Congress, Bush-Cheney Gang & the "Shadow Government"

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class, except Congress." – Mark Twain

America is in deep trouble because of its warmongering in the Middle East. A big part of the reason for this fact, is that the U.S. Constitution is considered just a piece of paper by most of the elected politicos in Washington. The other problem, even more potentially serious, is that the Iraqi War is bringing into focus the activities of a sinister force that has no allegiance to our democracy, yet it seems to exercise enormous influence over our government. What, if anything, can be done about these matters?

There are, at least, two constitutional arguments to be made against the Iraqi War. The first is that it violates Art. 1, Sec. 8 (11) of that document, since the U.S. Congress failed to declare war. The second is that the war was initiated by the Bush-Cheney Gang not to provide for "the common defense" or to promote "the general welfare," which are two of the noble objects of our Republic, but mostly to enrich the behind-the-scene Wire Pullers, who operate as a kind of "Shadow Government."

From its murderous, terror-filled "Shock and Awe" inception on March 20, 2003, (http://www.cswnet.com/~dgh/3untitled.html) to today’s lethal military operations, the Iraqi War has led to untold deaths, mass mayhem, (http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/) and a waste of our valuable resources. It has also created more enemies for the U.S. in the Islamic World and is a stain on our Republic. (http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm).

The background: On or before Oct. 10, 2002, two of the leading members of the Congress, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), both with ties to Israel’s Ariel Sharon and to the Neocons, like Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, led the charge to enact Joint House Resolution 114. They were aided and abetted by other rabid warmongers, such as Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA). JHR 114 authorizes the, “President…to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary…regarding Iraq.” (http://www.currentconcerns.ch/archive/20030102.php).

In plain language, the Congress, by passing HJR 114, gave away its war-making power to the President to use as he saw fit. This, the U.S. Congress cannot do. The Federal Courts, unfortunately, have allowed this illegal practice to continue by calling the issue a "political question." Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to address this matter, which I feel wouldn’t be the case if we had someone like the legendary John Marshall sitting as its chief judge. In any event, only five American wars have been lawfully declared by the Congress. As for the War Power Resolutions, adopted over the years by the Congress, they are simply a device to cover its collective hide, rather than to do up front its Constitutional duty (http://warandlaw.homestead.com/).

Almost every supposed justification listed in HJR 114, (www.yourcongress.com), to launch the preemptive military attack on Iraq was a damnable lie! Another quote from Mark Twain deserves insertion here. He wrote, "The history of our race, and each individual’s experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and a lie told well is immortal." The White House and many in the Congress knew HJR was full of lies. In fact, to paraphrase Mary McCarthy’s famous retort about playwright Lillian Hellman, the lies in HJR 114 also included every “and,” “the,” “whereas,” and “be it resolved." Some of the more conspicuous lies found in HJR 114, included the phony charges that Iraq had WMD, Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda, and that he had tried to kill George W. Bush, Sr. Sadly, the passage of HJR 114 was resisted by only a handful of dissenters in the Congress (http://www.gp.org/press/pr_10_11_02b.html).

The Founding Fathers strongly subscribed to the idea that the war-making power was vested in the Congress alone. Alexander Hamilton, one of the leading architects of the Republic, was convinced the president was powerless to declare war and to raise armies ("The Federalist Papers," No. 69, 417-18), as was James Madison of Virginia. Madison is known as the "Father of the Constitution" ("James Madison: A Biography," Ralph Ketcham).

I suspect, but I can’t prove, that these "Shadow Government" schemers might include, inter alia, but not be limited to those who have directly benefitted from it, (http://corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=176) like: "Big Oil," the "Military-Industrial Complex" and "Zionist Israel." Remember, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it must be a duck! (See also, Chalmers Johnson’s "The Sorrows of Empire;" Peter Dale Scott’s "Drugs, Oil and War," and his other books, on "Deep Politics;" and Dr. John Coleman’s "Conspirators’ Hierarchy," for background and insights into the probable M. O. of some of these powerful movers and shakers.)

John Adams served as our second president and he was also a splendid scholar. In his "Defense of the American Constitutions," he envisioned the identity of a free and independent America, as taking on a classical form. "The Republic is the property of the people," (Res Publica Est Res Populi) and "anyone causing harm" to it should be marked as "an enemy of the people" and treated as such. "The people alone have sovereignty" (Summa Imperium), Adams wrote, quoting from the learned Cicero, an unrepentant champion of the Roman Republic ("The Founders and the Classics," Carl J. Richard).

In summing up, only the Congress had the power to declare war against Iraq. The alleged reasons for the conflict were based on a mountain of lies. I believe It was primarily started to cater to the interests of the amoral and ruthless "Shadow Government" and not to serve any of the lawful objectives of our government, which are listed in the "Prelude" to the U.S. Constitution. If that could be established, wouldn’t it be an example of "causing harm to the Republic?" And, if so, how can the people combat this sinister force?

If the incomparable Mark Twain were alive today, there wouldn’t be any reason for him to change his low opinion of the Congress or his belief about how lies have a perpetual life of their own. However, in view of the above described situation, the sage of Hannibal, MO. might want to add this line: "In the first place, God made devils. That was for practice. Then he made the Bush-Cheney Gang and the ‘Shadow Government!’"