NATION/WORLD

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 5

I


Conyers decides not to pursue
" action to impeach president

A night on the town

Advice from legal
scholars proves insufficient
for Bush's impeachment
By Dan Trudeau
Daily Staff Reporter
Speculation that U.S. Rep. John
Conyers (D-Detroit) was preparing
articles of impeachment against
President Bush have proved false.
While Conyers has received a
large and varied response on the
issue, his spokeswoman said, he
will not lead a campaign to
impeach the president.
Concerns that Bush did not
adhere to the Constitution in initiat-
ing war with Iraq initially prompted
Conyers to seek legal advice about
the possibility of impeachment.
"The congressman believes that
pursuing articles of impeachment is
not a wise or productive course.
However, he believes that there are
constitutional and due-process
issues that the Bush administration
needs to address," spokeswoman

Dena Graziano said.
Under the Constitution, Conyers
has the legal power to propose an
impeachment hearing as a member
of the House of Representatives.
However, in order to impeach the
president, a congressman has to
prove that president is guilty of
"treason, bribery or other high
crimes and misdemeanors," or a
serious breach of office or abuse of
duty, Wayne State University law
Prof. Robert Sedler said.
"There may be questions as to
whether some actions of the Bush
administration are constitutionally per-
missible, but they do not rise to the level
of serious breach of official duty or seri-
ous abuse of office," Sedler said.
The speculation began as a result of
talks between Conyers and legal
experts who suggested the possibility
of impeachment to the congressman.
"He was approached by some law
professors who were concerned
about the administration's abuse of
due-process," Graziano said.
"He convened a meeting with
lawyers and legal experts to discuss

the issue and ultimately decided not
to pursue any action. We want to set
the record straight on that."
Sedler concurred with Conyers'
decision to not pursue legal action
against the president and noted that
the congressman's senior position
- he is the ranking democrat on
the House Judicial Committee,
which would hold any impeachment
hearing - within the House
requires that he act with caution.
"Congressman Conyers is one of
the leading and highly respected
members of Congress, so it is not
surprising that he would decide that
it is not proper to pursue articles of
impeachment against the presi-
dent," Sedler said.
In February, Conyers joined five
other members of Congress and a
group of soldiers and their families
to file a lawsuit against Bush that
was dismissed later that month by a
federal judge.
The suit aimed at preventing the
president from launching an inva-
sion of Iraq without a congressional
declaration of war.

SAPAH PrAUPraily
Lights shine bright from Ann Arbor buildings as the University's skyline Is illuminated last
night.

U.S. public grows more pessimistic about war

WASHINGTON (AP) - Images of battered
American POWs, downed Apache helicopters
and U.S. fatalities in Iraq have had a dramatic
impact on the public's perception of the war.
Just 38 percent said the conflict was going
well on Monday, down from 71 percent last Fri-
day, according to a poll by the Pew Research
Center.
But the plummeting confidence barely
changed overall support for the war and Presi-
dent Bush's stewardship.
About seven in 10 Americans said the U.S.-led
military campaign was the right thing to do, and
overall approval of the president remained high
at about 71 percent, according to the daily sur-
vey conducted March 20-24.
Lunchtime interviews yesterday found the
same opinions.
Valerie Akins, a 50-year-old dental hygienist
in Boston, said the fierce fighting had dashed
her hopes for an immediate resolution but had
not dampened her support for the war.
"I thought the war would be over really quick-
ly, that they'd give up really fast, but it's just
been going on and on. I thought they'd give up in
a week," Akins said. "But we're there for a pur-
pose, so until this purpose is realized, I'll be
there for them."
Jeffrey Moro, a 48-year-old graphic artist in
New York, said he expected a repeat of the 1991
Persian Gulf War, in which the ground war lasted
100 hours, but events have convinced him he
was mistaken.
"It seems the Iraqis are putting up more of a
fight than last time. It's going to be a longer
drawn-out affair," said Moro, who wondered if

an increasing number of casualties would erode
public support.
"I think people may change their minds and
take a different view."
Most Americans are paying close attention to
the developments from the Persian Gulf - 57
percent are following the news very closely and
33 percent somewhat closely.
Nine in 10 cite television as their main source
for news.
During the five-day period, TV views of air
attacks on Baghdad and the coalition forces'
rapid push gave way to reports of casualties,
Iraqi resistance and Americans held captive.
"The bad news has registered on them, but it
hasn't undermined their resolve," Andrew Kohut,
director of the Pew Research Center, said of the
poll results.
The number of people who said the war was
going very well was 50 percent on Thursday, one
day after the conflict began.
That number rose to 71 percent on Friday and
69 percent on Saturday before dropping to 52
percent on Sunday and 38 percent Monday.
A fresh sampling of 1,495 was taken each day,
according to Kohut. The poll had a margin of
sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage
points.
TRe sid the 24-hour cover ge has'created a sit-
uatioA in which "the American putf ic is getting a'
full dose of this and making judgments contem-
poraneously with events in Iraq." -
Still, partisan divisions have only hardened in
the opening days of the war. Nine in 10 Republi-
cans believe the United States' pre-emptive
action was the right decision, compared with 58

