[Peace-discuss] Declaration of Impeachment

[C. G. Estabrook]

[It has been frequently remarked this July 4 weekend that the
many of the grievances alleged against George III by English
expatriates in N. America in 1776 also apply to George Bush
II. At least one organization has made it explicit.  --CGE]

        Veterans Group Issues "Declaration of Impeachment"
        Veterans for Peace
        Monday 04 July 2005
        Group also announces petition 
        to remove President Bush.

        St. Louis - A national veterans' organization today
issued a "Declaration of Impeachment" and announced it is
beginning an online petition to remove President Bush from
office for crimes committed during the invasion and occupation
of Iraq.

        Using the same language as the original "Declaration
of Independence," Veterans For Peace cited many of the same
reasons to remove George Bush that Thomas Jefferson cited to
separate from King George of England. And in a modern version
of the signing of the Declaration, VFP announced the posting
of its online impeachment petition.

        "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in
direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny,"
Jefferson wrote, and then added the famous litany of abuses
charged against the king that VFP said is unchanged today:

        * "He has affected to render the Military independent
of and superior to the Civil power.

        * He has - deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the
benefits of Trial by Jury - transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be
tried for pretended offences.

        * He has constrained our fellow Citizens - to become
the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.

        * He is at this time transporting large Armies - to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already
begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy
the Head of a civilized nation.

        * A (President) whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler
of a free people."

        The veterans' Declaration of Impeachment came to the
same conclusion as Jefferson's Declaration of Independence,
when it declared " - it is the Right of the People - it is
their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security."

        VFP President, Dave Cline, a decorated Vietnam combat
veteran, said, "You bet it's our right and our duty! Today's
tyrant named George may have little regard for the
Constitution, but as members of the military we took an oath
to uphold that document. George Bush has repeatedly violated
not only the Constitution but federal law, by invading and
occupying Iraq. In our system the remedy for such high crimes
is clear: he must be impeached."

        Emphasizing the gravity with which Veterans for Peace
takes the impeachment of George Bush, Cline concluded by
quoting the final sentence of the Declaration of Independence:
"And for the support of this Declaration - we mutually pledge
to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

        To sign the online petition, or to read the
"Declaration of Impeachment" and VFP's documented case for
removing George Bush, go to: VeteransForPeace.org

        Veterans For Peace is a national organization founded
in 1985, with 123 chapters across the country.

        Declaration of Impeachment
        Issued by Veterans For Peace

        Monday 04 July 2005

        Governments derive their just powers from the consent
of the governed, and are instituted to secure the rights of
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But

        "...whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness.

        ...all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations -
design(s) to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to
provide new Guards for their future security.

        ...The history of the present King (George) of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
Tyranny ... To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.

        * He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent
hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out
their substance.

        * He has affected to render the Military independent
of and superior to the Civil power.

        * He has - deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the
benefits of Trial by Jury - transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be
tried for pretended offences.

        * He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us
out of his Protection and waging War against us -.

        * He is at this time transporting large Armies - to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already
begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy
the Head of a civilized nation.

        * He has constrained our fellow Citizens - to become
the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.

        * A (President) whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler
of a free people.

        We, therefore - do, in the Name, and by Authority of
the good People - solemnly publish and declare, That these -
Free and Independent (People) - are Absolved from all
Allegiance to the (Bush Administration), and that all
political connection between them and (this Administration),
is and ought to be totally dissolved - And for the support of
this Declaration - we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,
our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

        (Note: Except for the first two lines above and words
in parentheses, this Declaration is quoted directly from the
original Declaration of Independence.)

      -------