The Impeachables was a political awareness campaign associated with the movements to impeach the following politicians:
It consists of mock personal profiles of these political leaders, each written in first person, highlighting information such as ...
... how Bush, Cheney, Blair, Howard, and the US, UK, and Australian governments:
Manipulated and concealed information vital to public discussion and informed judgment concerning Iraq’s acts, intentions, and possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in order to falsely create a climate of fear and destroy opposition to an illegal US-led invasion of Iraq.
Used the unconscionable doctrine of preemptive defense / first strike, which promotes wars of aggression (not wars of self-defense) that are contrary to the UN Charter, and are therefore war crimes.
... how George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Bush administration:
Unleashed a massive unconstitutional wiretap and spying operation against US citizens.
Usurped powers of the UN by rejecting treaties, committing treaty violations, and frustrating compliance with treaties in order to destroy any means by which international law and institutions can prevent, affect, or adjudicate the exercise of US military and economic power.
Stripped US citizens of their constitutional and human rights.
Declassified information for political purposes.
Set up a worldwide network of secret prisons, torture, and assassinations.
Abused presidential signing statements.
... how Tony Blair:
Made 28 statements about Iraq's weapons that were unsupported by British intelligence assessments and UN evidence available to him, including seriously misrepresenting statements by UN inspectors.
Committed Britain’s support to the US for an invasion of Iraq without the consent of the Cabinet, Parliament, or the people of the UK.
Used two dossiers to justify Britain’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq: ‘Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government’--this dossier plagiarized from various unattributed sources; and, ‘Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation’--this dossier included forged documents that ‘proved’ Iraq’s uranium purchases from Niger.
... how John Howard:
Misrepresented intelligence to support the case for Australia's contribution to the invasion of Iraq.
Ensured that the powers of Australia’s Commission of Inquiry into the UN Oil-for-Food Program were restricted--the Commission was only allowed to investigate the legality of the Australian company AWB Ltd paying the single largest illicit "kickback" to the Iraqi regime; the Commission was barred from investigating the role Howard and his ministers played.
The mock personal profiles also ‘poke fun’ at the politicians. For example, according to the ‘More About What I Am Looking For’ section of Bush’s profile, he wants a woman to talk dirty in bed, saying things such as “Who’s the champion of freedom and democracy? You are Bushy! Who squandered the largest federal surplus in history and created the largest national debt in history? Who’s the War President? You are Bushy!” Another example is Blair’s profile. In the ‘Fill in the blank: _____ is sexy; _____ is sexier’ part of the profile, the Prime Minister wrote, ‘Government-by-cabinet is sexy; government-by-cabal is sexier!” Another example is a reference in Howard's profile to how he admits to employing the “Sergeant Shultz defense.”
SyBaRa created The Impeachables. We are a group of activists, cyberguerillas, artists, alienated voters, and peacemongers. We feel that claims that a “war on terror” will lessen the risks of terrorist attacks are unwise, and that prevailing in the global fight against terrorism by embarking upon pre-emptive wars in 'defense' of freedom surely leads to a destruction of freedom. Human values cannot be defended by unprovoked violence. War only leads to war, more war, and more war.
We feel that many of the actions and policies of the Bush, Blair, and Howard governments since 9/11 to be repressive, unjust, immoral, and illegitimate. We not only believe that the three men leading these governments, and several of their principal officials in Washington, London, and Canberra, should be held accountable for their actions in order to restore faith in the democratic process, but we also believe that they are threats to world peace, human rights, and economic justice.
Too many questions remain unanswered, and we have been deceived and betrayed time and time again--this conduct cannot continue to go unchecked. Those who lead us cannot mislead us and then remain in office. With our hearts and minds, we are taking a stand against criminal wars on foreign countries, torture, the violation of human rights, detentions without trial, contempt for international law, and labeling whole countries as ‘evil.’
We have drawn inspiration from Americans working to bring the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to the floor of the House of Representatives (which has the sole power to vote for impeachment), and then on to the Senate (which would determine guilt or innocence).
We have drawn inspiration from British Members of Parliament who in November 2004 tabled a motion to impeach Tony Blair, and who, considering the potential lack of it’s viability, redrafted the motion in favor of a parliamentary enquiry to examine the conduct of ministers before and after the Iraq war.
We have drawn inspiration from Australians working towards holding John Howard accountable for his war crimes, the children overboard affair, the AWB Ltd controversy, and his manipulation of the Australian electorate.
Each of the members of SyBaRa acted on his or her own accord. We did not receive support or endorsement from other individuals or organizations working towards the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Blair, or Howard. In fact, before launching The Impeachables, we only discussed the campaign with our boyfriends and girlfriends (and in one case, a mother).
Our name SyBaRa is a portmanteau of Sybil, Banksy, and Rainbow. It’s homage to:
Operation Sybil. In 2004, four activists hung a 60-foot banner from NYC’s Plaza Hotel with a backward-pointing arrow titled ‘BUSH,’ and a forward-pointing arrow titled ‘TRUTH.’ The group named themselves after the Greek oracle, Sybil, whose role was to expose truth to humankind.
Banksy, a subversive graffiti artist whose message is often anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment, or pro-freedom.
The Rainbow Warrior. In 1985, France conducted nuclear tests in Oceania, particularly in Mururoa Atoll. The Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace support vessel, traveled to New Zealand to lead a flotilla of yachts protesting these nuclear tests. The ship was sunk by the French foreign intelligence agency in Auckland harbor.
leegolit[at]gmail.com — www.LeeBobBlack.com — This website is parody.