A Most Important Time in American History

Bush seems to have realized that he and his war policies are making not only the Democratic leadership in Congress increasingly angry, but that the people of this country have just about had it with him. His nomination of Michael B. Mukasey, a man that is not part of Bush’s inner-circle, is a testament to the fact that he realizes that the Presidency is not the all-encompassing “unitary” branch of government that he once believed it was. It’s about time that this President realized that the executive branch is only one of three equal branches of the Federal government. He should have known that from grade school, but unfortunately Bush was one of those children that were “left behind” that he so often speaks of.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that the Senate would not consider the nomination until the executive branch forwards the documents that the committee subpoenaed. In fact, Senator Leahy wrote a statement to that effect on August 20th of this year. He had said in the past that he would try to issue a “Contempt of Congress” citation to Vice-President Cheney if he failed to deliver documents relating to the NSA’s illegal wiretaps, so far he has yet to make good on that promise. This is the first paragraph of Senator Leahy’s statement:

“Today was the deadline for the Administration to comply with the Judiciary Committee’s subpoenas for documents related to the legal justifications for and President’s authorization of the warrantless wiretapping program. The Administration failed to adequately comply, despite our granting an extension of more than a month past the original return date. The Administration has produced no documents, no adequate basis for noncompliance, no privilege claims, and no complete privilege log.”
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200708/082007.html

So why haven’t we seen contempt of Congress citations issued to the executive branch? It has almost been a full month since the administration failed to meet the deadline imposed by the Senate. On his own website, the Senator has this statement; “Sen. Leahy, therefore, has no hesitation in condemning the President for secretly and systematically violating the law.” Now the Senator states that he will not allow the confirmation of Mukasey to continue until he receives these documents. This is a far cry from the contempt of Congress citation. If he allows the confirmation hearings to move forward, then with all of his bluster and his threats, the good Senator from Vermont will have proved himself to be just another spineless Democrat that has failed to exercise their oversight responsibilities under the United States Constitution.

The time to ease the pressure by the people of the United States has not yet arrived. The demonstration in Washington on the 15th of this month was only a beginning. We have so far, accomplished nothing in the way of reigning in this administration. I sincerely believe that we have caught Bush’s attention, but without a Congress that will do what they have been charged to do under the Constitution, we cannot stop the demonstrations and the public outcry. This could well be the most important few months in the history of this nation. This President, along with his Vice-President, has us on the road to another foreign adventure, this time with Iran. This country can ill-afford another misadventure in the Middle East. We have wasted enough of the taxpayer’s money and needless deaths of our soldiers along with the deaths of a million Iraqi’s on a war predicated on a lie. It is apparent that we cannot trust this administration to tell the American people the truth. How can they expect us to complacently go along with another war based on the same lies that they told us about Iraq? This is just commonsense. It doesn’t take an expert in foreign affairs to understand that Iran poses no significant threat to the people of the United States.

There is a mass rally scheduled for September 29th at Washington DC. If you need more information you can head over to http://www.warresisters.org/demos.htm and check that site out. They have information on bus tickets, housing and events that will take place during the demonstration. They also have flyers and leaflets that you can download and print. This seems to be very well coordinated and they have on their site a number of demonstrations and vigils that you can attend in your home state listed at the site. The group that runs the site is “War Resisters League”.

It is not just the specter of war with Iran that American’s should be concerned about. While it is essential that we don’t attack another nation as we did in Iraq, the threat to America goes much deeper than this. We are seeing “By the People and for the People” become just another quaint axiom that came from another time and means nothing in today’s world. We can’t afford to let that happen. Too many Americans have let the federal government run amok with no congressional oversight and more importantly, with not much input from the American people. This must stop if we want to keep some semblance of democracy. The government works for the people, not the other way around.

This is how I see it.

What is the Truth on Iran?

The old saying “There are two sides to every story” may have been true throughout the ages, however in this day and age there are more than two sides. You have the government take, what you see, and the truth. They are rarely one and the same. The most blatant and deceitful lie nowadays is being told about Iran. Last month, I heard General Pervez Musharraf tell Wolf Blitzer that Iran is “cooperating” with Pakistan in their operations against al Qaeda and the Taliban. During the same week I heard Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Malaki that Iraq and Iran have “good” relations and that Iran is helping in the fight against al Qaeda.

On that same note Hamid Karzai and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President met on August 15th , with Karzai describing Iran and Afghanistan as "two brother nations with common interests, cultures and histories", he told reporters: "The present condition of the region demands more exchange and negotiations between Tehran and Kabul. In this trip economic cooperation, especially over Iran's participation in Afghan development plans, will be discussed."

President Bush, with an excellent record of telling the truth to the American People, told us however, that Iran is supporting the Taliban and al Qaeda. Look folks, my elevator may not go all the way to the top on some things, but somebody is definitely “misstating” the facts. Either Iran is helping to fight al Qaeda or its helping and arming them according to the White House.

In this case you have three different leaders of three different nations, telling the world that Iran is a “solution” in fighting al Qaeda, a Sunni organization that calls for the eventual destruction of all Shiite Muslims. On this note, it seems just a little odd that al Qaeda and Shia Iran would lock lips with each other while the leaders of all three nations that are currently fighting insurgencies led by al Qaeda are telling the world that Iran is helping in the war on terrorism.

Why would Afghanistan’s Karzai lie to the world about Iran helping them when the Taliban and al Qaeda and the Taliban are shooting at his troops and NATO and US Forces? That would be a stupid thing for him to claim if it weren’t the truth.

The Guardian, in a story about the Karzai-Ahmadinejad meeting said this of Iran:

“Iran gave Washington informal help in overthrowing the Taliban government following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. Months later, Mr. Bush killed any prospect of a thaw in relations by labeling Iran as part of the "axis of evil", along with Iraq and North Korea.”

Now we have Bush shouting fighting words about Iran in Australia and Iraq that the they are behind al Qaeda’s so-called resurgence in the world. If you can take that at face value, than I have a nifty little bridge back in Brooklyn that I can sell you.

Despite US suspicions, Iran, which has one of the world's highest drug-addiction rates, argues it has legitimate interests in combating the influx of heroin and opiates from the Afghan poppy fields. There are also at least 2 million Afghan refugees in Iran. The issue has caused recent tensions after Tehran forcibly sent around 100,000 back to Afghanistan, arguing that they were illegal migrants and a huge drain on the Iranian economy according to the Guardian.

Are we really going to let Congress get away without countering this Administrations wild and convoluted lies about Iran in this seemingly run-off for another war? Little has been said about Iran’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a body created by Russia and China to address regional security, foster economic integration, and counter US influence in central Asia. Nations that have partnerships with the nuclear nations of Russia and China wouldn’t seem to be an “easy” target. Nations in coalitions tend to support each other, militarily as well as economically.

Congress needs to pass a joint resolution to stop Bush and Cheney from starting a war with Iran. This isn’t just something that would be a good thing, I see it as a critical step that Congress must take in order to make sure the entire Middle East and maybe the world doesn’t suffer the consequences of a much wider and deadlier war.

Presidents must realize that the power to wage war is the responsibility of Congress, not the executive branch. If a nuclear strike were launched against us, that is one of the few times that a President can retaliate; an invasion or starting of hostilities would be other exceptions. This President will take any and all measures to convince the American people that Iran is funding and supporting the terrorists that are fighting us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush has lied so many times that his credibility level is about at the same level as whale-s**t, and that’s at the very bottom.

That’s the way I see it.