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Ramsey Clark Responds to Bush's Television Address 9/11/03 Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General, Responds to Bush's Television Address Dear VoteToImpeach Member: Sunday night, September 7, President Bush told the American public and the world to expect more of the same from his administration. More crimes against peace and humanity, more deaths and destruction, more debts and poverty. He wants everyone to help. President Bush has spent $79 billion attacking Afghanistan and Iraq and seeks $87 billion more for another year of violence. What he calls "one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history" has taken more than 30,000 Iraqi lives, destroyed "tens of billions" in facilities essential to life, electricity, water supply, sewage disposal, according to Paul Bremer, and left the whole country destitute, in turmoil, growing violence and rage. Thousands perished in Afghanistan where the destruction remains unrepaired, the people disoriented and impoverished, the highway from Kabul to Kandahar is impassable and violence is mounting. U.S. casualties in Iraq alone have reached 300 dead, 1200 with disabling injuries, and a total of 6000 returned to the United States in body bags, on stretchers, or sick in body or mind. U.S. soldiers are being killed at a growing rate, now 1 or 2 a day. In the meantime, 2 1/2 million jobs have been lost in the U.S., 1.3 million families slid below the impossibly low poverty line of $17,000 a year for a family of four. U.S. government deficits have erased a surplus of $590 billion and created a debt of $400 billion, a trillion dollar loss, with deficits of $400 billion plus expected for the next several years at least. Not content with his crimes against peace, wars of aggression, crimes against humanity, assassination, summary execution, torture and illegal and secret detentions, President Bush boasted "...and we have captured or killed hundreds of Saddam loyalists and terrorists... seizing many caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition. We have carried the fight to the enemy... the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans." That means more wars of aggression. More summary execution and assassinations. More arbitrary arrests, more illegal detentions and disappearances. Guantanamo is a symbol to the world of President Bush's contempt for human rights: torture, suicides, secret detention, military trials, an execution chamber waiting. Guantanamo should be returned to Cuba now -- a century late. U.S. forces must be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan. These must be our last foreign military interventions. U.S. companies must be barred from profiting from contracts for "rebuilding Iraq" which the U.S. destroyed. Ten percent of the U.S. military budget at the 2003 level should be paid into a U.N. fund for the next decade to compensate Iraq and Afghanistan for U.S. crimes against them, to be used as they choose. We are virtually guaranteed more of the same unless President Bush is impeached for his high Crimes and Misdemeanors. To take back the Constitution and save our country Vote to Impeach now. This vote is an unmistakable message from the American people. The world and the present Administration will understand this message. It means we do not accept the crimes President Bush has committed in our name and will not permit their repetition. Sincerely, Ramsey Clark
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