Congressman Conyers, you are one of the primary reasons I voted straight ticket Democrat in 2006. You showed hopeful signs of impeaching Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush.
I then recall, after that election, that Ms. Pelosi stated, inexplicably, "impeachment is off the table".
A few months later, as I recall, Ms. Cindy Sheehan marched to your office to conduct an Impeachment rally and you had her delegation arrested by the Capitol Hill Police.
I am guessing--or at least hoping--that the explanation for your and Ms Pelosi's dropping the ball on this is party partisan political ambition, and not some sort of corruption. In any case, you have a lot of nerve, complaining about a war in Iraq that you could have ended--had you done your constitutional duty!
Petraeus and Crocker: Déjà Vu All Over Again
This week, General David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker testified before the House and Senate about the Iraq war. As we might have guessed, their testimony has amounted to simply announcing the administration's plans to continue on its current path -- to maintain at least 140,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely.
It's déjà vu all over again. Echoing their testimony from last September, Petraeus and Crocker claim that certain indicators in Iraq are positive, that they need more time to build on these marginal successes. But while they ask us for more time, more blood, more treasure, they still cannot provide any sort of strategy for success in Iraq.
Indeed, the definition of success has changed so many times in this war it probably would be impossible to design a strategy to achieve it. Going after the 9/11 attackers, finding weapons of mass destruction, getting rid of Saddam -- these initial goals were proved unnecessary or false, or have already been accomplished. So now, we have a new set of goals: creating a model democracy for the Middle East, wiping out al-Qaeda, limiting the influence of Iran -- problems this war has done more to exacerbate than to resolve.
After five years of chaos and destruction, we are told, once again, to trust them. To stay the course. To sign another blank check.
These requests, from an administration that has not an iota of credibility left, simply boggle the mind. In every aspect of this war, from the reasons given for the invasion, to the utter incompetence displayed at every turn, from the waste, fraud, abuse and war profiteering, to the lack of any strategy beyond waiting it out till the next administration, the Bush administration has given us literally no reason to give them the benefit of the doubt, and every reason to demand immediate and drastic change.
We find ourselves bogged down in the midst of a sectarian civil war, with our troops caught in the crossfire as Iraqi factions exploit our presence to position themselves not to build democracy, not to create a stable and free Iraq, but to dominate each other.
There is simply no valid rationale left for staying in Iraq -- not that there ever was one. Meanwhile, a full 60 percent of Americans now think the United States should set a firm timetable for getting out of Iraq and stick to it, regardless of the situation on the ground.
In his famous "Beyond Vietnam" speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to the way war diverted needed resources and energy "like some demonic, destructive suction tube." According to the Congressional Research Service, we are spending $10.3 billion a month, or $339 million per day, on the war in Iraq. For one day's spending in Iraq, we could provide access to health care for 2.6 million Americans for a year. For one day's spending in Iraq, we could give 48,000 homeless veterans housing for a year. We could achieve each of these goals by cutting the Iraq war short by one day. Imagine what we could do with a week's spending, or a month's!
Of course, the conservatives who refused to spend $50 billion dollars over five years to provide health care for needy children don't think twice about spending that amount for five months of war in Iraq. With our economy facing a serious downturn, and the baby boomer retirements on the horizon, the Bush administration is asking us to continue financing this war on credit.
Clearly, we are faced with a question of priorities. We can pour money down a destructive suction tube, for a war that is creating more enemies than it can destroy, in pursuit of impossible goals. Or we can invest in our priorities here at home, while showing a new face to the world, one characterized by respect for human rights, diplomacy, and the rule of law. To me, the choice could not possibly be any clearer.
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Going over what needs or should be done endlessly
does not end the occupation in Iraq. Talk is cheap. This
occupation is not. Get something done!
Of course. They're running out the clock for Bu$h so the GOP can pin "losing" on someone else. The whole thing stinks and it has for a few years now.
The whole point is: WHEN is Congress going to do something other than roll over and allow this charade to continue killing our troops?
Wiyh all respect due you Mr. Conyers, if this whole "situation" we find ourselves in had happened with a Democratic President?? ...well, it would have never gotten this far. Republicans would have impeached a Demcratic President long ago for a preemptive war, lying, torture, suspension of Habeus Corpus, etc, etc, etc...
