March 16, 2006

By CYDNEY GILLIS
Staff Reporter

With signs of civil war evident in Iraq and its new government floundering, the reasons for going to war — and what intelligence was used in the lead-up to the invasion – remain unclear as America marks the war’s third anniversary on March 19.

New polls show a majority of Americans are now unhappy with President Bush and his handling of Iraq. Whether they think he lied is another matter. Since the invasion, many Democrats have called for investigating how the White House used or “cherry-picked” intelligence on Iraq, but, until recently, only a few protest placards called for impeachment.

Not anymore. In the wake of revelations that Bush ordered domestic spying, calls for impeachment have grown louder, forcing the issue out in the open — and into the laps of the state’s Democratic members of Congress.

The current push began in December, when Michigan Rep. John Conyers released an extensive report called “The Constitution in Crisis.” In it, experts and witnesses rebut the White House’s use of what the report calls miscast and outdated intelligence in making its case for war.

At the same time, Conyers, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, also introduced House Resolution 635, which calls for a select committee to investigate the matter to determine whether there are grounds for impeachment.

On Jan. 30, The Nation followed with a cover story titled “The Impeachment of George W. Bush” by Elizabeth Holtzman, a former House member involved in the Nixon impeachment proceedings. This month, the cover of Harper’s Magazine also advertises “The Case for Impeachment.”

The left-leaning cities of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Arcata have voted for impeachment and, on March 7, so did five towns in maverick Vermont. In a political caucus on March 4, the 34th Democrats of West Seattle did the same.

But the higher up the political food chain you go, the less support or even talk there is of impeachment or the war itself, even among Western Washington’s left-leaning congressional delegation.

From Washington, only Rep. Jim McDemott (D-Seattle) has signed on to co-sponsor H.R. 635. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell did not return phone calls or emails regarding impeachment or even a timeline for troop withdrawal. As an issue item, the war is all but missing in action on the senators’ Web sites.

Bill Moyer, executive director of the two-year-old Backbone Campaign, a Vashon-based non-profit devoted to holding Democrats accountable, finds the lack of support for Conyers’ resolution disturbing.

“ By being pathetic, they are putting the Democratic Party in jeopardy as a viable party,” Moyer says. “They are letting down the American people.”

Back in July 2003, Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge) and Rick Larsen (D-Everett) co-sponsored a bill to investigate the intelligence used in the lead-up to the war. But only Inslee has co-sponsored the “Homeward Bound” bill (H.J. Res. 55), which calls for creating a plan to bring home the troops— something Inslee says should start this year.

“ When George Bush gets up and argues we are weak, we should get right back in his face and say, ‘No, we are strong because we are right,’” Inslee said Jan. 7 at an Iraq war event organized in Seattle by the Backbone Campaign.

Rather than impeachment, an Inslee aide says, the congressman is throwing his effort into electing Democratic candidates this year who can restore Congress’s power to investigate the executive branch.

Right now, members of Washington’s delegation say, any bill that calls for investigation gets blocked by the Republican majority in the House or Senate. But calling for impeachment is another matter.

“ Impeachment cannot be ruled out should it become clear there are impeachable offenses, [but] misconduct is not necessarily impeachable,” says Lars Anderson, a spokesman for Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma),

“ As troubled as I am with many of the actions of the Bush Administration, I think it is premature to initiate action in Congress to impeach the president,” says Rep. Brian Baird, a Vancouver Democrat.

“ I have to date seen no evidence,” Baird adds, “that President Bush has engaged in ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ that would constitute a legal basis for the introduction of Articles of Impeachment.” n

[Resources]

Michigan Congressman John Conyers gives a full account of the Bush Administration’s moves leading up to the war at www.house.gov/conyers. For information on impeachment bills or efforts, go to www.backbonecampaign.org , www.afterdowningstreet.org, or www.impeachPAC.org.