The 2008 Elections- the Condensed Landscape

This is an attempt to make a very condensed summary of potentially competitive Congressional races and states which could be competitive in the presidential election. D+x, R+x, or Even is the PVI index for the district or state, which is a measurement of its partisan orientation in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

For House races, the rating from Swing State Project (July 21, 2008) is given as ++D, +D, Toss, +R, ++R, or W for watch. [] Indicates the race is not considered competitive at all by SSP, but is a Republican seat with a PVI which makes it a potential risk or has a high minority percentage (more than 35%). House seats under each state are listed in order of SSP rating and PVI, with most Democratic first. * means the seat is open. A percentage is the percentage of whites in the district with comments afterward on blacks (B), Latinos (L), Asians (A), or Native Americans/Hawaiians (NA/NH).

For Senate and President, victory likelihoods from FiveThirtyEight.com are given for September 30, 2008 if the percentage is between 10% and 90%.

After each race, major party candidates are listed if available and the nominations are already fixed. Races without a major party opponent are dropped from the list. For incumbents running for re-election a date of first election to Congress is given. RSC means a member of the rightist Republican Study Committee and MSP is the Republican moderate Main Street Partnership.

Northeast- 117 EV (22 Sen, 92 House, 3 DC)

ME

NH- Sen D+1, R Sununu- vs. Jeanne Shaheen (32% R, Shaheen +3.4%)
NH- Prez (71%--Obama +2.8%)
NH-01 (Even, D Carol Shea-Porter 2006) vs. Jeb Bradley +D

VT

MA

RI

CT
CT-05 (D+4, D Christopher Murphy 2006), 80%,11L - vs. David Cappiello ++D
CT-04 (D+5, R Christopher Shays 1987, MSP), 71%,11B,13L - vs. Jim Himes Toss

NY
NY-25 (D+3, R Jim Walsh*, MSP) vs. Dale Sweetland ++D
NY-13 (D+1, R Vito Fossella*), 71%,11B,9A vs. Robert Straniere ++D
NY-24 (R+1, D Michael Arcuri 2006) vs. Richard Hanna ++D
NY-20 (R+3, D Kirsten Gillibrand 2006) vs. Sandy Treadwell +D
NY-26 (R+3, R Tom Reynolds*, RSC) Christopher Lee (R) vs. Alice Kryzan (D) +R
NY-29 (R+5, R Randy Kuhl 2004, MSP) vs. Eric Massa +R
[NY-03 (D+2, R Peter King 1992)] vs. Graham Long
[NY-23 (Even, R John McHugh 1992)] vs. Michael Oot

NJ
NJ-03 (D+3, R Jim Saxton*) - Christopher Myers (R) vs. John Adler (D) +D
NJ-07 (R+1, R Mike Ferguson*), 79%,8A - Leonard Lance (R) vs. Linda Stender (D) Toss
NJ-05 (R+4, R Scott Garrett 2000, RSC), 86%,7A - vs. Dennis Shulman ++R
NJ-04 (R+1, R Chris Smith 1980)]- vs. Joshua Zeitz W
[NJ-11 (R+6, R Rodney Frelinghuysen 1994), 83%,6A] - vs. Tom Wyka

PA- Prez D+2, 84%, 10%B (84%--Obama +6.0%)
PA-08 (D+3, D Patrick Murphy 2006) - vs. Tom Manion ++D
PA-04 (R+3, D Jason Altmire 2006) - vs. Melissa Hart +D
PA-10 (R+8, D Chris Carney) - vs. Chris Hackett +D
PA-11 (D+5, D Paul Kanjorski 1985)- vs. Lou Barletta Toss
PA-03 (R+2, R Phil English 1994) - vs. Kathy Dahlkemper +R
PA-15 (D+2, R Charlie Dent 2004, MSP) - vs. Sam Bennett ++R
PA-06 (D+2, R Jim Gerlach 2002, MSP) - vs. Bob Roggio W
PA-05 (R+10, R Peterson*) - Glenn Thompson (R) vs. Mark McCracken (D) W
[PA-18 (D+2, R Tim Murphy 2002, RSC) - vs. Steve O'Donnell]