The lack of OUTRAGE from politicians in my party is ....deafening! Writing quaint little posts on Huffpo is .....driving me insane.
Republican Chuck Hagel has shown more protest and passion against his own party.
Bet our Representatives go so far as to read what they are signing next time, eh, Mr. Conyers?
Caveat Emptor.
----
Do me a favor, and kill my tv.
Congressman: Thanks for such a clear and lucid article. The G,O,P. tries its best to keep everything foggy and/or fuzzy when discussing Iraq, the better to confound us by. Am I the only one who feels that Petraeus, Crocker, et al speak in some special code or patois when testifying or answering questions in thier areas of interest. Employing such technical languages certainly enables them to avoid being pinned down with anything really approaching a straight answer. Mr. Conyers, sir, that large Pandora's Box marked TORTURE and War Crimes is spilling out all over the psyche and the conscience of the rest of us who are sickened by such things. Remember what the German citizens told the Allies about the death camps: that they had no idea what the Nazis were doing and therefore could not be held responsible? Did Ike believe them? Do you recall his raging, furious anger at them? The only way, in my opinion, we can even dream of winning back some of our former integrity is if we start now to do all we can as quickly as we can to bring those responsible before a bar of competent judicial authority. I know you have invited John Yoo to testify. I only hope that as the story continues to emerge you can gird yourself to go the distance. We are, all of us, on the Road to Perdition. The administration only continues to worsen the situation. "We" are all that "we" have left.
How are advances in the Iraq War like a Ming Vase with a transmission?
They are both fragile and can both be reversed.
Rep. Conyers, why do you remain in the Democratic Party? It is under the firm control of DLC types who support aggression all over the world, including the bombing of aspirin factories in Sudan and passenger trains in Belgrade. They oppose single-payer health care but never saw a new weapon system they didn't like. They constantly suck up to corporations and large donors. How many tanks and airplanes are manufactured in your Congressional District? None, I'd wager. So why don't you and other members of safe districts start a Peace Party? By broadening the tent of the new party to people like Ron Paul, Bob Barr or Walter Jones you could probably prevent the House from organizing, or at least force real concessions from the corporate lackeys of both the other parties
You know, the 1850s Republican Party coalesced when established Whig and Democratic politicians bolted their parties because neither would address the issue of slavery and its expansion. Today, neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party will truly address the issue of the military-industrial complex, our resultant worldwide empire of bases and interventionist foreign policy, a policy which (aside from being morally wrong) is truly the greatest threat there is to real national security.
For an expansion of these ideas see http://antiwarleague.net/blog/index.php?itemid=22
Rep. Conyers, you will be signing blank checks for senseless destruction until you work up the courage to impeach, and we all know it.
You're right Congressman.
The choices couldn't be any clearer.
That's why no one is buying the bs.
So long as Bush, Cheney and the cast of criminals in the Oil and Arms industry are making money, the war will continue.
Dead Troops = Halliburton Profits = Money in Dick Cheney's bloody criminal pockets.
The War will NOT end, to much money being made. And cowardly Democrats will, as usual, do nothing.
Disgraceful.
You are correct, esquire07. The longer the U.S. stays in Iraq, the more money Halliburton makes along with George Bush and Dick Cheney as silent partners. That has been the whole point of this war from the beginning. I believe that all the missteps taken in the war were deliberate to make Iraq dependent on our continued presence. It's that simple.
Dear Rep. Conyers,
I just wanted to drop in on ya to say thank you once again for all your efforts. Agape, dapper
Since the will of the people no longer seems to matter and, even if it did, Congress no longer has the will or the power, why not just fight the war?
To not give the military what they need to get it over with because the people might get upset is beyond ironic. It will be cheaper and cost fewer American lives to put 500,000 soldiers over there to keep this from going on and on. Just flatten whatever Mosque Sadr is hiding in and kill Iraqis until they stop. The same number of people, or more, are going to end up dying anyway. You can't fight a war and worry about who you might make mad. Everyone is mad already and our military is dying a slow death.
It will take about a month to stage the soldiers and another month to get this thing over with. Then you can spend a couple of years rebuilding. Hopefully, in that time, an Iraqi leader will emerge.
Why not?
