Re: Constitutional Problems with the Libyan War

I couldn't care less what Ron Paul thinks about foreign policy.

Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
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On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 3:47 PM, david white <[email protected]> wrote:

> http://paul.house.gov/index.php?
> option=com_content&view=article&id=1840:constitutional-problems-with-the-
> libyan-war-&catid=62:texas-straight-talk&Itemid=69
>
> Constitutional Problems with the Libyan War
>
> Last week the Obama Administration took the United States to war against
> Libya without bothering to notify Congress, much less obtain a
> Constitutionally-mandated declaration of war. In the midst of our severe
> economic downturn, this misadventure has already cost us hundreds of
> millions
> of dollars and we can be sure the final price tag will be several times
> higher.
>
> Why did the US intervene in a civil war in a country that has neither
> attacked us nor poses a threat?  We are told this was another humanitarian
> intervention, like Clinton’s 1999 war against Serbia. But as civilian
> victims
> of the US-led coalition bombing continue to add up, it is getting difficult
> to determine whether the problem we are creating on the ground is worse
> than
> the one we were trying to solve.
>
> Though the administration seems to be playing with semantics, calling this
> a “kinetic military action,” let’s be clear: this is a US act of war on
> Libya.  Imposing a no-fly zone over the air space of a sovereign nation is
> an
> act of war, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pointed out before the
> bombing began.  That the administration hesitates to call this war,
> possibly
> due to the troubling Constitutional implications, does not mean that it is
> not one. Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution could not be clearer: the
> power and obligation to declare war resides solely in the US Congress.
>
> There was ample time and opportunity for the administration to consult the
> UN, NATO and the Arab League before going to war, but not the US Congress.
>
> Aside from the manner in which the administration took us to war, it is
> also
> troubling that our government has taken a decisive stand for one side of an
> internal conflict in another sovereign country.  The administration speaks
> out of both sides of its mouth on this, claiming that the US is not
> attempting to overthrow the Gaddafi regime while clearly benefitting the
> rebels and stating that Gaddafi must leave. Does this make any sense?
> Gaddafi
> may well be every bit the “bad guy” we are told he is, but who are the
> rebels
> we are assisting?  Do we have any clue?  Will they bring freedom and
> prosperity to Libya if they are victorious?  We might like to hope so, but
> the fact is, we don’t know.  Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s Bin
> Laden unit, explained in a recent article that there is plausible reason to
> believe the rebels are current or former Islamist mujahedin, eager to
> engage
> in jihad.  Indeed, Gaddafi has fought against Libyan Islamists for years
> and
> is seen by them as a bitter enemy.  Astoundingly, it may well be that we
> are
> assisting al Qaeda in this new war!
>
> The costs of this terrible mistake cannot be ignored.  Congress has been
> locked in battles over budget cuts and agonizing over ways to save money.
> Recent proposed spending cuts have by now been completely wiped out with
> this
> new war!  Will we be rebuilding Libya ten years from now?  Will Congress
> simply roll over and rubber stamp more emergency spending bills for this
> new
> war as they have done in the past?  We must end our participation in any
> attack on Libya immediately and I have signed on to legislation that would
> do
> exactly that. Congress must assert its Constitutional authority and rein in
> an administration clearly out of control.
>
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