On Pursuing Possible Crimes of the Bush Administration in regard to the IWR

[grantcart]

When the Iraqi War Resolution was coming to a vote and the Administration detailed charge after charge to start an unprovoked war against Iraq, I remember clearly my reaction. If they are lying, lying by cherry picking or lying by exaggeration they will be impeached.

They demanded a blank check and then committed fraud.

The Republican Congress could have had one of the greatest moments of Congressional courage in our history, but they did not do so. They are now paying for that mistake with a historical judgement that will have an impact on American politics for decades.

When the Democrats took power in 2007 I did not favor an impeachment move at that point because the political race for the presidency had already started and it would have looked entirely political. To state that "Impeachment is Off the Table" however was silly - it is never off the table.

Congress should have started a very sober investigation into the reporting of classified information into the policy makers. It should look at how policy makers tried to force an opinion on the intelligence services.

Now President-elect Obama will have the opportunity to have the Justice Department complete a careful review of a very narrow question - were laws broken and were crimes committed? It is not a partisan or a political isssue. It is a technical issue of law.

Like all good Federal prosecutions you don't start at the top but start at the bottom of the pyramid and work up. Define what crimes were committed find the lowest and most vulnerable member of the conspiracy and leaverage a plea for cooperation. This is not a political prosecution but a simple law enforcement action. Let it go up the pyramid to the actor that instigated the criminal acts if any.

I would not be surprised to learn however, that crimes in fact were not committed. A number of times it has been clear that members of the administration knew what the laws were and would skate up to the line but not cross it. Karl Rove was repeatedly called to the grand jury because his actions appeared to have included illegal activity but he was not prosecuted because he knew the law and would stop within a hair of a technical violation.

If it turns out that the Bush administration did not 'technically' violate the law concerning manipulating intelligence material then a careful and objective investigation will reveal what 'loopholes' need to be plugged so that such activities could not be repeated in the future.

[damonm]

1. True - and in the process...

make damn sure we THOROUGHLY EXPOSE the abuses of this administration, whether they broke laws or not.
LIGHT is the answer, not the vengeance that too many DUers call for.