MD
MD-01 (R+10, R Wayne Gilchrist*, MSP) - Andy Harris (R) vs. Frank Kratovil (D) +R

DE
[DE-AL (D+7, R Michael Castle 1992, MSP)]- vs. Karen Hartley-Nagle

DC

Midwest- 124 EV, 24 Sen, 100 House

OH- Prez D+1, 84%,11B (67%, Obama +2.0)
OH-18 (R+6, D Zack Space) - vs. Fred Dailey ++D
OH-15 (R+1, R Pryce*, MSP) - Steve Stivers (R) vs. Mary Jo Kilroy (D) Toss
OH-16 (R+4, R Ralph Regula*, MSP) - Kirk Schuring (R) vs. John Boccieri (D) Toss
OH-01 (R+1, R Steve Chabot 1994, RSC), 69%,27B - vs. Steven Driehaus +R
OH-02 (R+13, R Jean Schmidt 2005) - vs. Vicotria Wulsin +R
OH-07 (R+6, R Dave Hobson*, MSP) - Steve Austria (R) vs. Sharen Neuhardt (D) ++R
OH-03 (R+3, R Mike Turner 2002, RSC, MSP), 79%,17B - vs. Jane Mitakides W
[OH-12 (R+1, R Pat Tiberi 2000), 72%,22B] - vs. David Robinson
[OH-14 (R+2, R Steve LaTourette 1994, MSP)] - vs. William O'Neill
[OH-05 (R+10, R Bob Latta 2007, RSC)] - vs. George Mays

MI- Prez D+3, 79%,14%B, (88%, Obama +7.0)
MI-07 (R+2, R Tim Walberg 2006, RSC)- vs. Mark Schauer Toss
MI-09 (Even, R Joe Knollenberg 1992), 81%,6A - vs. Gary Peters +R
[MI-11 (R+1, R Thad McCotter 2002)]- vs. Joseph Larkin
[MI-06 (R+2, R Fred Upton 1986, MSP)]- vs. Don Cooney
[MI-08 (R+2, R Mike Rogers 2000)] - vs. Robert Alexander
[MI-04 (R+3, R Dave Camp, RSC, MSP)] - vs. Andrew Concannon
[MI-10 (R+4, R Candace Miller 2002)] - vs. Robert Denison
[MI-02 (R+9, R Pete Hoekstra 1992, RSC)] - vs. Fred Johnson
[MI-03 (R+9, R Vern Ehlers 1993, MSP)] - vs. Henry Sanchez

IN- Prez R+8 (50%, McCain +0.1%)
IN-09 (R+7, D Baron Hill 2006) - vs. Mike Sodrel +D
IN-03 (R+16, R Mark Souder 1994, RSC) - vs. Mike Montagano ++R
IN-04 (R+17, R Steve Buyer 1992) vs. Nels Ackerson W

IL-
IL-14 (R+5, D Bill Foster 2008), 74%,18L - vs. Jim Oberweis +D
IL-11 (R+1, R Jerry Weller*, MSP) - Debbie Halvorson (D) vs. Marty Ozinga (R) Toss
IL-10 (D+4, R Mark Kirk 2000, MSP), 75%,12L,6A - vs. Daniel Seals +R
IL-06 (R+3, R Peter Roskam 2006, RSC), 75%,12L,8A - vs. Jill Morgenthaler W
IL-18 (R+5, R Ray LaHood*, MSP) - Aaron Schock (R) vs. Colleen Callahan (D) W
IL-13 (R+5, R Judy Biggert 1998, MSP), 82%,7A - vs. Scott Harper W
[IL-16 (R+4, R Donald Manzullo 1992, RSC)] - vs. Bob Abboud
[IL-15 (R+6, R Tim Johnson 2000, MSP)] - vs. Steve Cox
[IL-19 (R+8, R John Shimkus 1996)] - vs. Daniel Davis

