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Kucinich plans to force vote on US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Domestic
Thursday, 10 December 2009 19:33
For Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s announcement Tuesday that his country would need the US’s military support for another 10 or 15 years was the last straw. Kucinich says Karzai’s statement prompted him to draft a resolution calling for a House vote on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kucinich said: “We shouldn’t be there another 15 to 20 months, let alone 15 to 20 years,” adding: “We cannot afford these wars. We cannot afford the loss of lives. .. We cannot afford to fail to exercise our constitutional right to end the wars.” Kucinich said he expects his resolution to land at the House International Relations Committee early next year. If the resolution is voted down, he will ask to have it moved back to the floor of the House, a maneuver that earlier this year allowed him to debate Dick Cheney’s impeachment on the House floor.
The Obama administration has asked an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former Bush administration attorney John Yoo of authorizing the torture of a terrorism suspect. The administration says federal law does not allow damage claims against lawyers who advise the president on national security issues. Justice Department lawyers said Thursday in arguments to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals such lawsuits ask courts to second-guess presidential decisions and pose "the risk of deterring full and frank advice regarding the military's detention and treatment of those determined to be enemies during an armed conflict." The Justice department said its Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating Yoo's advice to George Bush since 2004 and has the power to recommend professional discipline or even criminal prosecution. However, the San Francisco Chronicle reports the Justice department will recommend Yoo be referred to the bar association for possible discipline, but that he not be prosecuted.
Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Thursday, becoming the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize. Just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into battle in Afghanistan, Obama said:“Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms.'' In awarding the prize to Obama, the Nobel panel cited his call for a world free of nuclear weapons, for a more engaged U.S. role in combating global warming, for his support of the UN and multilateral diplomacy and for broadly capturing the attention of the world and giving its people ''hope.'' Obama said: ''Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize ... my accomplishments are slight.” Protesters plastered posters around the city, featuring an Obama campaign poster altered to read: ''Change?''
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