Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

A Brief Note to Congress: "Faced with clear evidence of peril..."

by GreyHawk Fri Mar 2nd, 2007 at 11:53:09 PM EST

Members of Congress, do you recall these words?

Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
The words spoken by George W. Bush on October 7, 2002.The words evoked fear of a nuclear 9/11, pushing the nation and Congress to support action to prevent it.

Now we find ourselves upon the brink of another conflict, one which this Administration has long struggled to bring to fruition.

Smokey the Bear once admonished careless campers that only they can prevent forest fires; I, and the rest of the nation, must now take you, our Congress, to task. You, and only you, can prevent this Administration from initiating a nuclear catastrophe. Learn these words well, for they define this moment for all time:

Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.


Here are a few things to keep in mind about this Administration:

  • Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force included maps dividing up Iraqi Oil Fields as early as the first week after their 2000 inauguration, but throughout 2001 claimed they had no plans to invade Iraq; they claimed they would seek diplomatic solutions to the WMD threat.

  • This Administration lied about the intelligence it received forwarning of the 9/11 attacks.
  •  
  • This Administration obstructed the investigation of the 9/11 commission.

  • This Administration knowing lied about the WMD threat.

  • This Administration treacherously betrayed an undercover CIA operative and destroyed a CIA front operation that was responsible for tracking Iran's nuclear ambitions and development.

  • This Administration claimed no involvmeent with the leak, yet the investigation now directly implicates the office of the Vice President as well as strongly indicates involvement and participation at the behest of the Office of the President.  In other words, this Administration lied.

  • This Administration attempted to engage a foreign ally in a plan to antagonize another nation into triggering a war.

  • Evidence has surfaced indicating that this Administration purposely ignored and bypassed qualified intelligence and experienced military advice while planning the invasion.

  • This Administration illegally diverted over $700 Million from Afghanistan to plan the illegal invasion of Iraq.

  • Additional evidence has come to light that 394 tons of cash, shrink-wrapped and put on pallets, has been shipped to contractors in Iraq with little to no oversight; worse, still, are reports that much of the cash has found its way into the hands of the insurgency.

  • This Administration's poor execution of their little war bypassed a sealed and protected ammo dump that was subsequently raided and now likely supplied much of the insurgency.

  • The deteriorating situation in Iraq has led this Administration to spend billions of dollars on propaganda campaigns designed to sell the "success" of their invasion, while reports of escalating violence and all-out civil war spread -- and worsen.

This is the short list of crimes, misdemeanors, betrayals, incompetencies and neglect.

Let that take a moment to register, folks: It's the short list.

It's all related to Iraq, and to Iran by extension. It details none of the domestic atrocities that have sprung up like turdblossoms in a cattle field. From the abysmal plight of our 9/11 heroes to the literal abandonment of New Orleans in the wake of Katrina, this Administration has lied to you, to us and to the world.

Now, this Administration has gathered a massive fleet "to intimidate Iran" into diplomatic talks. Talks in pursuit of concesions that Iran was, in fact, willing to make over three years ago but this Administration ignored them.  This Administration claims that it has no plans to invade Iraq, yet evidence has already surfaced and exposed this as a lie.

New doubts have also come to light about the Administration's nuclear claims regarding both Iran and Korea.

Enough is enough.

SusanHu's recent diary These Fighters Fight To Stop The Fighting names measured proposed by several Congressional members designed to help our military and our nation extricate itself from Iraq. Big Tent Democrat's diary, as posted by TexDem, Defunding the Iraq Debacle: There Would Be No Constitutional Crisis reminds you what you should already know -- there will be no Constitutional crisis by defunding the war.

There is a major Constitutional Crisis ongoing, and you are smack in the middle of it, but first things first. You must prevent the escalation and triggering of a new crisis -- an Iran crisis. It is already intended to go nuclear. Remember those words at the opening of this piece?

Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

Congress, you must act as one to end the ongoing Iraq debacle and prevent the contagion of war from spreading into Iran, Syria or other nations in the Middle East. Failing that, you fail us all.
Here's a few steps to take:
  1. Revoke or restrict the two AUMFs that were granted this Administration.

  2. Decide on one plan to act to defund the war and redeploy the troops, preferably something like Murtha's plan. Inadequately trained or prepared troops won't go, and troops who have been to hell and back -- and back, and back, and back -- are done.

    Remember, folks, this was an ill-advised war of choice that this Administration lied to us about, it's not a war that came to us through no fault or action of our own.


  3. Issue a binding resolution to prevent aggressive action against Iran directly or acting as a proxy or ally to an aggressor nation.

  4. Issue a binding resolution to prohibit the deployment, use or preparation of any nuclear devices absent a declaration of war by Congress.

  5. Continue the ongoing investigations into the multiple shady, illegal and Constitutionally-challenged activities of the Bush/Cheney regime, and do not hesitate to initiate impeachment proceedings while these are ongoing. I recommend starting them now, in fact, to ensure cooperation among all investigatees in lieu of risking imminent pardons.