WI-
WI-08 (Even, D Steve Kagen 2006)- vs. John Gard +D
[WI-01 (R+2, R Paul Ryan 1998, RSC)]- vs. Marge Krupp
[WI-06 (R+5, R Tom Petri 1979, MSP)]- vs. Roger Kittelson

MN- Sen D+1, R Coleman- vs. Al Franken (61% R, Coleman +1.8)
MN-01 (R+1, D Tim Walz 2006) ++D
MN-03 (R+1, R Jim Ramstad*, MSP) - Erik Paulsen (R) vs. Ashwin Madia (D) Toss
MN-06 (R+5, R Michele Bachmann 2006, RSC) - vs. Elwyn Tinklenberg ++R
MN-02 (R+3, R John Kline 2002, RSC) - vs. Steve Sarvi W
[MN-07 (R+6, D Collin Peterson 1990)] - vs. Glenn Menze

IA-
IA-04 (Even, R Tom Latham 1994)- vs. Becky Greenwald ++R
[IA-05 (R+8, R Steve King 2002, RSC)] - vs. Rob Hubler

MO- Prez R+1, 84%,11B (43%, McCain +0.9)
MO-06 (R+5, R Sam Graves 2000)- vs. Kay Barnes +R
MO-09 (R+7, R Kenny Hulshof*)- Blaine Luetkemayer (R) vs. Judy Baker (D) +R
[MO-02 (R+9, R Todd Akin 2000, RSC)]- vs. Bill Haas

ND- Prez R+13, 92%, 5%NA (14%, McCain +7.2)

SD

NE
NE-02 (R+9, R Lee Terry 1998, RSC) - vs. Jim Esch ++R

KS
KS-02 (R+7, D Nancy Boyda 2006)- vs. Lynn Jenkins +D
KS-04 (R+12, R Todd Tiahrt 1994, RSC) - vs. Donald Betts W

South- 173 EV, 28 Senate, 145 House

WV- Prez R+4 (Obama 22%, McCain +4.8%)
WV-02 (R+5, R Shelley Capito 2000, MSP) - vs. Anne Barth ++R

VA- Sen R+3, R Warner*, 70%,19B- [Senate is Safe Democratic]
VA- Prez (78%, Obama +4.1)
VA-11 (R+1, R Tom Davis*, MSP), 67%,10B,11A - Keith Fimian (R) vs. Gerry Connolly (D) +D
VA-02 (R+6, R Thelma Drake 2004, RSC), 67%, 21B - vs. Glenn Nye +R
VA-10 (R+5, R Frank Wolf 1980), 77%,7A - vs. Judy Feder ++R
VA-05 (R+6, R Virgil Goode 1996, RSC), 72%, 24B - vs. Tom Perriello ++R
[VA-04 (R+5, R Randy Forbes 2001, RSC), 62%,33B] - vs Andrea Miller

NC- Sen R+5, R Dole, 70%,21B- vs. Kay Hagan (51% R, Dole +0.1)
NC- Prez (44%, McCain +0.7)
NC-08 (R+3, R Robin Hayes 1998, RSC), 62%,27B - vs. Larry Kissell +R
NC-10 (R+15, R Patrick McHenry 2004, RSC) - vs. Daniel Johnson W

SC-
SC-02 (R+9, R Joe Wilson 2001, RSC), 68%,23B - vs. Robert Miller W
SC-01 (R+10, R Henry Brown 2000, RSC), 74%, 21B- vs. Linda Ketner W

GA- Prez R+6, 63%,29B (11%, McCain +7.5)
GA-08 (R+8, D Jim Marshall 2002), 83%,13B - vs. Robert Nowak +D
[GA-11 (R+18, R Phil Gingrey 2002, RSC), 62%,28B]- vs. Hugh Gammon
[GA-03 (R+19, R Lynn Westmoreland 2004, RSC), 56%,40B] - vs. Stephen Camp