Mainly because what you are advocating is morally wrong. Killing people until they bend to our will is the very definition of terror, a war crime and a crime against humanity. Indeed, if the Iraqis live by New Hampshire's motto, "Live free or die," then it becomes genocide. Why are you blaming Sadr? He had a truce in effect until we decided to violate it. Make no mistake; that was the Bush administration's decision. Al-Maliki doesn't pick his nose without our permission. Why did we violate the truce? Could it have anything to do with fear that al-Sadr will win the October elections and demand our withdrawal?
Beyond that, where do you think we're going to come up with 500,000 troops? You need to understand that when Shinseki said we needed 500,000 troops to occupy Iraq, he was saying it was not doable without a draft.
We're much better off if as some others here suggest, Conyers stops lecturing us and starts convincing some of his fellow Reps. to cut off funding. It's just as likely as 500,000 troops.
Do you seriously think that if we killed everyone in Iraq, war would cease? I think it would mark the beginning of world-wide Jihad.
Mr. Conyers says,: " To me, the choice could not possibly be any clearer." as though writing to a third party for help to in changing spending priorities. Yet, he and the rest of the birdbrains in Congress control the money.
Let's see if we can make it simple...If it's clear the war is the wrong place to put the money Mr. Conyers, cut off the funding! You have no one else to blame for wasteful spending.
>You have no one else to blame for wasteful spending.<
Spending of both lives AND money. As far as I'm concerned every life and dollar lost since the Democrats have taken control of congress leaves blood and stain on THEIR hands as well as on the Republicans'.
Mr. Conyers,
Thank you for meeting (twice!) with my friends Leslie and Ellen and giving verbal support to their quest for Impeachment - fast!. I would now request that you at least follow through with hearings as per Rep. Wexler, or better yet, as per Rep. Kucinich.
Also, my thanks to your staff at the Judiciary Committee office for their kindness and hospitality during our action.
6 more months, 6 more months, 6 more months. How many times have we heard that. Please do not let the American people allow these people to use scare tactics on them again. We need someone to negotiate and bring the men and women home. If we are going to "build bridges" how about building some at home. That money can be used here. Our army and our country is breaking down. Stop filling the pockets of war profiteers. Follow the money. Obama 08
RING RING RING--IT IS 3AM IN THE WHITE HOUSE . ANSWERING MACHINE PICKS UP --
THIS IS W & WE ARE LEAVING THE TROOPS NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS CAUSE I AM THE DECIDER. PLEASE CALL BACK IN 8 MONTHS .
With bush offloading the responsibility to petraeus, will history call all of this the petraues doctrine? Will that allow bush legacy to teflon off more accountability?
Conyers, just another whining loser.
He whines that it's the same ol' story from the Bush Administration, while convienantly forgetting his whines are the same also.
If he had any guts, he would put his votes where his mouth ha been running. Vote for removing the money! He won't do it though, because he knows the truth. We're winning. That's what irks him so much. Despite everything he has said and done, our military is win ning.
Bush lies!?! How about Ol' Conyer's lies? Military is losing, just a bunch of murderers, useless....ect. ect.
For all you anti-military out there....the ones who claim to support the troops especially (not!).
Let me know when you served in the military, let me know where you served. How much fire did you get in your foxhole? According to your own liberal politicans if you didn't serve you have no right to spout off on the war......
I am a veteran. I served. I've been shot at. I protected the people who called me BABY KILLER and SPIT on my uniform (of course they only spit once through thier teeth, afterwards they had to eat through a straw until thier jaw healed).
So, basically, if you are not a veteran or current military member...SHUT UP FOOL!
That includes the whiney Representatives and Senators who did not serve. CONYERS especially, along with Ted Kennedy, Obama, Clinton (both of them), and several other liberal jerks.
as Bugs used to say:
"What a maroon!"
I don't believe a single word you've written here, particularly the pap about your "personal experiences" as a veteran.
So, perhaps you are the one who should "shut up, FOOL."
Right, and a warrior, rather American, based first ammendment was not made clear to the citizenry. Thanks for clearing that up!!!
Face the heiniss Cheney, already. You can't, can you?
The American Rennascence is at had.
It'll be ok, ok?