"It seems the Iraqis are putting
up more of a fight than last
time. It's going to be a longer
drawn-out affair."
--Jeffrey Moro
Graphic artist
percent of Democrats.
Among Democrats, a majority of liberals feel
the decision to go to war was wrong - 54 per-
cent to 42 percent.
Backers of the war also have a more favorable
view of media coverage.
Overall, about eight in 10 consider the cover-
age good or excellent, about the same as during
the 1991 war.
Of those who support the war, 83 percent give
the media high marks, compared with two-thirds
of those opposed to the war.
The survey found increasing unhappiness with
anti-war criticism. In the last days of the poll, 45
percent said they have heard too much from war
opponents, compared with 37 percent during the
survey's first three days.
The suryey also.found adivision in opinion.
between men and women, and between whites
and blacks.
Men were more likely to say that the United
States made the right decision 'in launching ther
offensive, 80 percent to 65 percent for women.
White Americans overwhelmingly believed the
decision was right (77 percent), while blacks
were more divided, 48 percent to 43 percent.

AP PHOTO
British wounded are flown out from 1 CS Medical Regiment based near Basra, southern
Iraq, in a Puma helicopter.
n~
War could require
reservists' famlies
to change doctors


WASHINGTON (AP) - Families
of reservists called up for the war
could be in a health care jam. After
30 days of active duty, insurance
coverage by the reservists' regular
employers switches to a military
plan, and that can mean having to
switch doctors.
Lawmakers want to let them keep
their private coverage, with the govern-
ment picking up the premiums.
In the past week, the Bush administra-
tion has begun urging government agen-
cies to continue paying the premiums
for federal employees called to active
duty so that they can keep their employ-
er-based insurance with no penalty.
And in Congress, Sen. Edward
Kennedy and Rep. Mike Capuano, both
Massachusetts Democrats, have offered
legislation that would amend health laws
to allow activated reservists to keep their
employer-based coverage. The federal
government would pay their premiums.
"The object here is to provide
more seamless coverage for depend-
ents and reservists so they don't
have to drop out of their civilian
program, . . . and then somewhere
down the line, go about re-establish-
ing their insurance," said Steve
Anderson, legislative counsel for the
Reserve Officers Association.
MEDIA
Continued from Page 1
minimize negative reporting. But war
is all about killing, and not showing
war dead is not showing the full truth."
Andrew Finkel, a Michigan journal-
ism fellow, said the government has
used the media to further its goal of
going to war with Iraq.
"There is an overwhelming sense of
self-righteousness (by the Bush admin-
istration) and the media didn't do
much to deflate it," said Finkel, a free-
lance reporter in Turkey now on sab-
batical at the University. "When you
have a government so determined to
do this, it is very difficult for the
edia to stand in the way."
"A lot of people justify the deci-

With the efforts under way, "They
can continue with the doctors they
know," Anderson said. "It will be
more seamless."
Kennedy said "the least we can do for
these brave men and women is to help
their families at home by assuring they
receive quality health care without inter-
ruption during their absence."
So far, close to 213,000 reservists
have been mobilized. Supporters
said the changes essentially would
help family members of reservists.
Those mobilized for more than 30
days of duty, and their family mem-
bers, are covered under the military
health insurance program known as
TRICARE.
While the reservist has easy
access to healthcare while in serv-
ice, family members often must
scramble to find new doctors in
order to accommodate their new
health plan.
The sudden change can be even
more traumatic if a member of the
family is undergoing a specific
treatment regimen, supporters of
the bill said.
The idea of helping ease health
care problems of activated
reservists' families already has
found some Republican support.

Don't Miss
This Great Opportunity
To Learn About
Outstanding Careers
In Pharmacy

What: Pharmacists from diverse
practices discuss the many
interesting, high-paying
career, options open to
pharmacy school graduates
Current students discuss their
choice of pharmacy and their
own experiences in one of the
top-ranked pharmacy schools
in the U.S.
When: 6-8 p.m., Thursday,
March 27, 2003
Where: Room 1544, C.C. Little
Building on North University
between Church and Fletcher
Streets, across from the
Exhibit Museum of Natural
History

network on Sunday broadcast images
of captured and slain American sol-
diers, the U.S. media decided only to
air short clips or still photos. U.S. mili-
tary officials in Qatar and the Pentagon
criticized A1-Jazeera for broadcasting
these images and asked the U.S. media
to halt the airing of these video
footages until family members were
notified.
Collings said it is insensitive to
air videotapes of POWs before their
families have been notified. But he
also said it is important for the
American public to know about
captured American soldiers.
"The images are important ... so
that we can see what condition they are
in and whether they may have been
mistreated." Collings said, adding that

Why:

To share information and

answer questions about
pharmacy careers
Pizza and soda will be served
For more information, contact:
Assistant Dean Valener L. Perry
Telephone: (734) 764-5550
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