KY- Sen R+7, R McConnell- vs. Bruce Lunsford (79% R, McConnell +5.5)
KY-03 (D+2, D John Yarmuth 2006), 76%,19B - vs. Anne Northrup +D
KY-02 (R+13, R Ron Lewis*, RSC)- Brett Guthrie (R) vs. David Boswell (D) +R
[KY-01 (R+10, R Ed Whitfield 1994)] - vs. Heather Ryan

TN-
[TN-03 (R+8, R Zach Wamp 1994, RSC)]- vs. Doug Vandagriff

AL-
AL-05 (R+6, D Robert Cramer*), 78%,17B - vs. Wayne Parker +D
AL-02 (R+13, R Terry Everett*), 67%,29B - Jay Love (R) vs. Bobby Bright (D) Toss
AL-03 (R+4, R Mike Rogers 2002), 65%,32B - vs. Joshua Segall ++R

FL-Prez 65%,14B,17L (58%, Obama +1.0%)
FL-16 (R+2, D Tim Mahoney 2006), 82%,10L - vs. Tom Rooney +D
FL-24 (R+3, R Tom Feeney 2002, RSC), 80%,10L - vs. Suzanne Kosmas +R
FL-08 (R+3, R Ric Keller 2000), 70%,18L - vs. Alan Grayson +R
FL-25 (R+4, R Mario Diaz-Balart 2002, RSC), 24%,10B,62L - vs. Joe Garcia +R
FL-21 (R+6, R Lincoln Diaz-Balart 1992), 21%,70L - vs. Raul Martinez +R
FL-13 (R+4, R Vern Buchanan 2006, RSC) - vs. Christine Jennings ++R
FL-18 (R+4, R Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 1989), 30%,63L - vs. Annette Taddeo ++R
[FL-10 (D+1, R Bill Young 1970)]- vs. Bob Hackworth
[FL-07 (R+3, R John Mica 1992)]- vs. Faye Armitage
[FL-09 (R+4, R Gus Bilirakis 2006)] - vs. Bill Mitchell
[FL-15 (R+4, R Dave Weldon*, RSC)]- vs. Steven Blythe
[FL-05 (R+5, R Ginny Brown-Waite, MSP)]- vs. John Russell
[FL-12 (R+5, R Adam Putnam, RSC), 72%,12B,12L]- vs. Doug Tudor
[FL-06 (R+8, R Cliff Stearns 1988, RSC), 79%,12B]- vs. Tim Cunha
[FL-14 (R+10, R Connie Mack 2004, RSC)] - vs. Robert Neeld

MS- Sen R+8, R Roger Wicker, 61%,36B- vs. Ronnie Musgrove (85% R, Wicker +7.5)
[MS-04 (R+16, D Gene Taylor 1989), 73%,22B] - vs. John McCay
MS-01 (R+10, D Travis Childers 2008), 71%,26B - vs. Greg Davis +D
[MS-03 (R+13, R Pickering*), 64%,33B] - Gregg Harper (R) vs. Joel Gill (D)

LA- Prez R+5,63%,32B (10%, McCain +9.3)
LA-06 (R+7, D Don Cazayoux 2008), 63%,33B Toss
LA-04 (R+7, R Jim McCrery* 1988, MSP), 62%,33B Toss
LA-07 (R+7, R Charles Boustany 2004), 72%,25B ++R
LA-01 (R+18, R Steve Scalise 2008), 83%, 13B W

AR- Prez R+2,79%,16B (10%, McCain +8.5)

OK-
OK-01 (R+13, R John Sullivan 2002), 76%,6NA - vs. Georgianna Oliver W
[OK-02 (R+5, D Dan Boren 2004), 70%,17NA]- vs. Raymond Wickson

