AlterNet has this story, which details how peace activists across the country are gearing up to grab stacks of Cheney's book upon its release and deposit them in the crime section of local bookstores.
Medea Benjamin offers ten reasons why it would be perfectly legitimate to do so. It's a list to which I'm sure we here could add more items. (Quotes indicate when I've drawn directly from his text.)
1. Cheney lied about WMD; Iraqis and U.S. soldiers died - this one needs no explication, though I'll add that over 4,000 American soldiers died as a result of Cheney lying both about the existence of WMD and of Hussien's ties to al Qaeda after 9/11.
2. Committing War Crimes in Iraq - Bush/Cheney violated the Geneva Conventions by, among other things, approving the use of illegal weapons, including white phosphorous and depleted uranium.
3. War profiteering - "Cheney was CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000, leaving for the VP position with a $20 million retirement package, plus millions in stock options and deferred salary. Before the Iraq War began, Halliburton was 19th on the U.S. Army's list of top contractors; with Cheney’s help, by 2003 it was number one—increasing the value of Cheney’s stocks by over 3,000%."
4. Violating basic rights. - In violation of international and U.S. law, Cheney championed the detention of thousand of prisoners without any due process or access to council, and many of these prisoners secreted away to unknown locations.
5. Advocating torture. The phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques” has long been championed by Cheney, and he continues to claim that waterboarding worked to help protect Americans while simultaneously stating that he would reject such methods being used on American soldiers by other governments. Oh, and no evidence exists that such techniques worked. Oh, and it's against international law to use such techniques.
6. Trying to prolong the Afghan war - Cheney continues to criticize Obama for drawing down troops in Afghanistan, and stated recently “I don't think we need to run for the exits." Could personal gain be involved in such positions? Or is he simply a war monger? Or both?
7. Abusing executive privilege - "Cheney used executive privilege to refuse to comply with over a dozen Congressional subpoenas related to improper firing of Federal attorneys, torture, election violations and exposing—for political retribution--the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation."
8. Spying on us - "Cheney was the mastermind behind the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program that spied on thousands, perhaps millions of American citizens on American soil." The program violated FISA, the 4th amendment of the Constitution and the Telecommunications Act.
9. Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran - "When Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, the company skirted the law against investing in Iran by using a phony offshore subsidiary. Once VP, however, Cheney advocated bombing Iran. "I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues," Cheney said in response to questions about whether the Bush administration should have launched a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities prior to handing over the White House to Barack Obama."
10. Favored bombing Syria—and North Korea—instead of negotiating - At a session of the National Security Council in 2007, Cheney writes that he forcefully advocated bombing Syrian nuclear reactors unilaterally, without any need to confer with the international community. He writes, “After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.” I wonder why.
Have any more? Feel free to add them in the comments. Additionally, here is the link to the Facebook page where activists are planning to move Cheney's book.
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