The resolution refers to Bush and Cheney having acted in a manner “subversive of the Constitution” by. . .This is just one of many citizen-led impeachment initiatives in the USA. No single one is making a big media splash just now, but they are spreading like a virus and any one could very easily become a big story overnight, given the right political winds (and Bush is certainly helping to fan the flames).
1) using false information to justify the invasion of Iraq
2) authorizing “the torture of prisoners of war”
3) “authorizing wiretaps on U.S. citizens without obtaining a warrant”
4) “disclosing the name of an undercover CIA operative”
5) suspending “the historic Writ of Habeas Corpus by ordering the indefinite detention of so-called enemy combatants”
6) “signing statements used to ignore or circumvent portions of over 750 Congressional statutes”
The resolution ends by calling for “vigorous investigation” and “appropriate remedies and punishment, including impeachment.”
But what would happen to our own PM if Bush were impeached, either before or after the next Aussie election? Australian politicians have certainly been complicit in more than one of the above accusations: we surely knew at least something about the WMD fabrication (and if not, we should have); our officers were in rooms at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo when prisoners were being tortured; our SAS troops were rumoured to be first on the ground in Iraq, before war had even been declared; our Defence Ministers have certainly told deliberate lies, as has the PM, regarding the war; our own laws have been thrown out the window to accomodate the US persecution of David Hicks and others.
Legal voices in Australia have already come together to denounce Howard's warmongering and lies, but their efforts so far have gained little traction in the media. Impeachment of Bush (coupled with likely criminal investigations into Tony Blair's government) would change that dynamic completely.
If Bush and Blair were both held to the flames, it would be very hard for Howard to avoid the heat as well. Facts would be revealed. People would talk. Documents would come to light. And the public would soon be demanding to know the full story.
Indeed, I cannot help wondering if many sections of the Australian public might not be very happy to transfer their own subdued feelings of guilt onto the PM...
"What? He lied us into war? He made a deal with Bush? Well, I never! I voted for the little bugger, sincerely believing what he told me [yeah right] but this changes everything, I tell you!"Know what I mean?
If this were to happen BEFORE the next election, it would be curtains for Howard, obviously. But imagine (if you will, and if you can) that Howard somehow wins the next election, and THEN Bush gets impeached. Where does that leave Australia? A dysfunctional government, clinging to power, crippled by ongoing investigations at home and abroad, struggling through one vote of no confidence after another?
We would all look pretty bloody stupid, wouldn't we?
Our troops on the ground in Iraq would be wondering whether to keep shooting the Iraqis, or shoot their leaders, or just shoot themselves in the foot and go home.
