Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich has introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. The resolution consists of 3 articles:
Article 1 Fabrication of a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in order to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security.
The first article basically says that the Vice President deceived the country and the congress about the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to the U.S. for the purpose of bringing about a war with Iraq.
Article 2...purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress...about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the U.S. armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests.
The second article, like the first, states that the Vice President deceived the country about the connection between Iraq & al Qaeda in order to bring about the invasion of Iraq.
Article 3...openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and done so with the United State's proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States.
This is probably the most interesting of the three because basically it is saying that the Vice President violated international law by threatening to attack Iran. Under the U.S. Constitution, all international treaties that we make become the law of the land. Under Article II, Section 4 of the U.N. Charter it says, "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." By threatening violence against Iran, absent any real threat to the United States, the Vice President has broken this treaty and the law of the United States.
The full synopsis is available
here as well as the full text of the
resolution.
The Vice President was sent a
letter by Kucinich on April 24 notifying him of the resolution.
What is Impeachment?Impeachment provides a way to remove the President or Vice President if they have engaged in treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The determination of whether to impeach is given to the House of Representatives and is based on a vote. If the vote is successful then the Senate is responsible for trying the impeachment and deciding on whether to convict. In a sense, the Congress is kind of like a police officer with the ability to investigate and arrest for a crime, and the Senate acts as the judge. If the Senate votes to convict, the Vice President can then be removed from office. After he is removed from office, and not before, can a criminal prosecution take place.
