Did I Miss a Declaration of War?
By Ward Smythe | Saturday, March 19th, 2011 | Policy
Will Code Pink please pick up the white courtesy phone?
Will Code Pink please pick up the white courtesy phone?
Even if you agree with the actions taken in Libya, you can’t help but notice the left’s reaction to this President’s military actions is a lot different.
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About the author
Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender.
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20 Responses to "Did I Miss a Declaration of War?"
Dropping bombs on another nation is an act of war, but it is Saturday. Most people don’t even know what is going on.
Nonetheless, it should be interesting to see what folks have to say about the president ordering US aircraft into a conflict without Congressional authorization. When we sent troops into Iraq, it sure seemed like everybody thought Congress had to okay things first. Perhaps because this is a Democrat president the rules are different. Moreover, the UN said it was okay. Good enough. Right?
There was an anti war rally at the White House today. Then again, it had planned in advance to protest Iraq.
[...] At Bearing Drift, Ward Smythe asks a question: Did I Miss a Declaration of War? [...]
Ronald Reagan said, “We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas.”
The President of the United States does not need permission from Congress to order troops. We have not committed to a war. I guess he needed the commitment from the UN and a plan for other Nations to commit. We have air superiority; the other nations can put the boots to the ground.
Constitution for the United States of America
Article. II.
Section. 2.The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
A little late for some of Kadafi’s people who are now dead, but better late than never.
Last week you complained because the President didn’t commit. This week you complain because he did commit. Next week you will complain because we left too soon. Maybe you ought to stop your oppisition to every thing the President does just because he does it. Ligitiment complaints are one thing but total oppisition only harms the country.
Will let others more knowledgeable confirm or correct, but there is precedent for President Obama’s actions to move under UNSCRs. Congress will likely follow up shortly with authorization of force. Bosnia, rather than Iraq, is a better comparison.
I find little to fault in the Administration’s low profile position. France has vital strategic interests in the region (oil contracts + 4 million Libyan born French citizens/immigrants). President Sarcozy needs a boost PLUS got Arab League agreement – at stunning speed. So far, so good – fingers crossed for safe flying and quick Gaddafi ouster.
As the Executive Rotisserie hooked up to George Washingtons coffin is spinning faster and faster..
To do nothing also comes at a price.. look back at Iraq. Obama like it or not is listening to his generals who likely convinced him that aid for Libyan rebels who wish to overthrow Gaddafi deserve the support of the US military industrial complex. The upside is that he is not ignoring them like Clinton did and waging sanctions that got us Iraq II.
I have no problem with what Obama did, except that if Obama was only a candidate and not the President, he would be criticizing what he just did.
No one is arguing that what the President did was extra-constitutional. What Ward and others are pointing out is the hypocrisy of the left. If Bush had done this, the Sunday shows would be full of Congressional Democrats howling that the President didn’t get their permission to do his job.
Exactly, the Brians have this right. It’s not about what the President did. It’s about the response of the left. Many of you here critical of Ward for snarking would be screaming like banshees had this been George W. Bush.
So true Michael.
The Obama Doctrine: Too little too late.
My apologies, Ward. I misunderstood your point. Guess I’m so used to MSNBC and friends spinning left, it doesn’t even register on my radar. Kinda like being surprised when the rooster crows!
Gotta love those foreign entanglements.
CAIRO, March 20, 2011 (AFP) – The Arab League on Sunday criticized Western military strikes on Libya, a week after urging the United Nations to slap a no-fly zone on the oil-rich North African state.
Uh Oh!
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/oil_sheen_in_gulf_of_mexico_un.html
“…there is precedent for President Obama’s actions to move under UNSCRs.”
So the U.N. has the power to commit U.S. troops? Is that what you’re trying to say? Or does the U.N. have the power to ask, and then the president has the power to commit without approval? That’s a really sweet deal.
Tell me again who the president works for? We engage in unprovoked killing, and all you guys can think to do is complain that the left isn’t complaining?
How’s that left-right paradigm thing working out for you?
CODEPINK here. We are majorly unhappy with Obama’s wars, including Libya. Too bad the press doesn’t print all our statements.
Sorry, Sappho. I went to the Code Pink web site and couldn’t find a peep about Libya. Seems like your crew is too busy weeping over that traitor Bradley Manning having to sleep without his bunny pajamas.
http://www.codepink4peace.org/
Sappho,
BTW, according to Psychology Today, 31% of all men and 14% of all women prefer to sleep nude. Tell us again how they are torturing poor little Bradley at the Quantico brig?
The silence is deafening.
Where are all the organized protests around the world decrying President Obama for “invading” a middle eastern country ? The streets seem pretty quiet. Where are all the “No blood for oil” signs ?
Maybe everyone has simply started agreeing with Bush.
“Are the people of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty ? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism ? Are they alone never to know freedom, and never even to have a choice in the matter ? I, for one, do not believe it. I believe every person has the ability and right to be free. … The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution” – George W. Bush, Address to the National Endowment of Democracy November 6, 2003.
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