[Peace-discuss] Administration needs better AfPak lies

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Rep: Punish Those Who Lie Us Into War
	February 09, 2009
	Daily News

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has introduced legislation that would impose 
fines or prison time on presidents or executive-branch officials who "knowingly 
and willfully" mislead Congress to gain authorization to use U.S. military forces.

Poll: Presidential honesty during wartime

Jones, who has repeatedly and publicly regretted his vote to support the war in 
Iraq, said that he doesn't know how far the Executive Accountability Act of 2009 
will get when it comes to gaining passage. But even if all the bill gets is a 
springtime hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, Jones says, he thinks that 
is progress.

"We're saying, 'Mr. President, be sure,'" Jones said in an interview. "Be sure 
that if you are going to ask us to commit our boys and girls to risk their 
lives, that all the facts are on the table. ... Make sure there are no 
questions. ... Mr. President, you better be sure."

Jones' 3rd District is dotted with military bases, including Marine Corps Air 
Station Cherry Point in Havelock and Camp Lejeune and New River in Jacksonville. 
He thinks of the young men and women serving on those bases and others, he said.

And he rejects the notion that a bill requiring the president to tell the truth 
about a potential war is an extreme measure.

"The Constitution says that the Congress shall declare war ... but the Congress 
has been neutered," he said.

Jones said his decision to support the Executive Accountability Act is based on 
history. But it was the Clinton administration, not that of former President 
George W. Bush, that Jones discussed in the next breath.

In April 1999, Jones and about 15 other legislators filed a federal lawsuit 
opposing former President Bill Clinton's decision to commit troops to Kosovo.

The lawsuit "never went past the filing stage," Jones said

The Executive Accountability Act was introduced last week and is co-sponsored by 
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat from Hawaii. If passed, the act would apply 
only to current and future presidential administrations and executive branches.

The act calls for fines or up to 10 years in prison for leaders found guilty of 
misleading Congress in order to get authorization to go to war.

The five-year statute of limitations on prosecuting any such crime would not 
begin until the end the presidential term during which the alleged crime 
happened, according to the legislation.

Jones invoked the words of Abraham Lincoln to explain his own reasoning for 
supporting the legislation.

"Lincoln famously said, 'I have faith in the people. ... The danger is, they are 
misled. Let them know the truth and the country is safe,'" Jones said. "Our 
country is safest when the people and their elected representatives in the U.S. 
Congress can make decisions based on hard evidence and facts."

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