Over the past few months I have talked to many people about the worsening situation in the Middle East and the US. I’ve talked with family and friends, with strangers in grocery stores and gas stations and with activists and advocates who have been moved to action by the atrocities and crimes of George W. Bush and his regime. I’ve spoken with people who, in the words of Tom Palumbo, have “taken it to the streets,” people who have been arrested, harassed and publicly vilified for expressing their beliefs. And I have spoken with people who are afraid to speak out. But somehow, it was the pragmatic, reasoned words of Dr. Francis A. Boyle that brought fresh urgency to my nightmares.

 

Dr. Boyle , who teaches law at University of Illinois College of Law, Urbana-Champaign, is an internationally recognized expert in international law and human rights. His vita reads like a chronology of the human rights movement of the last thirty years and his books have been hailed for legal and political brilliance. His latest book, “Protesting Power: War, Resistance and Law, offers legal information and political insights for those who protest. A vocal opponent of George W. Bush and one of the first to call for impeachment, Dr. Boyle’s articles and interviews are widely published and many are available online.

 

In March, 2003, Congressman John Conyers convened an emergency meeting of his top advisors to discuss introduction of Bills of Impeachment against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and then Attorney General Ashcroft. Francis Boyle and Ramsey Clark were asked to argue the case for impeachment. Dr. Boyle made the closing argument in the debate.

 

“The point I chose to make was historical. The Athenians lost their democracy to incessant war. The Romans lost their Republic to a dictator. We are not immune to the laws of history. If Americans don’t act now we could lose our Republic.”

 

Although Congressman Conyers did not decide to bring Articles of Impeachment against George Bush and members of his administration, Francis Boyle has continued to oppose the illegal actions of this government. He has drafted several Bills of Impeachment and works tirelessly to restore the Constitution

 

Congress has certainly betrayed the American people and the country by ignoring the clear mandate given by the voters in 2006 to end the war and stop Bush’s all-out assault on the Constitution.

 

“The Democratic Congress has been complicit with everything Bush Jr. has done. The new spy legislation passed just before they went on vacation is truly Orwellian. This ‘Protect America Act’ retroactively approved the illegal and criminal spying operation that has been conducted against the American people, and gutted FISA. And it is a joke and a fraud for them to say they don’t have enough votes to stop the war. They only need to sit on their hands and let the money run out. It is dissembling and disingenuous to say they must vote.”

 

Each day calls for impeachment grow louder and stronger as more and more Americans join the fight to reclaim our country yet Congress still refuses to act. And so the question is, what can we do to force Congress to do its job and uphold the Constitution?

 

“Cindy Sheehan, who is a very brave woman and has become the spokesperson for the peace movement, has the right idea. When Nancy Pelosi refused to consider impeachment and would not represent her constituents, Cindy Sheehan announced that she was running against Pelosi. And Harold Burbank in Connecticut just announced that he will run against (Congressman Christopher) Murphy if Murphy doesn’t submit articles of impeachment against Cheney and Rice and Bush. That’s what we need. We need to put the fear of the Almighty into these people. We need to put up candidates and run against them.”

 

Many people seem to be turning to the elections in 2008 as an answer. Certainly, the media is covering the campaigns as if some solution will be offered up in 14 months. How important is it to begin impeachment proceedings now? Dr. Boyle thinks it is critically important…

 

“I don’t think we have 14 months. I don’t know if we’ll get to the elections. I believe we are going to attack Iran. We now have three carriers in the Persian Gulf. And if we attack Iran, of course, it would cause the whole region to erupt in violence. The draft would be reinstated. I believe Bush would ask for a formal declaration of war, which he doesn’t have now with Afghanistan or Iraq, and I think Congress would give him that. With a formal declaration he would become a Constitutional dictator. And then we would really see the police state tactics kick in. If at least one member of Congress filed a bill of impeachment it would de-legitimize them in the eyes of the military and the intelligence community. It would give some ammunition to those in the Pentagon who don’t want to go to war with Iran. I think this is very important.”

 

And while most of us have an innate sense that what faces our country now is very different than threats in the past, Dr. Boyle has an experiential understanding.

 

“You have to understand. These neo-cons are not conservatives in the traditional sense. They are not following the philosophy of Edmund Burke. I know these people. I went to the University of Chicago with them. Wolfowitz, Khalilzad, Shulsky and the rest. I went through the same training. I was supposed to be one of them. Leo Strauss, the Neocon founder, ran the Department of Political Science. Strauss’ mentor in Germany was Karl Schmidt, the most notorious Nazi law professor of that benighted era. Schmidt tried to justify in legal terms every atrocity the Nazis inflicted. These are the people we are dealing with. They aren’t conservatives. They are really Neo Nazis.”

 

“Nazi” and “fascist” are words that are often used too casually in writing and conversation. The realty that these people are in charge of the government of the United States and in control of our military is a terrifying truth to confront. Dr. Boyle understands with whom we are dealing.

 

“These are extremely dangerous people. They are very bright and they are cunning and ruthless and they have almost no morals. What they want is absolute control. What we have to understand here is that we are one step away from detention camps and martial law.”

 

Dr. Boyle is not content with warnings, however. In addition to running candidates against members of Congress who refuse to do their job, Dr. Boyle has other suggestions for what we can do to stop this rush into expanding wars and the loss of constitutional democracy.

 

“We have to have massive, non-violent civil resistance. We all need to step in and do our part. We need more marches in Washington, DC and local marches. During Viet Nam, Daniel Ellsberg was in the Pentagon during a demonstration against the war and he said that was when he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers, when he saw that demonstration. We have to go all out. And the late, great Phil Berrigan talked about organizing a national strike before he was diagnosed with cancer. I think we need to get that organized. We need a massive campaign of peaceful opposition. We all need to do what our conscience tells us to do.”

 

A few weeks ago I stood in an airport parking lot and talked to my son who was flying back to the west coast about what to do if martial law is declared. It was not a conversation I ever expected to have but it was a necessary conversation. Dr. Boyle understood that, also.

 

“That’s why I work full-time every day fighting-so that our children will have a future. That’s what every parent needs to do.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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