On the final day of the 2003 national meeting of the Green Party of the United States, delegates from state Green Parties represented in the national party's Coordinating Committee approved two major proposals:(1) The Green Party endorsed a call to Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings and resolved to take political leadership in the growing movement for impeachment.
The resolution cites President George W. Bush's and Vice President Dick Cheney's "pattern of making false statements to Congress, the American people, and the world to win support for actions by the American government and military forces" in violation of the U.S. Constitution, Charter of the United Nations, and other international laws; "[s]quandering the resources of the American people to serve the interests of transnational corporations"; and war crimes, including the use of depleted uranium and cluster bombs in the preemptive invasion of Iraq.
According to the resolution, "Evidence has emerged that the intelligence agencies of the United States had repeatedly informed the President that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction nor means to threaten the United States, and that alleged evidence produced by the administration was fraudulent." The resolution also authorizes the Green Party's Peace Action Committee (GPax) to coordinate party activities with other organizations that have called for impeachment.
"The problem isn't 16 erroneous words in the President's January 28 State of the Union address, but dozens of false statements on dozens of issues," said Elizabeth Shanklin, chair of the Bronx County Green Party and a New York delegate at the national meeting.
(2) Greens endorsed a "Home by the Holidays" campaign calling for the U.S. to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, and the Philippines, with this year's winter holidays as a deadline for total return of military personnel. The resolution demands the removal of U.S. troops from harm's way, citing the rising number of combat deaths (over 340) and injuries and numerous noncombat fatalities and the damage to health and the environment from the deployment of chemical, nuclear, and ecological weapons.
According to the resolution, the White House's policy of invading other countries "is hostile to the democratic traditions of the American Revolution, and must be actively resisted by all patriotic Americans." The texts of both resolutions will be posted at the Green Party's web site http://www.gp.org. The meeting took place from Friday, July 18 through Sunday, July 20 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the Green Party of Alabama was admitted to the national party, bringing the number of accredited state parties to 43.
| And the Great State of Alabammy is just pleased as punch... |
Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org |