Thursday 29 May 2003

Former attorney general says Bush should be impeached

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was the most serious act of aggression in the country’s history and it was in clear violation of the most important provisions of international law, according to former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

The "crimes" committed by President George W. Bush and others in his administration warrant the severest response from an alarmed citizenry: impeachment, Mr. Clark told a luncheon audience at the National Press Club May 12.

"I urge everyone who cares about the integrity of our Constitution to take back the Constitution by insisting that the House of Representatives, which has the sole power of impeachment, process impeachment proceedings now against President Bush for launching this war of aggression," Mr. Clark said.

"It’s time that we recognize that the Constitution of the United States, at length and more than with any other single issue, dealt with the problem of the imperial presidency, or crimes by officers of the United States executive," he continued.

The authors of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution provided the means, he continued, "by which ‘We the People’ could protect ourselves from an imperial presidency. There are six separate provisions in the Constitution for impeachment."

The first grounds for impeachment—or formal legal charges being brought against the President and others—is treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. In order to be removed from office, federal officers must first be charged with certain violations by the U.S. House of Representatives—the impeachment—and then must be convicted after a trial before the U.S. Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding.

"It’s imperative that we face our duty to process impeachment," Mr. Clark said, citing his Internet website address—www.votetoimpeach.org—which has registered nearly 200,000 people who have signed on to impeach Mr. Bush since March 19 when the invasion of Iraq was formally launched.

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