When people marched and protested against war and torture they also called for impeachment. Now, the Democrats control both houses of Congress. Will the people continue to call for impeachment?

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A CASE FOR IMPEACHMENT By Malachy Kilbride Since the recent midterm elections I have wondered what will happen now that both houses of the US Congress are run by the Democrats. Specifically I think about the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and how peace will prevail with justice for the Iraqi and Afghan people. I think about the US soldiers sent off to fight in a war that was based on lies and deceptions. I think about the families who have to deal with the loss of loved ones killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the families that have to deal with their loved ones coming home with permanent physical and mental injuries. I think of the lies that put all of these people in these tragic situations. It was all for lies and we know it. I also think of the loss of our civil liberties and the domestic spying here and the use of torture and secret renditions and detentions carried out in our names, with our tax money, and most importantly with our knowledge. We know that torture is practiced by our government. We know that some of our troops are raping, torturing, and killing innocent people in Iraq. And now I wonder what will be done for the sake of justice? One starting point is impeachment for without a doubt President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, to name just a few, have committed high crimes. The power is not simply in the hands of the US Congress. The Congress is the representative of the people. The power is with the people. It is the responsibility of the people to demand justice and an end to the immoral illegal war and occupation. It is time to demand an end to the funding of the war-occupation and the return of US troops now. It is time for the people to demand that all the people, not just US citizens, have habeas corpus rights. The time has come to call for an end of the spying by our government on its citizens. It is time to demand an end to secret rendition and detention. It is time to end torture! It is time to close places like the Guantánamo Bay concentration camp and let the detainees have access to lawyers and the legal system. It is time for accountability and for oversight on this executive branch that has irresponsibly abused power by committing high crimes and undermining the Constitution of the United States. It is time to call for the impeachment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld. The power and responsibility is with the people and they must act. It is time. Sadly, since the Democrat victory on Election Day I have heard from people of good will that impeachment is not a good idea. There is a political agenda that includes a minimum wage increase, national healthcare or healthcare reform, and other domestic issues that will be advanced by the Democrats in Congress. Impeachment, I have been told, will threaten all of these worthy reforms. It could also work against the Democrats in 2008 they tell me. Where is the justice in this? Impeachment is a political tool of the people and it is not a perfect remedy for the crimes of the Bush Administration. However, it is a starting point and it is an expression of the people that crimes have been committed that are worthy of being recognized officially by their representatives in Congress. An impeachment process will not be pleasant. It is, however, necessary because the crimes are so notorious that to turn away is an injustice. It is we, the people, who are responsible for letting the Congress know that it is time for oversight and accountability for the sake of justice. We cannot let this justice be bartered away for a political agenda or the prospects of winning the next election. Our calling should be higher than political expediency. Many people who marched against war and protested against torture called for impeachment. Almost everyone who opposed the war policies of the Bush Administration has had conversations with others in which the impeachment issue was raised. What were all of these demands and conversations about impeachment? Was it empty slogans and nonsensical jabber? No, it was a cry for justice. It was an acknowledgement that if the time came the people had to take their government back. It was an acknowledgement that responsibility had to be taken for the crimes that had been committed. It is time to exercise that responsibility the way governments are taking responsibility for the crimes and atrocities committed by the likes of Augusto Pinochet. It is time for the people to demand that their elected leaders are held accountable and that nobody, not even a president, is above the law. If people turn away from this responsibility for the sake of a future election or because it is not politically expedient then what type of precedent is being set? If we don't take care of the high crimes now it will be easier for others to ignore domestic and international law, the Bill of Rights, and our constitution in the future. Impeachment is a starting point seeking truth and demanding justice. Those illegally spied on by our government, those sent away to an illegal war based on lies, the innocent Iraqis killed, tortured, and raped, people held in detention camps without charge or access to the legal system all deserve justice for high crimes that have been committed by this administration. Our choice is clear. We must demand this imperfect tool, impeachment, be used. Or will we chose a domestic political party agenda and do nothing so that a political party wins at election time? If we don't accept our responsibility demanding accountability then we are deferring justice. And justice deferred is justice denied.

Authors Bio:
Malachy Kilbride is an activist presently serving as the president of the board of The Washington Peace Center, www.washingtonpeacecenter.net , in Washington DC and has served on the national coordinating committee of Declaration of Peace and presently the coordinating body of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (fromerly Iraq Pledge of Resistance).

As an activist he has organized and participated in the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN), National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Declaration of Peace, Torture Abolition Survivor Support Coalition International (TASSC), Witness Against Torture, and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Committee of Metropolitan Washington DC now a working committee of Washington Peace Center.

For the last several years he has organized and participated in acts of nonviolent civil resistance opposing torture and war.

On January 11, 2007 he was one of almost 90 people arrested by US Marshals for a nonviolent vigil, organized by Witness Against Torture, inside a US Federal Courthouse calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp and for the release or fair trial of the prisoners.

In March 2007 he was one of 7 people, known as the Hart 7, arrested for an act of nonviolent civil resistance, called "The Tombstone Action" in the Hart US Senate Office Building at the time the US Senate voted for more Iraq war-funding. The Hart 7 defended themselves as Pro Se defendants at trial in July 2007 and were found not guilty by their jury.

Most recently he participated in another act of nonviolent civil resistance opposing the Iraq War. On September 20, 2007 he was one of 34 people arrested in the US Capitol Building participating in a die-in.

They were on trial in Washington DC from January 16 to 18 and were found not guilty of disorderly conduct but guilty of unlawful assembly.

On January 11, 2008 he was arrested with over 80 others inside and outside The United States Supreme Court calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp. This nonviolent demonstration was a part of the Witness Against Torture call to shut down Guantanamo. He was put on trial with 34 Witness Against Torture Activists and subsequently found guilty of "Unlawful Free Speech" by Judge Wendell Gardner of the DC Superior Court.

He continues his work with NCNR, Washington Peace Center, and Witness Against Torture and the 100 Days Campaign initiated by Witness Against Torture.

See: www.witnesstorture.org