
urge public protest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green leaders reiterated the
party's July 2003 call for impeachment of Bush, and called on all
Americans outraged by the Bush Administration's list of deceptions,
violations of the U.S. Constitution, the disastrous Iraq occupation,
and policies that have disgraced the U.S. to demand that Congress
begin the impeachment process.
"The invasion and occupation of Iraq has
caused the deaths of over 1,600 U.S. military personnel, as well as
untold suffering and tens of thousands of civilian dead in Iraq,"
said David Cobb, the Green Party's 2004 candidate for President of the
United States. "The Downing Street Memo confirms what we already
knew -- that a conspiracy to deceive the American people led us into
the war, and that this conspiracy constitutes 'high crimes and
misdemeanors' according to the U.S. Constitution."
The Green Party of the United States called for
the impeachment of George W. Bush during the party's 2003 national
meeting <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_07_21_03.html>.
Greens have organized and participated in numerous protests against
the war since early 2003, and have called for an immediate end to the
occupation, cancellation of further war spending, and removal of
military recruiters from schools as U.S. troops continue to face death
and injury in Iraq.
Greens praised Rep. John Conyers' (D-Mich.) public
demand for an explanation from President Bush in the wake of Downing
Street Memo's publication, and questioned why so many of the
mainstream U.S. media have remained silent on the content and
implications of the memo.
But Greens also called many Democrats as
responsible as Republicans for Iraq policy, having voted in October
2002 to transfer war power to the President, which created the
scenario for White House deceit and abuse of power, and having
recently voted for another $82 billion for the war.
"It was already apparent, long before the
Downing Street Memo, that President Bush's case for invading Iraq was
based on fraud," said Rebecca Rotzler, co-chair of the Green
Party's Peace Action Committee. "All of the reasons for invasion
that Mr. Bush listed in his January 28, 2003 State of the Union
address -- Iraqi WMDs, collusion between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda,
evidence that Saddam had sought nuclear weapons materials from Africa,
nuclear aluminum rods, Iraq's supposed threat to the U.S. and to other
nations -- are now known to be false. The Downing Street Memo shows
that the intelligence supporting an invasion was fixed, with the
complicity of the Bush and Blair administrations as early as July
2002."
Green Party leaders also noted that Ahmed Chalabi,
whose false testimony to U.S. intelligence officials on Iraqi WMDs
formed much of the basis of the claim that Saddam Hussein was an
international threat, is now serving as interim Iraqi Oil Minister,
with the Bush Administration's approval; and that John Bolton, now
under consideration for appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.,
repeatedly manipulated intelligence and lied to the U.S. media and the
U.N. about Iraqi weapons materials.
"Americans should be protesting in every way
possible against the continued occupation of Iraq, and for impeachment
of President Bush and Vice President Cheney," said Jake
Schneider, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States.
"But this has also been a bipartisan war all along, and every
Democrat and Republican in Congress who has supported it despite
evidence of deceit from the very beginning also deserves removal from
office."
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
IMPEACH Bush Now!
http://www.gp.org/impeachbush.html
Green Party Peace Action Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/
"The 'I' word"
By Ralph Nader and Kevin Zeese
The Boston Globe, May 31, 2005
boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/05/31/the_\i_word/
Letter to Pres Bush Concerning the "Downing Street Minutes"
From Rep. John Conyers
http://www.johnconyers.com
"Hold Bush Accountable If He Lied About Iraq"
By Mark Dunlea (Green Party of New York State)
The Albany Times Union, July 9, 2003
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0709-04.ht