Ok, I am a vet with three combat tours. I support our troops with all my being, but i do not support the occupation of IRAQ. While we are waisting money and lives in IRAQ, Afganistan is going the way of how it was in the Soviet occupation days. I have payed close attention to the real truth about this conflict. What the MSM is putting out is not the truth. I am sorry you have such bitter feelings related to your past, but we are on the wrong path here. We should have never been there the way we are now. When will we learn that swinging a big stick never solves problems like this.
Don't forget the rest of them draft dodgers, Bush, Rumsfeld and Chaney!
Just read some of your earlier posts on your profile. Seems you know everything there is to know about everything so do tell us old oracle, what the hell are we winning? What are we fighting for Oh great one who knows all?
the elected officials who said they would end the war quick must have forgot their promises. Like thats a new thing, No one in Washington is accountable to any one! Congress has a low approval rating and does nothing to improve it. We have heard all the lies too many times! We have been bullshitted to many times. There seems to be nothing we can do about it. Bush is the king of liars, we the people has become a joke everywhere! We need change before this all falls apart or blows up in our face, Let Iraq help itself, or charge them 1.4 billion a week. if winning the war involves bombing iran so be it but leave nothing for them to hide behind.
Congressman, as it always has, the ball remains in YOUR COURT. Say NO, Damnit!! You and your colleagues have it in your power to stop this murder, mayhem and madness. The American people still DEMAND this of you.......NOW!!!!
nothing changes, time goes on our service men die bush lies congress backs him up .
Rep. Conyers:
1. Stop funding the war.
2. Impeach these yahoos.
You've got the power to make these things happen, why do you continually refuse to use it?
Mr. Conyers, I am not in your district, but I am a Michigan resident and have been for 40 years.
I fail to understand why you are complaining or even bothering to write anything at all. You have the power to get impeachment HEARINGS on the table, yet you won't. In fact, you told Rob Kall during a video interivew in a snide, I'm-better-than-you tone that you had your reasons for that, without explaining those reasons.
Pardon me if I don't understand why you don't give your reason for doing your job, you are there to represent US, the People, not your or anyone else's personal interests. I am scared to death at the slide this country has taken and it's unbelieveable that it continues. It's like being in a bad dream. Somebody has got to stand up and say enough.
I'm scared for my little girls who are two and four. They deserve better. Don't you have family, friends, grandchildren who have to live here too. Don't you care about their future if not for mine?
All the responses from my representatives have been a JOKE. Nothing but form letters and patronizing hand waving.
Please do something, for God's sake!!! How angry to the people have to get?!
Because you can bet more than a handful of Democrats have their hand in the pot. Who cares about dead troops when there is so much money to be made. Bankrupt the US ? Who cares - all that matters is Oil and Arms profits.
It seems clear that notions of the Bush administration having no plan is untrue. There is, and has always been, a plan. The plan is to have an Iraqi government that is, essentially, a client state; to experiment with neocon economic policies, to enrich cronies, and to have military bases to protect oil and other Middle-east interests. These, and other objectives, will require a permanent U.S. military presence. McCain's 100-year war seems to have been just inside information that he, no rocket scientist, let slip. All the rest is just show biz, with more American and Iraqi lives and limbs lost while we continue to borrow from China, Japan and Mexico to pay for this disaster until our economy goes completely over the cliff.
... THEN STOP FUNDING THE WAR!!!
I respect Rep. Conyers and appreciate his work on the Judiciary, but this article infuriates me. There is nothing new here -- the American people KNOW THIS WAR IS A CHARADE... a TRAGEDY, SO WHY DOESN'T CONGRESS DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT???
I am sick and tired of politicians posturing over the War, but when it comes time to do something about it (stopping funding, de-funding, amending the go to war resolution, defining the mission, etc.) the Dems lack the political will.
I say again, THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT SIR
I agree with the sentiment, but all that can be done at his level is to vote for withdrawal, and that will not carry by a veto-proof majority...so then what? The same goes for cutting off funding.
I'm as frustrated as anyone about this, but they still have to play by the set rules, otherwise they negate their purpose.
But! Should the house and senate gain enough seats to have veto proof democratic majorities, well, then we've REALLY got a deal-breaking bone to pick with congress.
Posted April 10, 2008 | 10:02 AM (EST)