A German opposition party said Monday that it would vote for a formal parliamentary investigation into allegations that the German intelligence service provided help to the United States during the invasion of Iraq, which the government vehemently opposed.
An official of the Free Democratic Party, which has 61 seats in Parliament, said the party favored an investigation. Because the two other opposition parties, the leftist Greens and the new Left Party, have already declared their support, the Free Democrats' decision seems to ensure a formal investigation.
Germany's government, in which power is shared between the main left-of-center and right-of-center parties, has made vigorous efforts to head off an investigation, saying it could harm the functioning of Germany's intelligence service and efforts under way to improve relations with the United States.
The above is from Richard Bernstein's "Germans Set to Investigate Help to U.S. in Iraq Invasion" in this morning's New York Times. Take a look at how that works. The government may have lied. The fact that they may have lied is revealed. The people are outraged. An investigation is set to take place.
Wow.
Too bad there's nothing like that in the United States, huh?
From the Center for Constitutional Rights newly released Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush, pp. 55-56:
Speaking about impeachment, one of the framers of the Constitution, James Iredell, stated, "The President must certainly be punishable for giving false information to the Senate." And that is precisely what President Bush has done, and more. He has lied to the American people and the Congress as to the basis of the war with Iraq. He has involved the United States and its people in a devastating war that has killed thousands and cost billions. By doing so he has subverted the will of Congress, which alone has the right to declare war, and coerced them into doing so by falsities. He has undermined democracy by painting a false picture of the reasons for war to the American people. He has broken the law, both by committing a fraud on the American people, and by violating the fundamental legal precept prohibiting aggressive wars. He has attempted to end the system upon which our country was founded: that the president is a creature of the Constitution and law and has limited powers that are checked and balanced by the other branches. By issuing false statements and lying to Congress and the American people, he has induced Congress and the American people to enter into a war to which the people may not have consented had the true facts been know to them. By doing so, he has subverted the powers of the Congress that are meant to check presidential power. He has undermined our republican form of government. He has violated the public trust and overstepped the bounds of his office. For these reasons, George W. Bush must be impeached.
Martha notes Martin Weil's "Md. Marine Killed in Iraq Crash" (Washington Post) which offers a look at one of the fatalities from Bully Boy's illegal war of choice:
As a teenager, Matthew Snyder seemed perhaps a bit short to be a Marine. But people who knew him said last night that the young Carroll County man made up for whatever he might have lacked in height.
"He had all that spunk and desire," said David F. Brown, who once coached Snyder in a church basketball league. "On the court, he made up for everything."
Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder of Finksburg died Friday from a noncombat-related vehicle accident in Iraq's Anbar province, the Pentagon announced yesterday. Snyder, 20, had been in Iraq since last month, the Marine Corps said.
"He was a wonderful son, and we're very proud of him," an aunt said last night, speaking for the family. "And he served our country well."
One of 2302 American military fatalities in Iraq. Martha also notes this AP article on the most recent events in Iraq:
Bombings, gunfire and mortars across Iraq left at least 11 people dead and more than a dozen wounded, police said Tuesday.
Assailants attacked a Sunni mosque in the western Ghazaliyah neighborhood of Baghdad with guns and grenades, killing a guard and torching two rooms, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said. Gunmen ambushed police when they responded, wounding five officers, Hussein said.
In the same neighborhood, a mortar shell wounded a worshipper as he emerged from a Shiite mosque after dawn prayers-- one of several rounds that slammed into the city Tuesday morning.
Rod passes on the scheduled topics for today's Democracy Now!:
Democracy Now! will be broadcasting live from London, England. We will be speaking with human rights attorney Philippe Sands about his book "Lawless World," as well as a British soldier who refused to serve in Iraq.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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