Standing Up to the Hawks in Congress - The Nation

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The article goes on to speak of the strange bedfellows of Internationalist Democrats and Isolationist Republicans that are both against the hawks of both parties. Bi-partisan indeed.

http://www.thenation.com/article/176033/standing-hawks-congress?rel=emailNation

While he tried to keep a foot in the antiwar and rule-of-law camps that elected him, the president framed his August 31 remarks not as a request for the advice and consent of Congress, but as his opening argument in this “debate.” Much like Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke the day before, the president made an aggressive argument for military intervention. “In a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted,” Obama said, adding that “after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets.”

War will be averted only if members of Congress who care about supporting human rights through nonmilitary means and international law rise to the moral and political challenge of this moment. History is not encouraging. Only on rare occasions has Congress denied presidents the authority to intervene militarily: during the later stages of the Vietnam War, the House and Senate tried to tell Richard Nixon not to spread the fighting to other countries, and the Boland amendments of the 1980s sought to prevent Ronald Reagan from supporting Contra forces that sought to overthrow the government of Nicaragua. But for the most part, presidents get what they ask for.

Congressional Democrats are under immense pressure to back the president, if only to help him avoid the embarrassment experienced by Prime Minister Cameron. And it is sophisticated pressure, with key Democrats maneuvering to make a yes vote more appealing by narrowing the authority given the president. The resolution that emerged from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee placed a time limit of sixty days on the authorization to strike Syria, with one thirty-day extension. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who just months ago had warned Congress that military action in Syria “could embroil the United States in a significant, lengthy and uncertain military commitment,” performed a complete reversal, now warning that “there are always risks in taking action, but there are also risks with inaction.” In the House, where skepticism of the president’s plans is more widespread on both sides of the aisle, Nancy Pelosi said mildly that she hoped the public would be persuaded by the president’s arguments, though she did request that the administration reveal more about the intelligence backing the case against Assad.

The administration should certainly share its evidence, but even conclusive proof of Assad’s crimes hardly settles the argument for war. The point of congressional efforts should not be to tailor a plan for intervention; it should be to steer the White House back into the mainstream of international diplomacy and engagement as a response to atrocity. As Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan says, “The use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable, but this is an issue that is best addressed by the international community.” This alternative stance appeals to internationalist Democrats who care about human rights and averting war but who find themselves in a necessary coalition with Republicans who are more inclined toward isolationism.