And I’ve signed on to his call to impeach Cheney as well. I’ve been slow to sign onto impeachment hearings, because they didn’t seem that likely to be helpful in dealing with Bush. I mean, what if he was impeached and removed from office as a result? Dick Cheney could potentially become president… oh, wait, unless Cheney gets impeached first! Now there’s an idea….

And why not impeach the vice president? After all, the president is so busy vetoing legislation, he hardly has the time. Bush has managed to spend most of 2007 pushing the D’s around, so the impeachment hearings might wind up with him asking them questions. But Vice President Cheney, he doesn’t hold the sway of Bush (one clue: no matter how low Bush’s approval goes, Cheney’s is always lower). Impeachment hearings of VP Cheney could get us lots of useful information about how we wound up illegally invading Iraq (yes, some of us still care that the invasion was illegal). Impeachment does not have to mean forcing someone out of office, it just means a chance to ask questions and find out more about what this administration’s choices and actions:

impeachment (a formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office) (thanks, wordnet)

And yes, I think Kucinich is a wise and wonderful politician, and I feel like I want to give him his due for pushing impeachment all this time. But why not try supporting this newest call for impeachment led by Wexler? He is secure in his district and so perhaps not as easy to discourage as the average Democrat. He was so confident last year that Colbert got him to say a bunch of ludicrous statements on national TV.

But, don’t hold that against him. Watch his new video for why it’s time to impeach Cheney. Read his Oped about how this is the duty of Congress. Sign onto the latest call for impeachment hearings of Vice President Cheney and the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, and tell your friends to as well.

True Majority has collected direct quotes from presidential candidates about who would still bomb Iran now that our own intelligence community has compiled a wide swath of information that indicates Iran does not appear to be pursuing nuclear weapons at this time. (The True Majority report requires that you confirm that you really are a member before you read their information — but they are well worth joining.)

Even if Iran were developing nuclear weapons, who are we to deny them? We maintain a stockpile of over 5,000 nuclear weapons, and we are the only country that has ever dropped a nuclear weapon on another country (two nuclear bombs, on civilians). We have so many nuclear weapons, that we can even loose track of some… as happened this past summer, when we misplaced six nuclear-armed cruise missiles for a day.

I hope that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, but no matter what, it is an illogical and hypocritical reason to threaten military action. I’m hoping that they don’t develop nuclear weapons because there are too many nuclear weapons in the world already. Here’s a chart of the nuclear-armed countries compiled by the Center for Defense Information:

* Together, the Russian and American arsenals have been estimated to equal 26,000 warheads. This number is in stark contrast to the number of warheads reported under each country’s responsibility to the START II agreement. This is due to a large number of warheads on responsive reserve.

** The total number of North Korean nuclear weapons is based on the amount of weapons possible with the amount of weapons grade plutonium estimated on hand. The exact number is unknown.

Well, gosh… here’s something interesting about the list — North Korea and Pakistan are on it! Speaking of countries whose actions are very dangerous and concerning… North Korea is ruled by a dictator whose rule has led to the deaths of many thousands of his people (much like the former ruler of Iraq). North Korea has definitely been a nuclear threat…. But, over the last year, we have talked them down from the ledge, not by threatening to invade but by offering them aid and improved diplomatic relations.

Pakistan is suspected of harboring Al Quaeda training camps (much like Afghanistan), and well, let’s see, is a military dictatorship… and they have nuclear weapons too. Yet this administration doesn’t threaten to bomb either of them the way that we have Iran and Iraq (prior to our 2003 invasion, Rumsfeld refused to rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Iraq).

It’s glaring on this chart that the two countries we have invaded during this administration are both not on this list of nuclear-armed countries, given the prominence of nuclear weapons talk (“WMD!s WMD!s”) when the Bush administration wants to justify invading a country. So if you were a small country and not on the good side of this administration, would you maybe think about developing nuclear capability? Yes, that’s an unfortunate reality.

William Langewiesche’s excellent book Atomic Bazaar describes how we have set ourselves up by creating such an imbalance between our nuclear capabilities and that of the rest of the world, in a time when nuclear weapons are the great military equalizer between countries. Nuclear weapons deliver a lot of destruction for their relative size and investment, and have a significant deterrent effect on other countries. (Think for a moment… if Iraq really did have nuclear weapons in 2003, would it have made sense to invade the country and risk a launch against us?)

All a country (or a political group) needs is one nuclear weapon to be able to inflict significant loss of American life. The knowledge that another country could strike back and inflict significant damage does seem to have somewhat of a pacifying effect on us… it is completely logical that a country would pursue nuclear weaponry as a means of preventing our invasion.

And yet, even in the face of that grim reality, our government’s assessment is that Iran is probably not pursuing nuclear weapons. My concern is that we will we compel them into it by continuing to threaten Iran with military action.

Until we completely renounce our own development and deployment of nuclear weapons, it is hypocritical and irrational for us to expect the rest of the world to reject nuclear weapons. Any candidate who thinks that threatening to invade countries based on this “if you have don’t have nuclear weapons and try to acquire them, we’ll invade you first” argument isn’t going to get my vote.

So be sure to read what presidential candidates have to say, and tell them to stop talking about invading Iran — before we compel even more countries to try and acquire nuclear weapons to protect themselves from us. That’s a does of reality that this election could use.

Fernando Suarez’ son Jesus was killed just a few days into the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 under unclear circumstances — possibly the unintentional victim of a U.S. cluster bomb. Since then, Suarez has founded the Aztec Warrior Peace Project to speak to young Latinos about the real dangers of military life and military service.

I was excited to hear about a group that was doing this work, since there is a long history of Latino military service, but there is also a history of Latino organizing against war (for more, check out Raza Si, Guerra No). And I was surprised to read about another thing that happened after the death of the young Marine Jesus Suarez:

When he died, Jesus Suarez automatically became a US citizen, allowing him to be buried as an American soldier.

There are around 30,000 green card holders on active duty, and their fates vary… some folks will get their green cards, like Segun Frederick Akintade, then get killed (he got his green card while in the reserves before his violent death in Iraq). Others may have family members threatened with deportation after their death, like Specialist Alex Jimenez, whose wife was fighting deportation after his abduction earlier this year (she was able to get a hardship waiver after the case attracted national attention).

And yes, others will get their citizenship thanks to an expedited process available to some military personnel. The military swore in 200 folks in Veteran’s Day ceremonies overseas last month.

I agree with Mr. Suarez that folks should just be clear on the risks they’re taking on when they enlist in today’s military: you may see a faster path to becoming a citizen, or you may be changed by your military service in ways you not prepared for, or you may be blown to bits, leaving your family to grieve you.

YANO (Youth and Non-Military Opportunities) has an excellent flier for folks who are immigrants to the U.S. and are considering military service:

http://www.projectyano.org/pdf/CITIZENSHIP_AND_ENLISTMENT_Span-English.pdf