Friday, July 1, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@prexar.com
Greens press Downing Street Memo and evidence of
massive deception, responsibility for thousands of dead Iraqi
civilians and U.S. troops, and the need for impeachment, while
Democrats cautiously criticize Bush's Iraq strategy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders accused
Democratic Party elected officials of failing to hold President Bush
sufficiently responsible for betraying the trust of the American
people, after the President used the 9/11 attacks to justify the
administration's planned invasion and occupation of Iraq during his
speech on Tuesday, June 28.
"What the President told America in his
speech wasn't grounds for cautious criticism -- it was grounds for
impeachment," said Elena Everett, chair of the North Carolina
Green Party and Co-chair of the Green Party's Peace Action Committee.
"None of the Democratic leaders who criticized Mr. Bush are
willing to admit that the enormity of his deception deserves
impeachment. None of them are willing to demand a halt to the
slaughter of Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops by ending the
occupation."
Democratic Party leaders avoided criticism of the
war itself, and instead focused on Mr. Bush's military strategy and
leadership style. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), House minority leader,
said, "The president missed an opportunity tonight for straight
talk to the American people." Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) called the
President's Iraq policy "adrift." A statement by Democratic
Chief Deputy Whip Diane DeGette (Col.) accused the Bush Administration
of "poor planning." Sen. Joe Biden (Del.) said, "I
really do think [the war is] winnable, but you've got to keep the
American people following with you. That's why I urged them to give
the speech."
While some noted the disconnect between 9/11 and
the Iraq war, none of the Democratic leaders quoted mentioned the
Downing Street Memo, which documents the administration's intention in
mid 2002 to launch a military invasion while President Bush called
such an action a "last resort." All support continued
military occupation, despite indications that the U.S. military
presence will be longterm, will lead to further strife and massive
casualties, and cannot guarantee democracy in Iraq.
Greens have called the President's actions and
statements grounds for impeachment, and have demanded an immediate
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
"The invasion made the world less, not more
secure from terrorism," said Rebecca Rotzler, Co-chair of the
Peace Action Committee and Deputy Mayor, Village of New Paltz, NY.
"The only connection between the war on Iraq and the war on
terror is that, by invading Iraq -- where al-Qaeda had zero or
negligible presence before the invasion -- President Bush opened up
Iraq to al-Qaeda, which is exploiting the chaos there and using Iraq
as a training camp."
"In his June 28 address, despite earlier
admissions that there was no connection between Iraq and the 9/11
attacks, President Bush cynically and dishonestly tried to exploit
fears of terrorism as a justification for the war and continued
occupation of Iraq. Such willful deception is consistent with the
revelation of the Downing Street Memo that intelligence needed to be
'fixed' to justify the invasion. As long as Democrats -- except for a
few like Rep. John Conyers [Mich.], who held a hearing on the Downing
Street Memo -- treat the Administration's actions as a mere policy or
strategy disagreement and a matter of insufficient planning, we hold
the Democratic Party as responsible as Republicans for the mounting
death and mayhem in Iraq and lawlessness of the Bush White
House," said Ms. Rotzler.
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
"Downing St. Memo is Evidence for Bush
Impeachment"
Green Party press release, June 9, 2005
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_06_09.shtml
"Impeach Bush and Cheney" web page,
featuring the Green Party's July 2003 resolution on impeachment and
the text of the Downing Street Memo http://www.gp.org/impeachbush.shtml
Green Party Peace Action Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/