WASHINGTON - September 28 -

Who: Veterans For Peace, a national organization of military veterans including men and women from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, other conflicts and “peacetime.”

What: Veterans For Peace insists that Congress reject any effort to weaken the 1996 War Crimes Act (USC §2441), and initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for the war crimes they have committed and for the treaties they have violated by the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

On Monday, September 25th, spurred by news reports that the Bush administration was proposing legislation to Congress to weaken the 1996 War Crimes Act and protect administration officials from prosecution for war crimes, while at the same time prosecuting service members for the same or similar acts; Veterans For Peace National President David Cline, wrote Congress an open letter to express the organization’s outrage. In the letter David Cline stated, “It is the highest form of hypocrisy to claim to support our troops while allowing the policy makers and planners of a war of choice, that we believe is illegal, immoral and unjust, to change existing law to protect themselves from prosecution for committing war crimes after ordering the troops to war.”

The Veterans organization vehemently insists that Congress:

(1) Reject any effort to weaken the 1996 War Crimes Act (USC §2441), and

(2) Based on USC §2441 and Article II of the Constitution, initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for the war crimes they have committed and for the treaties they have violated by the invasion and occupation of Iraq; including, but by no means limited to, waging a war of aggression, crimes against peace, and war crimes.

On Thursday, Michael McPhearson, National Executive Director of Veterans for Peace said, “It is disgraceful that the House chose to go along with this President’s wishes and pass a bill changing how the U.S. interprets the Geneva Conventions to a lower standard. Instead of leading the world on human rights and treatment of prisoners, the Bush administration is trying to turn back the clock. It opens the door for other nations to do the same, placing our service members at greater risk. I hope the Senate has better judgment.”

The full text of the letter can be found on the group’s website, www.veteransforpeace.org.

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