Preemptive impeachment
Law professor stands ready to draft articles for any member of the House

By Kˆ©llia Ramares
Online Journal Contributing Editor

While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the
international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary,
to exercise our right of self defense by acting preemptively against such
terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our
country . . .

"The National Security Strategy of the United States of America

January 4, 2002’ "We sentenced Nazi leaders to death for waging a war of
aggression," says International Law Professor Francis A. Boyle of the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. By contrast, Prof. Boyle wants
merely to impeach George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John
Ashcroft for their plans to invade Iraq and create a police state in
America.

Boyle is offering his services as counsel, free of charge, to any member of
the House of Representatives willing to sponsor articles of impeachment. He
is experienced in this work, having undertaken it in 1991 for the late Rep.
Henry B. Gonzalez (D-TX), in an effort to stop the first Persian Gulf War.
It takes only one member to introduce articles of impeachment. Of course,
it will take many more than that to vote for impeachment, which will
culminate in a trial in the Senate. Boyle is confident that, once the
articles are introduced, others, including Republicans, will co-sponsor
them. But we have to convince our Representatives that impeachment is
necessary for the country and politically safe for them. This non-violent,
constitutional process may be our best way of stopping World War III and
saving our civil rights.

Grounds for Impeachment

Article II Sec. 4 of the Constitution states that: "The President, Vice
President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed
from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or
other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Boyle says that waging a war of
aggression is a crime under the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment and Principles
<http://www.rise4news.net/Nurem.html> . "It's very clear," he adds, "if you
read all the press reports, they are going to devastate Baghdad, a
metropolitan area of 5 million people. The Nuremberg Charter clearly says
the wanton devastation of a city is a Nuremberg war crime."

The United States is a party to the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment and
Principles, and thus is constitutionally bound to obey them. "The
Constitution, in Article 6, says that international treaties are the
supreme law of the land here in the United States of America. So all we
would be doing here, in this impeachment campaign," Boyle says, "is
impeaching them for violating international treaties, as incorporated into
the United States Constitution, as well as the Constitution itself."

Bush Cabal Repudiates Nuremberg Principles

We don't have to wait for the devastation of Baghdad to impeach the Bush
cabal because they have already repudiated the Nuremberg Charter via the
so-called Bush Doctrine of preventive war and pre-emptive attack. "This
doctrine of pre-emptive warfare or pre-emptive attack was rejected soundly
in the Nuremberg Judgment, " Boyle says. "The Nuremberg Judgment . . .
rejected this Nazi doctrine of international law of alleged self-defense."
The Bush Doctrine, embodied in the National Security Strategy document
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html> , published on the White House web
site, is appalling, Boyle says. "It reads like a Nazi planning document
prior to the Second World War."

The Fruit Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

As Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez explained on the floor of the House in 1991, his
articles charged the elder Bush with:

1) Violating the Equal Protection Clause by having minorities and poor
whites, who were the majority of the soldiers in the Middle East, "fight a
war for oil to preserve the lifestyles of the wealthy."

2) Violating "the Constitution, Federal law, and the UN Charter by bribing,
intimidating, and threatening others, including the members of the UN
Security Council, to support belligerent acts against Iraq."

3) Violating the Nuremberg principles by conspiring to engage in a massive
war against Iraq that would cause tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

4) Committing "the United States to acts of war without congressional
consent and contrary to the UN Charter and international law." (This refers
to the lack of a formal declaration of war, as required by the
Constitution).

5) Committing crimes against the peace by leading the United States into
aggressive war against Iraq, in violation of Article 24 of the UN Charter,
the Nuremberg Charter, other international instruments and treaties, and
the Constitution of the United States.

Boyle believes that the articles he drafted for Gonzalez' effort to impeach
George H. W. Bush, the father, could still serve as a basis for impeaching
George W. Bush, the son.

Are the People Ready for Another Impeachment?

Impeachment has the advantage of bypassing the U.S. Supreme Court, which
illegally installed Bush in the Oval Office. The same "Justices" would have
the final word on legal challenges to constitutional abominations, such as
the USA PATRIOT Act and the Homeland Security Act, both of which the White
House rammed through a Congress frightened by the September 11th attacks
and the as yet unsolved anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill.

But no matter how blatant the violations of constitutional, statutory and
international law are, impeachment is still a political process.
Republicans control the Congress and many Democrats, fearful of being
labeled "soft on terrorism" might be unwilling to challenge the Bush cabal.
It would take tremendous public pressure to get a reluctant Congress to
impeach. Still, Boyle thinks he can garner public support by adding an
article of impeachment against John Ashcroft.

"We know for a fact that there are Republicans and Democrats and
Independents and Greens, even very conservative Republicans, such as Dick
Armey and [Bob] Barr, who are very worried about a police state." Boyle
says that an article against Ashcroft would make clear "that we don't want
a police state in the name of an oil empire."

It's Up to Us

Unfortunately for the impeachment campaign, Armey has retired and Barr, who
spoke out against some of the most draconian proposals for what eventually
became the USA PATRIOT Act, was defeated in the Republican primary. Boyle
is still waiting for the one member of Congress willing to introduce
articles of impeachment when the 108th Congress convenes on January 7.

Since Bush has indicated that he is not likely to go to war before the end
of January or early February, Boyle thinks we have a month to stop the war
by impeaching the chain of command: Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, along with
police state enforcer Ashcroft. Time and the Internet are advantages Rep.
Gonzalez did not have in 1991, when the Persian Gulf War was launched the
day after he introduced his articles.

Boyle is asking the public to push for impeachment in two ways. First,
contact your own member of Congress
<http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html> to urge him or her to
introduce articles of impeachment, and tell the member that he or she may
contact Prof. Boyle <mailto:[email protected]> for assistance in
drafting the articles. Second, demand impeachment by engaging in
non-violent direct action, in exercise of your First Amendment rights to
free speech, peaceable assembly and petition for redress of grievances.
Boyle was pleased that 100,000 people marched around the White House last
October 26 to protest the impending war on Iraq. But he says one million
people need to peaceably take to the streets with signs, banners and voices
shouting, "Impeach Bush!"

"The bottom line: it's really up to you and to me to enforce the law and
the Constitution against our own government," he says. "We are citizens of
the United States of America. We have to act to preserve the republic that
we have, to preserve our Constitution, to preserve a rule of law. This is
our responsibility as citizens. We simply can't pass the buck and say 'Oh,
some judge is going to do it somewhere.' It's up to us to keep this
republic."


Copyright ¬© 2003 Kˆ©llia Ramares. For fair use only.