Group sues to prevent war

Democratic lawmakers, United States soldiers and parents of servicemen filed a lawsuit today in federal court, claiming the imminent war with Iraq is illegal and unconstitutional.

Sixteen people, including six members of Congress, five active military personnel and parents of troops deployed seek an injunction against President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from launching an invasion.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston, contends Bush will break the law if the United States invades Iraq.

"The president is not a king," the group's lead attorney, John Bonifaz, said at a news conference announcing the suit. "He does not have the power to wage war against another country absent a congressional declaration of war. Congress has not declared war."

Congress has not formally declared war since World War II.

In response to the Vietnam War, it passed the War Powers Act in 1973, which requires the president to seek congressional approval before or shortly after ordering military action abroad.

Last October, Congress passed a resolution which states: "This joint resolution may be cited as the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq."

The plaintiffs say an invasion will violate Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which states: "Congress shall have Power … [t]o declare War." They argue the congressional resolution passed last fall did not declare war and unlawfully ceded the decision to Bush.

The lawsuit cites historical records that purportedly show that the framers of the Constitution sought to ensure that presidents would not have the power of European monarchs of the past to wage war.

The Democratic representatives joining the suit are Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Jim McDermott of Washington, Jose Serrano of New York and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. They argue Bush has edged in on their turf.

At the news conference, Conyers referred to Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.

"Get it? Only Congress," Conyers said.

"We have three branches of government," said Bonifaz. "The judiciary has the responsibility to intervene here and protect the Constitution and uphold the rule of law."

"We have a message for President Bush today. Read the Constitution," Bonifaz said.

Nancy Lessin and her husband, Charles Richardson, are among the parents who are parties to the lawsuit. They joined on behalf of their 25-year-old son, Joe Richardson, who is stationed in the Gulf.

"We worry about Joe," she said. "We don't want him to be wounded or die. We don't want him to be forced to wound or kill innocent Iraqi civilians. That would kill part of him and part of us."

"We notice that those who say we've got to go to war aren't going anywhere, nor are their loved ones," Lessin added. "It's other people's children who are now in harm's way – our children."

Lessin, her husband and another plaintiff, Jeffrey McKenzie, founded Military Families Speak Out, an organization of people who are opposed to war in Iraq and who have relatives or loved ones in the military.

Other plaintiffs include a recently activated member of the Massachusetts National Guard, an Air Force reservist from Massachusetts and a U.S. Marine stationed in the Persian Gulf. Their identities are not being revealed.

A similar lawsuit was filed against President George H.W. Bush before the 1991 Gulf War by 54 members of Congress. It was denied by a federal judge in December 1990.

Bonifaz feels the participation of soldiers makes this case stronger.

"They are facing the possibility of death," he explained.

The case has been granted an expedited hearing, which is slated for next Thursday.

Undeterred by the legal maneuver, Bush rallied sailors and their families at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Fla., this afternoon, vowing the U.S. would "use every ounce of our power to defeat'' Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if force is necessary to rid his country of weapons of mass destruction.

"Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the greatest danger facing America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, mass murder,'' Bush said. "That's what we're going to use every ounce of our power to defeat.''

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