The American political system has failed. The fabled checks
and balances of American politics were no match for a neoconservative
administration with a secret agenda. The American people were deceived and
tricked into supporting two invasions that are war crimes under the Nuremberg
standard.
US aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq and the
indiscriminate slaughter of civilians have radicalized Muslims throughout the
world and swelled the ranks of insurgents. Despite the "surge"
and an additional 30,000 US troops in Baghdad, the US is unable to protect its
own embassy. On July 10, the fortified Green Zone, which contains the US and
British embassies and the puppet Iraqi government, came under intense mortar
and rocket attack. Within the protected Green Zone, 18 people were wounded and
three were killed.
The US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus,
said that the US is a decade away from victory in Iraq. Gen. Petraeus could
have added another truth and acknowledged that the US military lacks sufficient
fresh troops to remain in the conflict. Last year Colin Powell
said the US Army is "about broken."
The US military is exhausted by the insurgencies and will be driven out if not
withdrawn.
Gen. Petraeus assumed command in January. Six months later,
Petraeus says that "the question is how can we gradually reduce our
forces so we reduce the strain on the army." [US Iraq chief warns
of long war, BBC NEWS / MIDDLE EAST, July 9 2007]
In the US Senate, Republican support for Bush�s wars is
fading as senators face a hostile public that has had enough of Bush�s
pointless and lost wars based on lies and deception. The invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq never had any valid reason. The US occupations of these countries
have failed, and no purpose has been achieved except the enrichment of the
military-security complex and the swelling of al-Qaeda�s ranks and credibility.
One trillion dollars has been totally squandered. Moreover,
Bush�s wars have had to be financed by borrowing abroad. The result has been a
reduction in the dollar�s value and an erosion of the dollar�s status as the
world�s reserve currency. The dollar has fallen to a new low against the Euro
and has reached a 26-year low against the British pound.
The latest comprehensive worldwide Pew poll reveals the
complete collapse of America�s standing in the world.
This is a huge price to pay for Bush�s childish ego, for the
enrichment of Cheney�s cronies at Halliburton and merchants of death, and for
Congress� appeasement of AIPAC.
Bush�s and Cheney�s lies and assaults on the US Constitution
and American civil liberty, their plans to attack Iran, and the war crimes for
which they are responsible provide an open and shut case for their
impeachments. The latest polls show that 54 percent of Americans support
impeachment of Vice President Cheney, with only 40 percent opposed. Bush hangs
on by a hair with 45 percent favoring his impeachment and 46 percent opposed.
But Democrats, like Republicans, have failed the electorate and refuse to do
their duty. Congress is a creature of special interests and no longer
represents the American people.
Obviously, some new method is needed for removing
incompetent or dictatorial presidents and vice presidents.
Constitutional reform might be next to impossible, but
before dismissing the possibility consider that according to British news
reports, Britain�s new prime minister, Gordon Brown, intends a wide- ranging
program of constitutional reform, including giving up the prime minister�s
power to declare war.
The London Telegraph says: "The measures are
intended to restore 'trust' in politics after the by-passing of Parliament and
the Cabinet, as well as the culture of spin and media manipulation, that
characterised the Blair decade." [Brown
gives up the power to declare war , July 3, 2007]
If America is to remain a democracy, the people need
refurbished powers to hold "government of the people, by the people,
for the people" accountable. One way of doing this would be a vote of
confidence by the people. The question can be put to a national referendum: "Shall
the President remain in office?" "Shall the Vice President remain in
office?"
The state of Florida does this for judges, including
Florida�s Supreme Court, so there is precedent for allowing the people to
decide whether officials may remain in office.
As the American people can no longer rely on elected
officials to respond to public opinion, the people must do what they can to
gather power back into their hands before they become the subjects of tyrants.
Paul
Craig Roberts [email him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the
Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side
Revolution : An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation
and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown:
Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the
co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The
Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the
Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter
Brimelow�s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of
prosecutorial misconduct.