This is not a drill. This is not a request. It is a note to remind you that you, and you alone, are the last bastion of hope that we have toward the prevention of a nuclear nightmare.

Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

<u>A supplementary note to the Republican members of Congress</u>: Either you are with us, and with the troops, or you are against us. Avoiding a vote to avoid having your voice heard, to avoid voting against your party, counts as an act of actively supporting this Administration. Remember the bullet points above.  This Administration must be stopped. It is time to put aside party politics, and run -- don't walk, run -- to the other side of the aisle and send a message to the people of the nation, to the troops, to our friends and allies across the world: you really Americans when push comes to shove.

<u>A supplementary note to the Democratic members of Congress</u>: Do not let your fears or ambitions cloud your judgement. Remember, he who hesitates is lost -- those words apply particularly well now.  Do not cower and prevaricate in hopes of avoiding accountability. Embrace accountability -- yours, as well as that of your comrades on either side of the aisle. As for those yahoos in the Executive Branch and their closely-abiding minions...well, I'd quote the Vice President's own words, but I'm trying to keep this clean.  Do not be deterred, and do not delay. Work together, now, through the night if need be, and decide to support one plan for troop removal and redeployment. Propose it, along with those other items I outlined above. All of them..

DailyKos diarist eOz has a piece out called Countdown To No Confidence:  T - 20 Days. It's a good piece, but I have a quibble with it: I don't see us as approaching "high noon" in America. I see our nation, and you -- the Congress, as approaching a sort of "Twilight Time." At this hour, there are but two things to keep in mind:

Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their nation

and, of course,
Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

Display:
Posted on because you never know where you'll catch the eye of a Congressional represenative.

:)

Never, never brave me, nor my fury tempt:
   Downey wings, but wroth they beat
Tempest even in reason's seat.

by GreyHawk on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 12:01:54 AM EST
I didn't know this.  
Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force included maps dividing up Iraqi Oil Fields as early as the first week after their 2000 inauguration, but throughout 2001 claimed they had no plans to invade Iraq; they claimed they would seek diplomatic solutions to the WMD threat.
What is your source?
by wchurchill on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 02:56:43 PM EST
The Washington Post: Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force (November 16, 2005)
A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

Judicial Watch: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE DOCUMENTS FEATURE MAP OF IRAQI OILFIELDS (July 17, 2003)

Saudi Arabian & UAE Oil Facilities Profiled As Well

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: www.JudicialWatch.org.

...

Click here for for maps and charts of oilfields.



"It's the statue, man, The Statue."
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 03:06:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I should not have assumed that the items I listed in the bullet points had popularly known justifications; I rushed, and the piece suffered for it.

Thanks for the assist and backfill.

Never, never brave me, nor my fury tempt:
   Downey wings, but wroth they beat
Tempest even in reason's seat.

by GreyHawk on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 04:58:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You know, I'm really surprised this stuff is still not widely accepted knowledge.

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 05:06:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
If the media doesn't remind the public, it fades quickly.

Particularly when so many other fires are burning.

Never, never brave me, nor my fury tempt:
   Downey wings, but wroth they beat
Tempest even in reason's seat.

by GreyHawk on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 06:26:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sorry, I just looked at these documents, and there is nothing conclusive in these documents indicating clearly that the U.S. wanted to invade Iraq to "divide up" its oilfields.

Isn't it possible that the task force was simply using the documents to analyze what foreign companies, i.e. competitors, might gain access to the Iraqi oilfields through contracts with Hussein?

The fact that they were looking at the Saudi and UAE oilfields suggests that what they were doing was looking at the whole picture with respect to which of the world's oil companies would work in which region.  Sure, Cheney may have decided based upon these meetings that the U.S. needed to shut out all those "foreign suitors" by invading Iraq and taking control of its fields on its own, but that is pure speculation.

God knows I am not an apologist for this administration, but these documents are the flimsiest of "evidence" (if it can even be called that) for intent to invade Iraq to acquire its oilfields.

Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.

by marco on Mon Mar 5th, 2007 at 09:34:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Looks like someone beat me to it.

...I hadn't cited the source in my rush to get the diary out and crossposted, and (stupidly) assumed that the reference had become popularly known.

My apologies for this.

I think there was a source in a recent DailyKos diary that puts the Iraqi oilfield maps into Dick's task force and their oily hands in early January 2001, but those listed above are close enough -- it places the maps on the table prior to 9/11, which is long before anyone in the Bush Administration (falsely) claimed that they had not yet decided on a course of action. They actually just hadn't solidified their justification.

Never, never brave me, nor my fury tempt:
   Downey wings, but wroth they beat
Tempest even in reason's seat.

by GreyHawk on Sat Mar 3rd, 2007 at 04:57:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Excellent!

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Sun Mar 4th, 2007 at 04:49:50 PM EST


Display:
Go to: [ European Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]