Vermont Congress candidate calls on Pentagon to arrest Bush, Cheney
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Last modified 2006-09-25 10:55
Saturday, Septmber 23— Former Army Lieutenant and candidate for Congress in
Vermont, Dennis Morrisseau, today called for the arrest of President Bush
and Vice President Cheney by the American military "if necessary" to prevent
an unauthorized attack upon the nation of Iran.
The antiwar Vietnam vet is a Republican, but he has won approval from the
State of Vermont to run on the ballot line “Impeach Bush Now,” rather than
Democrat or Republican.
"American forces are apparently already active inside Iran, and Naval forces
have received orders to deploy to that country," Morrisseau said. "The
President has NO AUTHORITY to attack the nation of Iran whatsoever, in the
absence of a full, formal Declaration of War on Iran by the sitting
Congress."
Morrisseau said any order for an attack upon Iran or to deploy naval forces
to its coastal waters is illegal, and called upon officers of the American
military to "First, refuse to obey such an order. If the president persists
and insists on ordering our forces into combat in or over Iran without a
formal Declaration of War, then I call upon you, General Pace, as Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs, and upon such other military officers as clearly see
their duty in these circumstances to detain both the President and Vice
President, until such time as the Congress shall act."
Letter to General Pace of the Joint Chiefs
Morrisseau, who was court-martialled for opposition to the Vietnam War in
1968, said he has written to General Pace to ask for the intervention of the
military. "In spite of my opposition to the Vietnam War and the
court-martial which we ultimately defeated, I was a good soldier who had the
respect of my superior officers throughout the ordeal. And they had mine!"
Morrisseau said. "There are many many, very, very decent people in the
active duty military. I know this," he said " people who love their country
and democracy too, and hate war."
Morrisseau wrote that "Iran is no present threat to us or anyone. Their
right to enrich uranium under treaties signed by us for the production of
nuclear power is clear: and that is all they have so far done. An attack
upon that nation now by us, acting alone will constitute an illegal war of
aggression under international law. It is illegal under our law as well. I
urge you to so advise the President," Morrisseau wrote to Pace, "and urge
that he take no such actions. In particular, he must not act in the absense
of a full, formal, responsible War Declaration by Congress. That is the
Constitutional requirement."
If he and Cheney persist, Morrisseau wrote, "than the country must rely upon
you, Sir, and our armed forces generally, to resist all illegal orders by
Bush or Cheney, and take the gentlemen into custody if necessary."
October Surprise
Morrissaeu's website notes that the Bush Administration and the Pentagon
have issued orders for a major "strike group" of ships, including the
nuclear aircraft carrier Eisenhower as well as a cruiser, destroyer,
frigate, submarine escort and supply ship, to head for the Persian Gulf,
just off Iran's western coast.
This information follows a report in the current issue of Time, that a group
of ships capable of mining harbors has received orders to be ready to sail
for the Persian Gulf by October 1st.
As Time writes in its cover story "What Would War Look Like?" evidence of
the forward deployment of minesweepers and word that the chief of naval
operations had asked for a reworking of old plans for mining Iranian harbors
"suggest that a much discussed—but until now largely theoretical—prospect
has become real: that the U.S. may be preparing for war with Iran."
According to Lieut. Mike Kafka, a spokesman at the headquarters of the
Second Fleet, based in Norfolk, Virginia, the Eisenhower Strike Group,
bristling with Tomahawk cruise missiles, has received recent orders to
depart the United States in a little over a week. Other official sources in
the public affairs office of the Navy Department at the Pentagon confirm
that this powerful armada is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or
around October 21st.
Anti Vietnam War Veteran
Second Lieutenant Dennis Morrisseau was arrested and court-martialled as an
Army 2nd lieutenant for repeatedly speaking out in uniform against the
Vietnam War, then refusing shipment to South East Asia. His legal team
defeated the court-martial and he was allowed to resign his commission in
early 1968. The court-martial charges called for 5 years in prison at
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
Statement by Morrisseau
I'm an old war horse and a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont who believes we must impeach Bush and Cheney, and we must
remove the neoconservative cabal from power.
Our great nation has suffered a coup.
And there is an immediate need for action and for the piercing of illusions.
We need to step across old political boundaries and ideas. Who cares about
"Democrats" vs. "Republicans"? The leadership of both parties is thoroughly
corrupt. And that "leadership" exercises its power through control of
Congress, not the presidency.
Presidents are figureheads and presidential elections are "bread and
circuses." In our American system, Congress rules because Congress makes the
laws and Congress writes the checks that fund all government activity.
Our leaders are very happy to have us believe otherwise.
But no president can govern at all without the full cooperation of Congress.
The 109th Congress and its leaders of both parties are fully complicit in
all actions taken so far by the Bush administration, no matter what they say
for public consumption. Their true loyalty is to their fellow senators and
representatives and their corporate backers and not to us.
Morrisseau campaign website— |
