This pair of bumper stickers was submitted by the Desert Journal Online publisher's old Navy buddy, Warren Busha of Connecticut, formerly stationed at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, in the mid-1970s.  (posted 9-17-06)

Submissions of "jpg" formatted photos of bumper stickers on the 2008 General Election races for possible inclusion on this page may be sent to our e-mail address at desertjournal@hotmail.com.
 

An excellent website to find and contact United States Senators and Representatives:

http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html
 

Judge says MSNBC debate must include Kucinich

Congressional switchboard flooded by impeachment calls

Let's keep up the momentum!

The impeachment movement is at a critical moment. In response to Congressman Dennis Kucinich's attempt to force a discussion and vote on the impeachment of Dick Cheney, the Congressional switchboard was overwhelmed by a flood of calls from impeachment supporters. We must maintain this high level of activity. You can help. ImpeachBush wholeheartedly supports the impeachment of Dick Cheney (House Resolution 333), as well as George W. Bush and all other high officials guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Below is a recap of yesterday's (Nov. 7, 2007) impeachment showdown on the House floor.

When Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) attempted to force a discussion on impeachment yesterday (Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2007), it at first seemed that both the Republican Party and the Democratic leadership would agree to table the resolution.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to shirk her constitutional duties and assert that impeachment is "off the table."

But in a surprise move, knowing that the Democratic Party leadership did not want to take responsibility for impeachment -- even though its base constituency supports it -- the Republican Party conducted a parliamentary maneuver and changed their vote to help defeat the motion to table.

The motion to table the impeachment resolution failed! By day's end, the anti-impeachment Democrats were able to maneuver out of an open discussion of Kucinich's resolution.  Instead they were able to pass a motion that required Kucinich's resolution go to the House Judiciary Committee "for further study."

Kucinich's resolution said that Cheney, "in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of vice president," had "purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests."

The 11-page resolution also charged that Cheney intentionally deceived the country about a supposed relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida and has "openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States."

Impeachment is on the move. The movement is making progress that was out of reach just a few months ago.  As Ramsey Clark said in his last statement, "We need to run newspaper ads in the major national and regional papers to energize and recruit concerned persons. This needs lots of money.We need your help now." Click this link to make an urgently needed donation right now.

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Submitted by ImpeachBush.org

(posted 11/7/07)

Impeach Bush and Cheney!

No new war against Iran!
 

A message from Ramsey Clark

On November 6, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was scheduled to bring to the House floor a resolution (H. Res 333) calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney. The privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor, and is co-sponsored by 21 other representatives. ImpeachBush wholeheartedly supports the impeachment of Dick Cheney, as well as all other high officials guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Below is an important message from Ramsey Clark.  We need your help now.

President George Bush plans to attack Iran. From coast to coast, the people of this country are demanding impeachment, which may be the only way to stop him. We are acting now because a failure to impeach Bush with Vice President Cheney and other civil officers for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity may condemn the world to war without end. Has he not made it clear that he intends to attack Iran?

Again and again he has threatened Iran with attack if it does not abandon its nuclear program and act to please him. The threat, like the use of force against a nation, is a violation of Article 2.4 of the Charter of the United Nations just as the threat of assault, like assault itself, is a crime in all legal systems.

President Bush has unilaterally imposed the most comprehensive economic sanctions within his power against Iran, excepting of course the purchase of Iranian oil. Sanctions are crueler than the colonial whipping post because they harm infants, children, the elderly and the infirm.

When President Bush decides to launch missiles at Iran, he will proclaim the necessity for his action to prevent nuclear terrorism, and save freedom and democracy. "This government does not torture people," President Bush assures us despite Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, rendition, the staunch defense of torture by his legal advisers throughout his Presidency and what We the People know, as he knows we know. We are being told that truth is what the Decider says it is. As with Iraq before, he now says Iran is a nuclear threat to the U.S. and brooks no dispute of his decision.

Failure to act will place the United States and much of the rest of the world in great danger of spreading war and violence resulting from a direct attack ordered by President Bush against Iran, retaliation by Iran and the fueling of existing tensions and conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region. Given President Bush’s record, who will doubt the high risk that he will carry out his threats and seek the illusions of his advisers? Who can justify giving him the opportunity to wage another war of aggression?

The Congress will not act to impeach and try President Bush and the principal officers of the United States, despite its Constitutional duty, unless We, the People, demand it. It has failed utterly to resist the continuing war against Iraq or respond to President Bush’s threats against Iran, Cuba and other nations.

We dare not fail. We must demand Impeachment now, trials and removals from office and firm control of the war powers placed in the Congress by the Constitution, Article I, sec. 8 until President Bush, Vice President Cheney and the other principal civil officers of the United States are removed from office.

We can form Impeachment committees in every Congressional District, focusing first on the Judiciary Committee members in the House of Representatives.

