COMMON DREAMS– President Obama failed to seek a declaration of war before ordering U.S. attacks on Libya. Now, he faces a challenge under the War Powers Resolution.
By any reasonable reading of the Constitution, that was a violation of the provision in the founding document that requires the executive to attain authorization from Congress before launching military adventures abroad. But presidents have skirted that requirement in recent decades by claiming that the 1973 War Powers Resolution — an act originally intended to constrain presidential warmaking — affords them the freedom to fight first and consult Congress later.
The War Powers Resolution, enacted in the late stages of the Vietnam War over a veto by President Richard Nixon, requires the commander in chief to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action that he or she determines is necessary in the face of “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” The resolution also forbids armed forces from remaining in action for more than 60 days without congressional authorization of the use of military force.
That’s not supposed to be a blank check from White House wars of whim, even if successive presidents have relied on self-serving interpretations of the law to lauch and maintain military endeavors.
Read the full article about A War Powers Challenge to President Obama’s Libya Project
© 2011 Common Dreams
Article originally appear in The Nation
NATO’s campaign in Libya rumbles on, two months after it started. The U.S., which led the operation, is still highly engaged without official consent from Congress. According to the Constitution, America’s military action over Libya is now illegal. But as RT’s Lauren Lyster reports, few on Capitol Hill seem concerned.
Photo by Flickr user state_library_south_australia
