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Monday, May 10, 2004
Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Citing numerous abuses of power in the invasion of
Iraq and 'war on terror', Greens say that senior Bush officials have
'shamed democracy.'
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called for the
immediate resignation of all senior Bush Administration officials under
whose watch abuse of Iraqi prisoners occurred, especially those officials
who had been informed that such abuse was taking place.
"The revelations of humiliation, torture, and
murder of prisoners destroy any possibility of President Bush's stated
desire to win over Iraqi hearts and minds," said Starlene Rankin,
Lavender Green Caucus delegate to the national party. "Instead,
news of the abuses has shamed the U.S., turned Mr. Bush's sermons about
democratic ideals into rank hypocrisy, and inflamed the Arab world against
us."
Greens charge that the recent news caps a mountain of
deception and abuse of power by President Bush and senior administration
officials in the handling of 9/11 and information leading up to the
attacks and in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The Green Party of the United States has already called
on Congress to impeach President Bush, in July 2003.
On May 7, the International Committee of the Red Cross
said that abuse of prisoners was so widespread that it may have been
condoned by coalition forces and that senior Bush officials may have known
of the abuses. The Red Cross had repeatedly sent reports
urging the U.S. to take 'corrective action', which were apparently
ignored.
Greens are demanding the resignation of three top Bush
officials:
George Tenet:
Greens say that CIA director George Tenet bears ultimate
responsibility for the CIA's alleged approval of prisoner abuse at Abu
Ghraib. U.S. military personnel at the jail have claimed that
intelligence encouraged the mistreatment in order to soften detainees in
preparation for interrogation.
Greens note that Tenet has presided over two earthshaking intelligence
blunders: the 9/11 attacks and the supposed threat that Iraq posed to the
U.S., especially Saddam Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction,
which the Bush Administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The CIA's failure to investigate financial connections between Saudi
Arabian and Pakistani officials and al-Qaeda is consistent with the Bush
Administration's attempt to shift attention towards nonexistent
connections between Saddam and al-Qaeda. Greens allege that Tenet
gave misinformation to the 9/11 Commission during his sworn testimony in
April.
"Mr. Tenet appears to have lied to the 9/11 Commission and opened
himself up to perjury charges when he denied that he had any personal
meetings with the President during the month of August 2001, in which Bush
received the now famous August 6 report about terrorist threats,"
said Mark Dunlea, member of the Green Party of New York State.
"Tenet was obviously attempting to distance himself from the CIA
report. After testifying, Tenet admitted publicly that he had
visited President Bush in Crawford, Texas on August 17 and in Washington,
D.C. on August 31." (White
House memo documenting an August visit)
Green Party
leaders have called for a new independent commission, with full
participation of surviving family members, to investigate the government's
handling of 9/11 and intelligence leading up to the attacks.
Donald
Rumsfeld:
Greens held Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld accountable for the
abuses at Abu Ghraib, and noted that Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, the
chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had briefed the panel about Iraq in a
classified session last week but concealed the news they knew was about to
break in the media.
"It's becoming apparent that Abu Ghraib may not have been an
aberration at all, as Mr. Rumsfeld claims," said Jake Schneider,
treasurer of the Green Party of the United States. "The abuses
are consistent with the torture of Afghan prisoners held at Guantanamo
Bay, which Mr. Rumsfeld has tried to justify, insisting that the U.S. is
exempt from the Geneva conventions. They're consistent with the Bush
Administration's policy allowing transfer of prisoners to foreign
countries that allow torture in order to extract information."
Paul Bremer:
According to a Agence France-Presse on May 4, Iraqi human rights
minister Abdel Basset Turki said that Iraq occupation administrator Paul
Bremer knew in November 2003 that Iraqi prisoners were being abused
in detention centers. A spokesman for Bremer has confirmed that
Bremer knew about the abuses in January (AP, May 7).
Greens also note that Bremer sanctioned pillage when he approved the
takeover of Iraqi resources, services, and industries by foreign
corporations, under occupation rules that enable 100% foreign ownership of
Iraqi banks, mines, and factories and allow these firms to move 100% of
their profits out of Iraq. The policy violates the Hague regulations
of 1907 (signed by the U.S.) and the U.S. Army's code of war.
"We're pleased to see that [presumed Democratic
nominee] Sen. John Kerry wants Donald Rumsfeld to resign," said
Charles Shaw, media coordinator of the Illinois Green Party.
"But Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress,
including Sen. Kerry, have largely backed the invasion of Iraq, the Bush
Administration's handling of 9/11, and Bush foreign policy, all of which
have been based on deceit and have led to unprecedented abuses of
power. Unless we can change the direction of our government,
American democracy and leadership of the free world is in grave
danger."
MORE INFORMATION
The 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
"Tenet:
Vacationing Bush Not Told of 9/11 'Clue'"
By Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters, April 14, 2004
"Why
Does George Tenet Have Such a Guilty Look on his Face?"
By Michael P. Wright
"Iraq
is not America's to sell: International law is unequivocal - Paul Bremer's
economic reforms are illegal"
Naomi Klein, The Guardian, November 7, 2003
Forward! 2004: Green Party Presidential Nomination
Convention & Candidates
http://www.gp.org/convention/process.html
Media credentialing for the convention
http://www.gp.org/forms/media/
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