We need to run newspaper ads in the major national and regional papers to energize and recruit concerned persons. This needs lots of money.

We must organize an effective presence in Washington to press for impeachment.

We need your help now. Click this link to make an urgently needed donation right now.

s/Ramsey Clark
November 5, 2007

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(posted 11-7-07)

Veterans' group warns Senators
to vote NO on Mukasey nomination

Says refusal to nix torture and abuse puts all GIs at risk

Veterans For Peace is warning Congress and the Bush Administration that the confirmation of Michael Mukasey as U.S.  Attorney General will place U.S. service members and all citizens working and visiting overseas in unnecessary danger.

Because Mukasey will not repudiate obvious torture techniques, he does not have the credibility to oversee investigations to stop abuse of Iraqis by contractors, nor the confidence of the American people to give President Bush advice that does not compromise the United States' stated commitment to human rights, according to a statement released Nov. 6 by Veterans For Peace - www.veteransforpeace.org.

In October 2003, VFP filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn more about detainees held overseas by the United States.  VFP also challenged the Bush Administration's effort to skirt the Geneva Convention by creating a new "enemy combatant" designation.

Then Executive Director of Veterans For Peace Wilson "Woody" Powell, wrote, "Amongst our members are men who have been prisoners of war.  They will tell you that during World War II, the Nazis treated American and British POWs according to the standards set down by the Geneva Convention and international law more generally. However, the Germans used Russian prisoners for slave labor and many died as a result. Why the difference? The US and Great Britain observed the Geneva Convention; the Russians did not."

"As I look back at what Woody wrote four years ago, I find myself both sad and angry that my government still has not lived up to its responsibilities," states Michael McPhearson who replaced the retired Powell as Executive Director of VFP in February 2005.  "Since that time we have had the Abu Ghraib torture scandal where only low ranking enlisted personnel were punished with prison terms while high ranking officers have been held administratively accountable at best. We know contractors were present and possibly supervised the torture but none have been prosecuted. We have contractors like employees of Blackwater USA, now under investigation for allegedly opening fire on civilians, were promised immunity by State Department investigators, thus making a subsequent criminal charge highly unlikely. Now we have an Attorney General nominee who cannot find it within himself to state that waterboarding is torture and illegal. We continue to have ongoing stories of torture and rendition. These are but a few examples of the Bush administration's disregard for international law. He has pushed aside the U.S. Constitution in the name of national security. The Republican Congress rubber stamped his actions. Now the Democrat led Congress continues to allow these abuses."

Vietnam veteran Elliott Adams, the National President of Veterans For Peace warns, "Our government claims that the U.S. is fighting to protect and preserve freedom, justice, and the rule of law. Yet day after day we see abuses of these ideals and government officials attempting to justify abuses. The U.S. use of torture and lack of accountability for those who abuse and kill Iraqis is superb propaganda for al-Qaeda. Our government's actions and inactions place our soldiers and US citizens in danger. At one time an enemy soldier might have found it worth surrendering to the good Americans. Today they will have second thoughts as they contemplate stories of torture and abuse. Congress has an opportunity to make a statement and change the direction of U.S. actions in Iraq. Do not confirm Judge Michael Mukasey for the Attorney General of the United States and hold full investigations into the conduct of contractors at Abu Ghraib and in the latest incidents."

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 Founded in 1985, Veterans For Peace is a national organization of men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current Iraq wars as well as other conflicts cold or hot. It has chapters in nearly every state in the union and is headquartered in St. Louis.

For more information, please visit www.veteransforpeace.org

(posted 11-7-07)

Pushed by failures of Iraqi government,
Domenici supports new U.S. military strategy

Backs Plan Moving U.S. Troops Away from Combat, Toward Home

 WASHINGTON – Pointing to his profound disappointment in the Iraqi government, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) Thursday called for a redirection of U.S. military policy in Iraq and announced his support for bipartisan legislation to create conditions by which American combat troops can be removed from that nation.

Domenici, who serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, announced his decision to support the legislation, the Iraq Study Group Recommendation Implementation Act (S.1545), at a news conference in Albuquerque July 5.

“I want a new strategy for Iraq.  I continue to completely support the men and women in the American Armed Forces.  They have not failed us.  It is the Iraqi government that is failing to make even modest progress to help Iraq itself or to merit the sacrifices being made by our men and women in uniform,” Domenici said.  “I am unwilling to continue our current strategy.”

“I have carefully studied the Iraq situation, and believe we cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely while the Iraqi government is not making measurable progress to move its country forward,” Domenici said.  “I do not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a reduction in funding for our troops.  But I do support a new strategy that will move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to coming home.”

S.1545, introduced by Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), embraces the recommendations in the Iraq Study Group Report issued by the bipartisan Baker Hamilton Commission. The bill makes the Iraq Study Group’s 79 recommendations the policy of the United States, and asks the Bush administration — working with military and diplomatic leaders — to implement those recommendations.

