Posted on 02/15/2003 3:51:16 PM PST by GrandMoM
....very entertaining and very desperate!
The last time Congress formally declared war was in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor more than a half-century ago.
How, then, did Congress avoid its constitutional power - or duty - to declare war over Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf?
The answer is that Congress played it safe. It gave the three presidents - Truman, Johnson, Bush I - something, without having to go on record as formally declaring war.
Reason why Presidents no longer need Congressional Declarations of War - Legal Precedence-Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer.
In short, part of that decision states that if Congress sees a President preparing for war and does nothing to stop him that they(Congress) are actively agreeing to it.
If the president starts a war, he’ll be in violation of his oath of office and should be impeached. It’s the duty of all citizens to demand that our Constitution be followed.
Highly unlikely, should it ever get to the USSC Article II would trump Article I and Congress would be unwilling to answer why they didn't stop the buildup of force.
The above referenced link lays it all out in great detail.
Someone should also clue Saddam in on the fact that, the bombs will be real this time, not filled with cement like the ones his Marxist buddy bill clinton dropped on him in 1998.
Here's the kicker. I am a petroleum geologist. About 10 years ago I worked on a team that did an exhaustive study of the petroleum potential of the offshore Santa Cruz Basin(also known as the offshore La Honda Basin, or the offshore Ano Nuevo Basin). There are several small oil fields onshore. Offshore, where the basin is much larger, thicker, and less eroded, there are dozens of large "prospects." There were even two wells drilled offshore in the mid-1960's. Both of those wells discovered heavy crude. The problem was, at that time, the oil was worth about $2.00 per barrels. It wasn't economic to produce it. That same oil today would be worth about $25 per barrel (given the time-value of money). One recent Federal Government estimate put the potential in the Ano Nuevo basin at about one BILLION barrels. Right off of Santa Cruz.
So if the lefties up in the Monterey Bay area really want to stop the impending war, they can petition the Government to open up drilling off of Santa Cruz!!
As President, Jefferson drew upon precedents of Washington and Adams to argue that offensive military operations required a declaration of war from Congress, while defensive operations did not. But that general understanding did not provide justification alone for Jefferson's decision to send the Navy to the Mediterranean.
He relied on statutes passed on 3 March 1801 and 6 February 1802 that clearly gave him the authority to repel any attack on American ships and to "subdue, seize, and make prize of all vessels, goods and effects, belonging to the Bey of Tripoli...."
Between 1801 and 1813, Congress passed more than a half-dozen statutes that defined how presidents Jefferson and Madison could act to end the conflict.
Jefferson had the support of the Congress and of the people. Nuff said.
Actually, no. Congress authorized "the use of force" to defend an ally, Kuwait. The last time America declared war on any nation was in 1942. We employ "the use of force" to protect our international interests and to defend our allies.
The mechanism that Congress uses for employing military force or preventing military force is through funding. For an example, Congress provided funds for the Vietnam war for nearly 15 years; we got out of that war not through military defeat, but simply because Congress refused to fund any further efforts.
There may be a time when a formal declaration of war becomes necessary, but under most circumstances it is, at best, impractical. Congress authorizes the President to use military force when necessary so that he (or she) can act decisively in the defense of American interests and in defense of our allies. In most cases, for the President to be hamstrung by weeks or months of debate in Congress would give stratigic advantage to any force that threatens the US.
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