June 13, 2008

WAR CRIMES DOSSIER: Prevent US war on Iran: Remove Nancy Pelosi

House Must Preemptively Impeach Bush On Iran

The Supreme Court found Congress only authorized "appropriate" military force. Nuremberg adjudicated war crimes against policy makers, leaders, organizers and planners for illegal war crimes. Impeachment is a legal weapon to enforce the laws of war and Nuremberg precedents:
Illegal, preemptive war planning requires preemptive House impeachment.

Congressman Kucinich offered Thirty Five (35) Articles of Impeachment, which the House referred to the Judiciary Committee. Thirty-five is a large number, Nixon only had three (3) . We're asked to believe the House has no time for impeachment because the Senate will not convict on any of the thirty-five charges.

Some members of Congress, who refuse to impeach now, have said they will impeach the President if he attacks Iran. That would increase the Kucinich Articles of Impeachment from thirty-five to a stunning, thirty-six, still ten-times what Nixon faced. The House leadership fails to explain why adding a single, new article to the list of thirty-five would justify believing why the Senate will suddenly vote to convict.

The House must remove Pelosi as Speaker to make way for this preemptive impeachment. Waiting impermissibly signals to the President and Speaker that their defiance of the Constitution and Geneva Conventions is tolerated.

The House must take an expansive view of legislative power. All Article I Section 8 powers this Congress has unconstitutionally delegated to the President must be revoked. All rule making powers the Congress delegated to the President must end. The House must deny the President any authority to write rules regulating how the Armed services conduct operations. This is an exclusive power delegated only to the Congress.

The House must support a standing Judicial Court to review evidence of war crimes, high crimes, and other offenses this President, his officers, and Members of Congress are complicit.
"To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court";
A I S8
This House impeachment will give fair notice to all American military personnel, agents, intermediaries, civilians, and contractors that all orders related to Iran are illegal and cannot be lawfully followed. The Constitution only recognizes the President as "Commander in Chief" when troops have been called into lawful service. An AUMF is not a declaration of war. The troops have not been lawfully called into service in Iraq or Iran. The President is not the lawful Commander in Chief over combat forces in Iraq or Iran.

Only the Congress may issue a declaration of war. The House must remind military officers, enlisted personnel, civilians, and contractors that they are subject to impeachment by the House and trial before the Senate; then subject to war crimes adjudication for following any illegal orders to attack Iran.

Expansive View of Legislative Power

The House must take an expansive view of Federalist 69, and the power of the House to deny a pardon. The House must construe the Constitutional language, "in cases of impeachment" to mean all charges filed under those articles of impeachment; and all future criminal prosecutions of those charges.

Hamilton warned us that no President can engage in illegal activity with the knowledge he could pardon his co-conspirators, and be immune to the consequences of trial:
Federalist 69: "Would not the prospect of a total indemnity for all the preliminary steps be a greater temptation to undertake and persevere in an enterprise against the public liberty, than the mere prospect of an exemption from death and confiscation, if the final execution of the design, upon an actual appeal to arms, should miscarry"
This impermissibly nullifies the Constitution. The House must broadly interpret Hamilton's call for Presidential accountability in Federalist 69 to mean that once the House charges a President with a crime in an impeachment, no future President may pardon that President for any charges the first President is convicted in a subsequent criminal trial.

Preserving Constitution, Confronting Domestic Threats

The prospect of a pardon means no President is constrained by the Constitution or the House. This is impermissible. Permitting any future President to pardon an earlier President for illegal activity after this House has refused to confront the President for thirty-five articles of impeachment, sends a reckless message the American leadership is not enforcing the Geneva Conventions.

The House must declare any future Presidential pardon of President Bush -- on any criminal activity subject to House impeachment -- as unconstitutional, subject to a subsequent impeachment. The House has the power to issue reports in one session; President do rely on earlier House reports to expand power. The House must reciprocate. Future leadership in the House must be able to point to this Session of Congress as the controlling language to impeach this President after he leaves office, or other Presidents who attempt to unconstitutionally pardon this President for any crimes.

The House must remind the President that the House may -- without notice -- file future articles of impeachment against the President when he leaves office. The Senate has no power to block the House from filing future charges against former officers of the United States or President.

Inaction on any of the above may be entered into evidence before a war crimes tribunal as evidence of individual Member of Congress alleged complicity with war crimes, illegal policies, and agreements to thwart enforcement of the laws of war.

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