The bill is intended to create conditions that could allow for a drawdown of American combat forces in Iraq by March 2008.  Under S.1545, the U.S. military could maintain a long-term but more limited presence in Iraq — focused on protecting American personnel and interests, training and advising Iraqi forces, and carrying out counterterrorism and special operations missions.

Domenici said he thinks that the provisions in S.1545 could be debated as part of the FY2008 Defense Authorization Bill that the Senate will take up next week.

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As an addendum to Senator Domenici’s statement
on a new strategy for Iraq, please find a summary of S. 1545:

Iraq Study Group Recommendations Implementation Act (S. 1545)

 Legislation to make the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group the official policy of the United States.

Why introduce this bill now?

        A political solution in Washington is needed as much as one is needed in Baghdad.

        The recommendations of the Iraq Study Group offer the best opportunity for a bipartisan consensus on a new course in Iraq.

What would the bill do?

        It would get the United States out of the combat in Iraq, and into the support, training, and equipping business, as soon as possible.

How would that work?

        Create the conditions that could allow for a drawdown of combat forces by March of 2008 (not a set deadline) so that those who remain could:

o   Protect U.S. and coalition personnel and infrastructure

o   Train, equip, and advise Iraqi forces

o   Conduct targeted counterterrorism operations

o   Conduct search and rescue missions

o   Conduct rapid reaction and special operations

        Maintain a long-term, but more limited presence in Iraq to support a short-term redeployment of combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, complemented by a political, economic, and diplomatic strategy.

        Support the comprehensive set of recommendations of the Iraq Study Group – from establishing milestones to evaluate Iraqi progress, to engaging in diplomatic discussions with all of Iraq’s neighbors.

        Cosponsored by Senators:  Salazar, Alexander, Pryor, Domenici, Bennett, Casey, Gregg, Lincoln, Sununu, and Collins.

Submitted by:
Courtney M. Sanders
Deputy Press Secretary
Senator Pete V. Domenici
202.224.7098

(posted 7/6/07)

Bingaman Reacts To Iraq Study Group’s Report

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, Wednesday issued the following statement about the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations for improving the situation in Iraq.

“The report essentially says the Bush Administration’s current policies in Iraq and the Middle East are not working. It also makes clear that no matter what steps we take to extricate ourselves from this situation, it will continue to be at a great cost to our country – both in lives and resources.

“I will carefully study this report, and I hope that the Administration does as well, to see what it can tell us about our future actions in Iraq,” Bingaman said.

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(posted 12-8-06)

U.S. Strategy in Iraq Must Change, says Domenici

Senator Indicates Support to Confirm New Defense Secretary

          WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, R-NM, said Wednesday the recommendations made by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) on the future of the war in Iraq may represent a “last chance” for the stabilization of that Middle East nation.

          The ISG, a congressionally-funded bipartisan commission headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, was charged with providing an independent assessment of the military, political and security situation in Iraq.

          The release of the report comes a day after Domenici and other senior Senators met with President Bush at the White House where they discussed the war in Iraq.

          “I think this report may very well be our last chance to achieve a stable and democratic Iraq.  It is not a repudiation of our goals in Iraq, but rather recommendations on how to improve the situation there.  It is clear that our mission is not working as planned.  Our strategy must change,” Domenici said.

          “I visited with my friend Secretary Baker on the Iraq situation and now I’ve talked with the President.  I have strongly recommended to President Bush that he carefully review recommendations of this report, as well as new assessments from the departments of State and Defense, to shift our strategy for ensuring stability in Iraq and throughout the region,” he said.

          Domenici, who serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, agreed with a primary ISG recommendation to begin altering the primary role of the American military in Iraq to one focused on training and supporting the Iraqi army, as well as a recommendation to prompt the Iraqi government to take more responsibility for securing the nation.

          “I do not support an artificial timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.  But I do support the recommendation that the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq should evolve to one of supporting the Iraqi army.  Successfully implementing this recommendation should mean that many of our troops can begin leaving Iraq sooner,” Domenici said.

          Domenici on Wednesday also indicated that he will support the confirmation of Robert Gates to become the new Secretary of Defense.  Domenici has met with Gates.  The Senate is expected to vote on the Gates nomination Wednesday.

          “I have concerns about the deteriorating conditions in Iraq.  We must carefully assess the current situation in that country as well as our future involvement in Iraq.  I trust that Dr. Gates will help us accomplish these goals.  He has experience with the current situation in Iraq as a former member of the Iraq Study Group.  As part of that group, he has traveled to Iraq and met with Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders.  I am optimistic that he will use this experience and knowledge to help chart a course in Iraq that results in the stabilization of that country,” Domenici said.

          “The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach” is available on-line at:  http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/index.html

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(posted 12-7-06)