President Obama is clearly responsible for war crimes knowingly being committed under his command since he assumed the Presidency on January 20th, 2009 and for which he since has had the ability and authority to not allow. Beginning on March 19th, 2005, VFP National had called for the Impeachment (now arrest and prosecution) of President Bush for the same war crimes in violation of U.S. and International Law, and we believe that Veterans For Peace must apply the same standard to any U.S. President, whether that president is Republican or Democrat, male or female, white or black.

The majority of us feel that calling for the Impeachment of President Obama for war crimes is our duty as a members of Veterans For Peace, consistent with the VFP statement of purpose to restrain our government from intervening, overtly or covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations, to seek justice for veterans and victims of war, to increase public awareness of the costs of war, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy. We also feel the same sense of duty to call for the Impeachment of President Obama for war crimes as those who swore an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic and simply as Americans who have a responsibility for what our President and servant government does in our name.

IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA FOR WAR CRIMES

Whereas Barack H. Obama is Commander In Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces and the head of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government; and,

Whereas the illegal U.S. invasion, bombing and occupation of Iraq initiated by the Bush administration continues under the Obama administration; and,

Whereas the U.S. government is currently engaged in illegal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and Obama has pledged to increase the number of military personnel and the amount of tax dollars spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and,

Whereas the U.S. military has used and continues to use depleted uranium munitions, cluster bombs and white phosphorous in densely populated areas in violation of U.S. and international laws and treaties prohibiting the indiscriminate killing of civilians; and,

Whereas the Geneva Conventions specifically prohibit the use of especially injurious weapons and materials that cause unnecessary harm by remaining active and deadly after a battle and over large areas of land; and,

Whereas a large number of babies born in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from illness and deformity like Down’s syndrome, weak hearts, severe disfigurement and brain damage that doctors believe are caused by the U.S. military’s massive and widespread use of toxic and radioactive materials; and,

Whereas millions upon millions of Iraqi, Afghani and Pakistani civilians have been killed, maimed, poisoned and displaced from their homes as a direct result of the U.S.’s ongoing, illegal acts of war; and,

Whereas illegal, immoral and counterproductive detainee torture and brutalization at the hands of the U.S. military’s Immediate Reaction Force continue at Guantanamo under the Obama administration; and,

Whereas Obama is an accessory after the fact for obstructing justice by not initiating an investigation into numerous and blatant U.S. war crimes committed by the Bush administration for which it is manifestly accountable under the rule of law; and,

Whereas Veterans For Peace supported the impeachment of Bush/Cheney for the same war crimes that are now being committed by Obama in violation of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. federal laws, the United Nations Charter, the Hague Convention, the Geneva Conventions, The United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Nuremberg Tribunal Charter; and,

Whereas Veterans For Peace is committed to its stated mission to restrain our government from intervening, overtly or covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations, to seek justice for veterans and victims of war, to increase public awareness of the costs of war, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy; and, therefore be it...

http://current.com/1jek84c

Excellent post, mcoyote. Thanks for this. The fact that President Obama is continuing many, if not most of Bush's most horrific policies, from our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the encroachment on our civil liberties, etc., is not only downright disgraceful, but it shows what kind of a politician and person that he really is; an arrogant, mealy-mouthed slithering snake who pretends to have the people's interests at heart, but in fact is all out for himself.

"It is difficult to check if any civilians died because the region is virtually inaccessible to journalists. North and South Waziristan are havens for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan."

Consider sentence number two in the context of sentence number one.

With the region virtually inaccessible to journalists, who are the unidentified (but presumably reliable, credible sources) for the Beeb's factual assertions that there's a haven for Osama's cohorts in crime just over the lot line separating Afghanistan from the Pakistani tribal regions, and that this haven is shared by Taliban "militants" blamed (by who?) for attacks (against who? when?) in Afghanistan.

Sentence number one is classic Brit understatement. But it does convey facts with meaningful substance helpful for understanding the ciircumstances in which 700 people - roughly a hundred civilians a month - have been killed by hi tech US military/CIA Predator drone air strikes in this area of the world during the last seven months.

Sentence number two is pure propaganda.

To then conclude that the routine use of drones for targeted killings is "highly controversial" for folks on the ground in Pakistan sometimes on the receiving end goes back to understatement once again, using a turn of phrase borrowed (no doubt by sheer coincidence) from the mainstream media lexicon on the American side of the Atlantic.

The BBC used to be the gold standard for journalistic integrity in its news reporting. No more no way.

Bill from Saginaw

"Suspected Militants". In other words they have no clue whom they are killing. They press the button, KILL and then claim the corpse that of a suspected militant.

They are KILLING for the sheer hell of it.

War crimes, war crimes, American war crimes !

Ah, screw it, I don't have anything useful to add, nor do I ever for that matter. Americans don't give a shit. If we did there would have been a national strike nine years ago. All we give a shit about is getting that new car, that new flat screen television, that next promotion, that European vacation. Well, some of us. Others wonder when, if ever, we are going to eat again, but we needn't be worried about because we are nothing more than poor working class at best. WE are never mentioned in politicians' comments regarding "the poor middle class this, the poor middle class that". We 100 million in this country are simply, conveniently, ignored, except when it is time to command us to purchase health care insurance that we have no hope of being able to afford and fining us for not being able to purchase it, pushing us further into poverty in order to preserve and expand insurance company profits. The only time we are thought of is when some prissy-ass "middle class" asshole begins to fear that he may at some point find himself amongst our ranks. Don't worry though, I'll show you the best bridges under which to establish residency. Fuck the "middle class". They got theirs. I'd be happy with a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich but I can't afford the bacon. Middle class? Go fuck yourselves and your god damned republican and democratic parties. I have no use for any of you. Yeah, yeah, maybe next time I'll try paragraphs. My disgust with this country knows no bounds. Yeah, sure, love it or leave it. If I could afford to I'd leave it in a second. Buy me a ticket. I'll go.

An American military draft of all 22-year-old men and women would probably speed up the end of our imperial occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Can you imagine the children of chick-hawks marching off th war?

Of course, stopping the evil robotic drone murders is another problem. Obama the executioner; no need for a judge, no need for a jury, no need for a DA, no need for formal charges, no need for a trial and a possible sentence. Obama just executes whole houses full of people; if one or two of them ware actually "terrorists" i.,e., people fighting US occupations, then after our attacks the whole village will hate us. Thus, Obama can have an endless supply of "terrorists," and thus maintain his corporate war state at home forever...

There is no difference between pilots killing from 10,000 to 30,000 feet and drones kiling from 10,000 to 30,000 feet. Both are done without conscience!!

Change they can believe in!