W.E.B. Du Bois
03-24-2011, 05:51 AM
Some far right conservatives claim that the following words by then Senator Biden are a rebuke to President Obama's attacks on the Gadaffi regime without a Congressional declaration of war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adpa5kYUhCA&feature=player_embedded
Biden makes his case narrowly, specifically against war in Iran. He only mentions separation of powers, he doesn't lay out a principle that Presidents must always seek a congressional declaration of war for every military action against the head of a foreign state.
Let's look at another statement by then Senator Obama:
Obama made the assertion in a Dec. 20, 2007 interview with the Boston Globe when reporter Charlie Savage asked him under what circumstances the president would have the constitutional authority to bomb Iran without first seeking authorization from Congress.
"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."
This again has the context of Iran, and attacking the whole 80 million nation of Iran is very different from attacking a regime of a few thousand people.
----------------
Having gotten that out of the way, the question remains: is the war unconstitutional? The Constitution says that the President is merely the commander of the military. The power to declare war rests with the congress. The President has no more authority to declare wars, than does a four star general. In other words, the Constitution says he must have approval from the Congress.
I would say that by the letter of the law, the war may be constitutional, but the Constitution is a document created by men. It is fallible. The document is written two hundred years ago when the US was a weak nation and situations like these were not forseen. I'm in favor of breaking the Constitution here, in the case of Libya.
Republicans favor breaking the Constitution when they believe in the cause as well. McCain, Lindsay Graham, Tim Pawlenty, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Newt Gingrich (before he changed his mind) and many, many others called for this war, and if McCain were President right now, neither he nor the Republican Party, nor the far right would oppose breaking the Constitution in the case of Libya. They would break the Constitution and ignore any talk of the Constitution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adpa5kYUhCA&feature=player_embedded
Biden makes his case narrowly, specifically against war in Iran. He only mentions separation of powers, he doesn't lay out a principle that Presidents must always seek a congressional declaration of war for every military action against the head of a foreign state.
Let's look at another statement by then Senator Obama:
Obama made the assertion in a Dec. 20, 2007 interview with the Boston Globe when reporter Charlie Savage asked him under what circumstances the president would have the constitutional authority to bomb Iran without first seeking authorization from Congress.
"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."
This again has the context of Iran, and attacking the whole 80 million nation of Iran is very different from attacking a regime of a few thousand people.
----------------
Having gotten that out of the way, the question remains: is the war unconstitutional? The Constitution says that the President is merely the commander of the military. The power to declare war rests with the congress. The President has no more authority to declare wars, than does a four star general. In other words, the Constitution says he must have approval from the Congress.
I would say that by the letter of the law, the war may be constitutional, but the Constitution is a document created by men. It is fallible. The document is written two hundred years ago when the US was a weak nation and situations like these were not forseen. I'm in favor of breaking the Constitution here, in the case of Libya.
Republicans favor breaking the Constitution when they believe in the cause as well. McCain, Lindsay Graham, Tim Pawlenty, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Newt Gingrich (before he changed his mind) and many, many others called for this war, and if McCain were President right now, neither he nor the Republican Party, nor the far right would oppose breaking the Constitution in the case of Libya. They would break the Constitution and ignore any talk of the Constitution.