TX-
TX-23 (R+4, D Ciro Rodriguez 2006), 41%,55L - vs. Lyle Larson ++D
TX-22 (R+15, D Nick Lampson 2006), 61%,20L,8A - vs. Pete Olson Toss
TX-10 (R+13, R McCaul 2004, RSC), 66%,19L - vs. Larry Joe Doherty ++R
TX-07 (R+16, R John Culberson 2000, RSC), 67%,18L,7A - vs. Michael Skelly ++R
[TX-32 (R+11, R Pete Sessions 1996, RSC), 50%,36L] - vs. Eric Roberson
[TX-24 (R+15, R Kenny Marchant 2004, RSC), 64%,10B,18L,6A] - vs. Tom Love
[TX-03 (R+17, R Sam Johnson 1991, RSC), 63%,17L,8A] - vs. Tom Daley
[TX-17 (R+18, D Chet Edwards 1990), 71%,10B,15L] - vs. Rob Curnock
[TX-19 (R+25, R Neugebauer 2002, RSC), 64%,29L] - vs. Dwight Fullingim

West- 124 EV, 24 Senate, 98 House

MT- Prez R+13,89%,6NA (18%, McCain +5.6%)

ID
ID-01 (R+19, R Bill Sali, RSC) - vs. Walt Minnick +R

UT

WY
WY-AL (R+19, R Barbara Cubin*, RSC)- vs. Gary Trauner ++R

CO- Sen R+3, R Allard*, 75%,17L- Bob Schaffer (R) vs. Mark Udall (D) (81% D, Udall +5.9%)
CO- Prez (84%, Obama +5.6)
CO-04 (R+9, R Marilyn Musgrave 2002, RSC), 79%,17L - vs. Betsy Markey Toss
[CO-06 (R+10, R Tancredo*, RSC)]- vs. Hank Eng

NM- Sen Even, R Domenici*, 45%,42L,9NA- [Senate is safe Democratic]
NM- Prez (89%, Obama +8.7)
NM-01 (D+2, R Heather Wilson*, MSP), 49%,43L- Darren White (R) vs. Martin Heinrich (D) T
NM-02 (R+6, R Steve Pearce*, RSC), 44%,47L - Edward Tinsley (R) vs. Harry Teague (D) +R

AZ- Prez R+3, 64%,25L,5NA (10%, McCain +8.8%)
AZ-08 (R+1, D Gabrielle Giffords 2006), 74%,18L- vs. Tim Bee +D
AZ-01 (R+2 R Rick Renzi*, RSC), 58%,16L,23NA- Sydney Hay (R) vs. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) +D
AZ-05 (R+4, D Harry Mitchell 2006), 77%,13L- vs. Davd Schweikert +D
AZ-03 (R+6, R John Shadegg 1994, RSC), 79%, 14L- vs. Bob Lord ++R
[AZ-02 (R+9, R Trent Franks 2002, RSC), 78%,14L]- vs. John Thrasher

NV- Prez R+1, 65%,20L (67%, Obama +2.3%)
NV-03 (D+1, R Jon Porter 2002, MSP), 69%,16L,6A- vs. Dana Titus Toss
NV-02 (R+8, R Dean Heller 2006), 75%,15L- vs. Jill Derby ++R

