George McGovern, still bitter 35 years after defeated in his run for the presidency in 1972, has come out with an opinion piece in the Washington Post where he joins the clamorous hard-left Moonbats calling for the unwarranted impeachment of George W. Bush. In it, McGovern claims that the war has killed over 600,000 Iraqis and "laid waste their country."
First things first, the number of Iraqis is somewhere UNDER 60,000, which is 1/10 what McGovern claims. Most of those killed are either terrorists, sectarian death squad members, or their victims. There has been a few innocent bystanders killed by U.S. led forces, and a very few murdered by same (one instance of a family that I am aware of), but the vast majority of innocents have been killed by evil-doers bent on returning Iraq to a totalitarian regime. As for the laying waste of the country of Iraq, the U.S. led coalition has made great strides in restoring the infrastructure there while contending with terrorists trying to stop the coalition from rebuilding a country.
Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world..
Name three instances of any of the above that can be verified and confirmed? And that last bit about our standing in the eyes of the world is laughable.
All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress that the Constitution clearly requires, in defiance of the U.N. Charter and in violation of international law. This reckless disregard for life and property, as well as constitutional law, has been accompanied by the abuse of prisoners, including systematic torture, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Again, laughable. I suspect that McGovern never studied U.S. History, or, if he did, he slept through the class and got an "F." Historically, the United States has declared war on only five occasions: War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, WW1, and WW2. The United States has fought many wars since its founding without a Declaration of War, starting with the Quasi-War with France in 1798 all the way up through today with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with dozens in between.
Further, the constitution does not require a Declaration of War, it merely states that the sole power to make such declarations resides with Congress. There is also an exception to that power defined in Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution.
If this is the case, why did he not speak out in support of impeaching Bill Clinton for the wars he waged in Somalia and Kosovo? There was no declaration of war there, yet it was certainly a war being carried by the U.S. in both of those instances. Not to mention Vietnam, which he voted to authorize, and there was no Declaration of War there as we;;.
The war to liberate Iraq was NOT in defiance of the U.N., but in accordance with resolutions issued by that Dunsel body. No laws were violated, either at the national or international level.
As for the allegations of torture, the people subjected to water boarding and other tactics, are not protected by the Geneva Convention. They are not uniformed combatants, but terrorists, and are subject to the same rules as mercenaries and spies where the Geneva Convention is concerned. That means that they can be executed without trial, not that I would advocate doing so.
I can't say I like the idea of water boarding terrorists, but I am unaware of any law preventing it. Our military routinely subjects its own personnel to that treatment, so how can it be illegal?
How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?
It happened in part because the Bush-Cheney team repeatedly deceived Congress, the press and the public into believing that Saddam Hussein had nuclear arms and other horrifying banned weapons that were an "imminent threat" to the United States. The administration also led the public to believe that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks -- another blatant falsehood.
Again, lots of problems with McGovern's claims. It was never stated that Hussein had nuclear weapons, only that he was pursuing them; we have recovered over 500 chemical weapons (as of the2006 declassification of military documents on the subject), not counting the two that terrorists attempted to use in roadside bombs (one armed with mustard gas, the second armed with sarin nerve gas). Add to that the munitions banned under the cease-fire agreement that have been recovered, including the multi-warhead missiles manufactured by France and dated "2002," and you've got confirmed cases of "horrifying banned weapons" in possession of a rogue regime controlled by a totalitarian dictator who murdered at least a half-million of his own people. As for claims that Iraq was involved with 9/11, go back and check the records; you will find that the administration never made such claims; it stated that Hussein and his regime were sponsors of terror and provided some logistical support to al-Qeada; it never claimed Iraq was involved with the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Consider the difference between the policies of the first President Bush and those of his son. When the Iraqi army marched into Kuwait in August 1990, President George H.W. Bush gathered the support of the entire world, including the United Nations, the European Union and most of the Arab League, to quickly expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The Saudis and Japanese paid most of the cost. Instead of getting bogged down in a costly occupation, the administration established a policy of containing the Baathist regime with international arms inspectors, no-fly zones and economic sanctions. Iraq was left as a stable country with little or no capacity to threaten others.
No Declaration of War there, either. Also, note that had the earlier President Bush finished the job and removed Hussein we would not have had to go in there in 2003 to get the job done.
There is more moonbattiness in the entire piece. I have no idea what McGovern has been smoking, but one thing is for sure. He is a Class-A Moonbat. Congratualtions Mr. McGovern, you are the latest recipient of the Moonbat Award.
Tags:
McGovern Iraq War Bush Impeachment al-Qaeda Weapons of Mass Destruction Moonbat
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