Hey, Congress: Take Back Your War Powers

Townhall.com ^ | October 11, 2019 | David Harsanyi

[Kaslin]

If you want to stop Donald Trump from making unilateral decisions regarding war and peace, then stop letting all presidents make unilateral decisions about war and peace. It's really quite simple. Trump can abruptly pull back U.S. troops from northern Syria because Congress, having abdicated its foreign policy responsibilities long ago, has no leverage to stop him.

When Congress passed the War Powers Resolution as the Vietnam War was winding down, it gave the president the power to send troops abroad for 60 days in response to any "national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." If the president failed to gain congressional support for the deployment, he would have another 30 days to pull back troops.

Congress is the institution vested with the power to declare wars, debate where we send troops and decide which conflicts will be funded. Presidents have been ignoring this arrangement, abusing authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs) and imbuing themselves with the power to engage in conflicts wherever they like, without any coherent endgame and without any buy-in from Congress.

Congress, in turn, has shown no interest in genuinely challenging executive power. Its members are far more concerned with political self-preservation. Ignoring abuse shields them from tough choices and ensuing criticism -- even as they use war as a partisan cudgel.

Even if you don't believe all these conflicts rise to an Article I declaration -- and I don't -- the more accountability there is in foreign entanglements the better. Right now, we have little genuine debate or consensus building -- in a nation that already exhibits exceptionally little interest in foreign policy -- regarding the deployment of our troops, almost always in perpetuity, around the world.

[5th MEB]

President TRUMP is pulling all 1000 of our men and women out of the Middle Eastern KILL BOX, Congress goes APE SH!T.

Congress won’t declare war (politically incorrect don’t you know), but insists on getting your sons and daughters killed so they can look tough.

If PRESIDENT TRUMP leaves them there and any are killed or maimed it will be his fault (democrats win), if PRESIDENT TRUMP pulls them out and any (so called) ally gets killed or maimed it will be his fault (democrats win).

If ANY Congress critter or Senator thinks this fight is so important, let them buy a plane ticket and an AR-15 platform rifle and head on out there, they can join which ever side they want and commit themselves to the “GOOD FIGHT”.

Just like the INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES did during the Spanish Civil War.

DON’T SEE VERY MANY TAKERS, DO YOU.

[TADSLOS]

Bingo.

[marron]

Lunatic. War Powers authorizes the president to deploy troops. It doesn’t prevent him from pulling them back.

[PIF]

it would take a direct nuclear war for the surviving members of congress to declare war. Short of that, its open season on the USA - 911 style attacks every day and nothing would happen. Very bad idea by misguided individuals who have no real world experience outside of some parental basement.

[Billthedrill]

If Congress wants a war, it can declare one and appropriate funds for it. It is still at the President's discretion how to prosecute it as Commander In Chief. Congress is free to attempt to impeach should he fail to do so to Congress's satisfaction or to control the prosecution of the war by manipulating funding, but this amounts to running the war directly by a committee whose direction sways according to momentary political passion. That's a bad idea - it's essentially how Athens attempted to run the Peloponnesian War against Sparta, and is the principal reason why that ended so badly for Athens. You can certainly run a war this way, you just can't win one. The Founders set up the Constitution in this matter the way they did for this very reason (Federalist #6 and #55).

[LS]

This guy is a sphinctermissile.

The only “war power” he wants is the power to dec lb are war-—which in this case NO ONE except a handful of neocons want.

[MrEdd]

Whats a dec lb?

[Jim Noble]

On December 8, 1941, the Congress passed a joint resolution which said, in part, the President is...DIRECTED to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States”

That is a perfectly balanced, and Constitutionally correct, way to go to war.

Congress DIRECTS the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy raised BY Congress to go to war, and Congress PLEDGES full support.

Do it that way, and victory is possible. Do it half-assed, and victory is not possible.

[LS]

Doh. Stupid phone spell check. “to declare war” which in this case no one wants.