CA-
CA-11 (R+3, D Jerry McNerney 2006), 64%,20L,9A - vs. Dean Andal +D
CA-50 (R+5, R Brian Bilbray 2006, RSC), 66%,19L,10A - vs. Nick Leibham ++R
CA-04 (R+11, R John Doolittle*) - Tom McClintock vs. Charles Brown ++R
CA-26 (R+4, R David Dreier 1980, MSP), 53%,24L,15A - vs. Russ Warner W
CA-46 (R+6, R Dana Rohrabacher 1988, RSC), 63%,17L,15A - vs. Debbie Cook W
CA-45 (R+3, R Mary Bono Mack 1998, MSP), 50%,38L - vs. Julie Bornstein W
[CA-24 (R+5, R Elton Gallegly 1986), 69%,22L] - vs. Marta Ann Jorgenson
[CA-44 (R+6, R Ken Calvert 1992, MSP), 51%,35L] - vs. Bill Hedrick
[CA-25 (R+7, R Howard McKeon 1992, RSC), 57%,27L] - vs. Jackie Conaway
[CA-40 (R+8, R Ed Royce 1992, RSC), 49%,30L,16A] - vs. Christina Avalos
[CA-48 (R+8, R John Campbell 2005, RSC), 68%,15L,13A] - vs. Steve Young
[CA-41 (R+9, R Jerry Lewis 1978, MSP), 64%,23L] - vs. Tim Prince
[CA-42 (R+10, R Gary Miller 1998, RSC), 54%,24L,16A] - vs. Ed Chau
[CA-49 (R+10, R Darrell Issa 2000, RSC), 58%, 30L] - vs. Robert Hamilton
[CA-21 (R+13, R Devin Nunes 2000), 46%,43L] - vs. Larry Johnson

OR- Sen D+1, R Gordon Smith- vs. Jeff Merkley (53% D, Merkley +0.4)
OR-05 (D+1, D Darlene Hooley*), 84%,10L - Kurt Schrader (D) vs. Mike Erickson (R) +D

WA-
WA-08 (D+2, R Dave Reichert 2004), 82%,8A- vs. Darcy Burner Toss
[WA-05 (R+7, R Cathy McMorris 2004, RSC)]- vs. Mark Mays

AK- Sen R+14, R Ted Stevens vs. Mark Begich, 68%,15NA (67% R, Begich +3.1)
AK-AL (R+14, R Don Young), 68%,15NA- ? (R) vs. Ethan Berkowitz (D) Toss

HI-

Jerrold Nadler, His Subcommittee, and Impeachment

This caught my eye. Speaking about the rendition of innocent Canadian citizen Maher Arar to Syria in 2002:

Congressional members called Thursday for a special prosecutor to lead the investigation so criminal charges could be filed.

"Senior American officials ought to go to jail for this," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on constitution, civil rights and civil liberties, who has access to the classified version of a redacted inspector's general report on the government's actions. "There was a deliberate plot to abuse the procedures so they could railroad Arar to Syria, where they knew he would be tortured."

Speakin of "senior government officials", Congressman Nadler, perhaps you should consider hearings into Article XIX of the impeachment charges against George W. Bush. After all, you are the chairman of the subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee which is most relevant to impeachments. The text of Article XIX (and video of Kucinich reading part of it):

ARTICLE XIX
RENDITION: KIDNAPPING PEOPLE AND TAKING THEM AGAINST THEIR WILL TO "BLACK SITES" LOCATED IN OTHER NATIONS, INCLUDING NATIONS KNOWN TO PRACTICE TORTURE

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed", has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President, violated United States and International Law and the US Constitution by kidnapping people and renditioning them to "black sites" located in other nations, including nations known to practice torture.

The president has publicly admitted that since the 9-11 attacks in 2001, the US has been kidnapping and transporting against the will of the subject (renditioning) in its so-called "war" on terror—even people captured by US personnel in friendly nations like Sweden, Germany, Macedonia and Italy—and ferrying them to places like Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, and to prisons operated in Eastern European countries, African Countries and Middle Eastern countries where security forces are known to practice torture.

These people are captured and held indefinitely, without any charges being filed, and are held without being identified to the Red Cross, or to their families. Many are clearly innocent, and several cases, including one in Canada and one in Germany, have demonstrably been shown subsequently to have been in error, because of a similarity of names or because of misinformation provided to US authorities.

Such a policy is in clear violation of US and International Law, and has placed the United States in the position of a pariah state. The CIA has no law enforcement authority, and cannot legally arrest or detain anyone. The program of "extraordinary rendition" authorized by the president is the substantial equivalent of the policies of "disappearing" people, practices widely practiced and universally condemned in the military dictatorships of Latin America during the late 20th Century.

