The Downing Street Minutes: It's the Treason Stupid

[berni_mccoy]

Cross Posting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1828838&mesg_id=1828838

[Karenina]

1. Not like that... LIKE THIS:

berni_mccoy Sat Jun-04-05 07:51 PM
Original message
The Downing Street Minutes: It's the Treason Stupid

The Downing Street Minutes are not at all about the administration lying to take us to war. Yes, he did do that, and what the DSM has done is taken that statement from a baseless accusation to a statement of fact. No longer can the neocons justify that "the supposed lies, if true, justified the means."

Let's take a look the ends resulting from the administration's actual lies (the means):

Local ends of Bush's means:
1. Nearly 1700 American soldiers dead
2. Over 10,000 severely wounded soldiers, now disabled veterans
3. Nearly $300 billion of taxpayer money to rebuild Iraq that is now resulting in reduced pay, benefits and the closing of military bases nationwide to compensate for the costs (our soldiers continue to take the brunt of the cost of the war).
4. A military that has been overstretched and now is severely weakened due to casualties, failed recruiting efforts and a command in Pentagon that has been neutered when they try to be realistic (think General Shinseki)
5. A huge need to institute a draft to shore up the manpower required in the military
6. A Failed Homeland Security Department in the grips of systemic corruption and disorganization
7. The falsely justified destruction of the CIA by blaming them for 'bad intelligence' when they new damn well they fixed the intelligence
8. The reduction of the mainstream media into a controlled state-sponsored propaganda network
9. Vast amounts of tax-payer money going into offshoring government contractors like Haliburton via no-bid contracts (again while our soldiers get pay reductions)
10. America's fall from grace with Gitmo and Abu Gharab (according to Seymour Hersh, we don't know the half of the torture till we see the tapes the ACLU got released under the FOIA... the military has until June 30 to release them and supposedly, children are involved)

Middle Eastern ends of Bush's means:
1. Over 100,000 thousand civilian deaths
2. The failure to secure millions of tons of weapons that are now being used to kill our soldiers and Iraqi civilians on a daily basis
3. An unstable middle east, with Iraq in the midst of a civil war, an Israel that feels empowered to do as they see fit to the Palestinians and the rise in power of two dictatorships: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
4. Failing to enforce sanctions against Iran, Israel and the U.S. are threatening war
5. A failing Democracy in Afghanistan with a rise of the once vanquished Taliban
6. A failure to destroy the Al Qaeda network, the original threat to the U.S.

Global Ends
1. A failure to prevent global nuclear proliferation
2. A failure to maintain the global unity and cooperation we had in the war on terror
3. The rise in power of N. Korea and China
4. The failure of the U.S. to respond to humanitarian crises (Darfur/Africa) and China actually fulfilling that role in our stead

So, we see, that it's not just the lies, it's the ends that are a result of the means that are so terribly bad that it is a true tragedy for the U.S. and the entire World.

And it wasn't just lies, it was:

1. Conspiracy with at least one foreign power (Great Britain)
2. Illegal military action without proper authorization from Congress
3. Premeditation of an illegal act
a. They knew they needed a U.N. resolution and Congressional approval and that they would not get that on the basis of regime change alone
b. They created intelligence and fabricated evidence to present the case for an immediate threat
4. They knew their actions would result in serious injury to our country
a. Going to war means casualties
b. Endangering our national security
c. All of the ENDs listed above

From Wikipedia:

Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "......citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the parent nation."


So, yes Bush and his administration lied. But they did much more than that. The real offense here is TREASON. The entire administration needs to be brought to justice.

I think I voted... therefore I voted?

[berni_mccoy]

3. Thanks

You'd think after 500 posts, I'd get it right! :-D

[corbett]

5. Kickin' For Impeachment!

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050601/the_key_to_impeachment.php

[Karenina]

2. Gimme some TRACTION!

:kick:

[Karenina]

4. RESET!

Where's that paperclip?