The Fastest Way to End the Iraq War

...is not through Impeachment.

Don't get me wrong, George Bush absolutely needs to be Impeached for reasons that both Kagro X and thereisnospoon have most eloquently put.

But that isn't the best and fastest way to end the war.

This post is an expansion on a comment I made to post by kos where he stated.

What Democrats in Congress will have to do (and already plan on doing) is use their bully pulpit to amplify the overwhelming public opposition to the war. Bush isn't up for reelection, so he doesn't give a damn about himself. But if he sees that in political terms the war could cost his party dearly in 2008, that may be the one thing that could pull him back from the precipice.

It's clear that lots of Republicans are already panicking about their 2008 chances, and it won't be long before most of the Republican senators up for reelection in 2008 are fervent war opponents, as well as any House Republican who won her or his reelection battle by single digits.

But it won't save them, just like it didn't save Lincoln Chafee.

This is the Republicans' war. They bought it. They broke it. They own it. And they will suffer the brunt of it.

And the more Bush and McCain escalate the war, the deeper the consequences will be.

So don't fret that Congressional Dems can't unilaterally get us out of that mess. That power is vested in the president. But the bigger the mess Republicans make of the war, the bigger our victories in 2008. And if we make those big gains in Congress and the White House, ending this war will be tops on our 2009 agenda.

Although I agree that Congress absolutely needs to use the bully pulpit and hearings to help underscore the point that this war must be stopped - I contend that it isn't true that Congress can't get us out of this mess and can only rearrange the funding on the deck of this Titanic.

The Fastest way to end the Iraq War is for Congress to simply repeal HJ 141, the Iraq Force Resolution, and de-authorize the War. If the Power to declare War belongs to the Congress, so does the power to end it, if they have the will to do so. At this point in time all major objectives sought by that resolution required Saddam to abide by various and sundrie UN Resolutions have been met.

Not to mention those which were just plain bullshit.

Whereas after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, Iraq entered into a United Nations sponsored cease-fire agreement pursuant to which Iraq unequivocally agreed, among other things, to eliminate its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs and the means to deliver and develop them, and to end its support for international terrorism;

Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated;

Whereas Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations;

Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;

An ABC Survey has revealed that if the IFR were put to a vote today - it would fail.

In Oct. 2003, 77 senators voted to give President Bush authorization to go to war in Iraq. Just 23 senators voted against it.

But according to a new ABC News survey, 33 out of the original 77 senators “indicated they would vote differently knowing then what they know now.” Five senators — including three Republicans — said that in retrospect, the intelligence was so wrong that the matter should never have even been brought to a vote. These results would mean that a vote to authorize war in Iraq today would be 43-57, and the resolution would fail. (Full list of senators here.)

There may not yet be enough support to sustain a veto override - YET - but after sustained and thorough hearings on how this war was falsely justified and how it has been totally mis-handled - that hill will be much easier to hurdle than either Impeachment or any attempt to repeal the War Powers Act.

Saddam is dead (and now Official a Martyr) His regime is destroyed. We've had our oppurtunity to rebuild the country and have completely blown it, we tried to help them establish a new goverment and new army and have blown that too. Although it pains many of us to say it - It's time to go, period.

This campaign is a total failure and staying only delays the inevitable.

We have to finally understand that the fate of Iraq is out of our hands, it's in the hands of the Iraqis.

If the Saudi's want to come in and grapple with al-Sadr and his Militia - while they roast the shrivelled cojones of al-Maliki on a spit - maybe we should let them.

A resolution for a phased troop withdrawal is simply not enough - the various "Unitary Executive/Command-in-Chief" powers that Bush has claimed unto himself also need to be addressed. Repeatedly he has issued signing statments and executive orders for Extreme Rendition, Secret Prisons, Torture, Domestic Spying on our Phone Calls, E-mail, Websites and even opening our U.S. Mail in direct defiance of the law under color of the Authority to Use Force given to him by the Congress and his role as "C-in-C".

It's time to bring that abuse of power to heal.

By the way - A Resolution to do exactly this was originally introduced to the House by Sheila Jackson Lee in 2003 as House Concurrent Resolution 2, before the Iraq War even began.

Whereas the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243; 116 Stat. 1498), enacted into law on October 16, 2002, authorizes the President to use United States Armed Forces against Iraq to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq and to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq;

Whereas since the enactment of Public Law 107-243, Iraq has allowed international weapons inspectors to re-enter Iraq in order to identify and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stockpiles and development capabilities;

Whereas since the enactment of Public Law 107-243, actions by North Korea relating to its nuclear weapons capabilities pose a more immediate threat to its neighbors and to the United States; and

Whereas in light of these circumstances, Congress should reexamine the threat posed by Iraq, including by allowing time to review fully and accurately the findings of the international weapons inspectors: Now, therefore, be it

Cosponsors at that time were:

Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 2/4/2003 [MI-14]

Rep Davis, Danny K. - 1/7/2003 [IL-7]
Rep Filner, Bob - 2/4/2003 [CA-51]
Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. - 2/4/2003 [IL-2]
Rep Kleczka, Gerald D. - 2/4/2003 [WI-4]
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. - 1/7/2003 [OH-10]
Rep Lee, Barbara - 1/7/2003 [CA-9]
Rep Oberstar, James L. - 2/4/2003 [MN-8]
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. - 2/4/2003 [IL-9]
Rep Waters, Maxine - 2/4/2003 [CA-35]
Rep Watson, Diane E. - 1/7/2003 [CA-33]

I think we could find a few more co-sponsors this time around, considering how badly the War has gone since then.

Vyan