The administration has claimed that prior administrations have practiced extraordinary rendition, but, while this is technically true, earlier renditions were used only to capture people with outstanding arrest warrants or convictions who were outside in order to deliver them to stand trial or serve their sentences in the US. The president has refused to divulge how many people have been subject to extraordinary rendition since September, 2001. It is possible that some have died in captivity. As one US official has stated off the record, regarding the program, Some of those who were renditioned were later delivered to Guantanamo, while others were sent there directly. An example of this is the case of six Algerian Bosnians who, immediately after being cleared by the Supreme Court of Bosnia Herzegovina in January 2002 of allegedly plotting to attack the US and UK embassies, were captured, bound and gagged by US special forces and renditioned to Guantanamo.

In perhaps the most egregious proven case of rendition, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria, was picked up in September 2002 while transiting through New York's JFK airport on his way home to Canada. Immigration and FBI officials detained and interrogated him for nearly two weeks, illegally denying him his rights to access counsel, the Canadian consulate, and the courts. Executive branch officials asked him if he would volunteer to go to Syria, where he hadn't been in 15 years, and Maher refused

Maher was put on a private jet plane operated by the CIA and sent to Jordan, where he was beaten for 8 hours, and then delivered to Syria, where he was beaten and interrogated for 18 hours a day for a couple of weeks. He was whipped on his back and hands with a 2 inch thick electric cable and asked questions similar to those he had been asked in the United States. For over ten months Maher was held in an underground grave-like cell – 3 x 6 x 7 feet – which was damp and cold, and in which the only light came in through a hole in the ceiling. After a year of this, Maher was released without any charges. He is now back home in Canada with his family. Upon his release, the Syrian Government announced he had no links to Al Qaeda, and the Canadian Government has also said they've found no links to Al Qaeda. The Canadian Government launched a Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, to investigate the role of Canadian officials, but the Bush Administration has refused to cooperate with the Inquiry.

Hundreds of flights of CIA-chartered planes have been documented as having passed through European countries on extraordinary rendition missions like that involving Maher Arar, but the administration refuses to state how many people have been subjects of this illegal program.

The same U.S. laws prohibiting aiding and abetting torture also prohibit sending someone to a country where there is a substantial likelihood they may be tortured. Article 3 of CAT prohibits forced return where there is a "substantial likelihood" that an individual "may be in danger of" torture, and has been implemented by federal statute. Article 7 of the ICCPR prohibits return to country of origin where individuals may be "at risk" of either torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Under international Human Rights law, transferring a POW to any nation where he or she is likely to be tortured or inhumanely treated violates Article 12 of the Third Geneva Convention, and transferring any civilian who is a protected person under the Fourth Geneva Convention is a grave breach and a criminal act.

In situations of armed conflict, both international human rights law and humanitarian law apply. A person captured in the zone of military hostilities "must have some status under international law; he is either a prisoner of war and, as such, covered by the Third Convention, [or] a civilian covered by the Fourth Convention….There is no intermediate status; nobody in enemy hands can be outside the law." Although the state is obligated to repatriate Prisoners of War as soon as hostilities cease, the ICRC's commentary on the 1949 Conventions states that prisoners should not be repatriated where there are serious reasons for fearing that repatriating the individual would be contrary to general principles of established international law for the protection of human beings Thus, all of the Guantánamo detainees as well as renditioned captives are protected by international human rights protections and humanitarian law.

By his actions as outlined above, the President has abused his power, broken the law, deceived the American people, and placed American military personnel, and indeed all Americans—especially those who may travel or live abroad--at risk of similar treatment. Furthermore, in the eyes of the rest of the world, the President has made the US, once a model of respect for Human Rights and respect for the rule of law, into a state where international law is neither respected nor upheld.

In all of these actions and decisions in violation of United States and International law, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.