Secretary Gates believes that for the United States, once committed to a NATO operation, to unilaterally abandon that mission would have enormous and dangerous long-term consequences.
That was U.S. Department of Defense Spokesman Geoff Morrell, June 2 2011, explaining why it would be a bad idea for Congress to hold a vote on the authorization of the season-old war in Libya.
According to Article I Section 8 of the United States Constitution, it is the sole power and responsibility of the Congress to declare war. According to the War Powers Act, passed into law over the veto of Richard Nixon, the President may only send the forces of the U.S. military into conflict by himself in the case of an attack upon the United States. Otherwise, the Act states, the President must obtain a declaration of war or explicit congressional authorization. Even if the President acts on his own in the case of an attack upon the United States (and Libya did not attack the United States), the President must either receive express permission from the Congress to continue the armed conflict or withdraw forces from that conflict after 60 days’ time.
The administration of President Barack Obama did not seek or obtain Congressional authorization before entering into hostilities with the nation of Libya, even though the United States was not attacked. That is a violation of the War Powers Act. The Obama administration has not sought or obtained Congressional authorization since, even after U.S. hostilities with the nation of Libya extended well past 60 days. That is also a violation of the War Powers Act. Given its violation of the law in matters of life and death, it takes some gall for the Obama administration to be making complaints.
You can give it a stuffy name like the Obama Doctrine, but what it works out to is a shuffling two-step:
1. The President can start a war whenever he wants to.
2. Once the war is underway, it would be dangerous and calamitous for the Congress to stop it.
That’s not a presidency. That’s a kingship.
Postscript: If this sort of unconstitutional, law-breaking, power-hoarding behavior strikes you as un-American, then don’t just sit there like a spud. Do something about it. Find the phone number of your member of Congress. Make a call and tell your Representative to vote Yes on H.Con.Res. 51 to explicitly de-authorize military action against Libya. The measure is apparently coming up for a vote today.
Fat lot of good that did. i’d wager that if millions of people called their congresscritter, it STILL wouldn’t have passed because of the lobbying and big money behind the military, homeland security and the prison nation we’re building day by day. When are you going to “get it” that THEY DON’T CARE WHAT WE THINK, they do what they want. Voting does absolutely nothing to change this because, once in office, they all have to “play ball” on the same (“i gotta get re-elected and the corporations and vested interest groups have all the money”) field.
Democracy has been co-opted by disaster capitalism, and like all the outsourced jobs, ain’t comin’ back.