"Humanitarian Emergency" Does Not Suspend the Constitution on War Powers

[Demeter]

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/25481-humanitarian-emergency-does-not-suspend-the-constitution-on-war-powers

... every time the President - this President or any President - is allowed to "cut corners" on the Constitutional question of Congressional war powers, it sets a bad precedent for the future, eroding a key Constitutional, democratic speed bump against unnecessary wars of choice. And every time the President - this President or any other - succeeds in tearing a hole in the Constitutional and democratic fence that the Framers wisely constructed to try to impede the President - any President - from launching unnecessary wars of choice, it's a key responsibility of people who want choosing war to be as hard as it should be to try to rebuild the fence.

In the case of Libya 2011, the Administration tore a huge hole in the fence. In the case of Syria 2013, Congress substantially repaired and strengthened the fence. Now the Administration is again attacking the fence. Regardless of what you think about what has happened so far on the ground in Iraq, to preserve this key tool for preventing wars in the future, we need to defend the fence now.....I strongly suspect that the Administration delayed this military action until Congress went on recess (and perhaps also until there was a ceasefire in Gaza, no doubt a reason that the Administration was pressing Israel for ceasefire, to clear the stage, to avoid conflation of the US and Israeli military actions in the Arab world.)

But it's not like recess appointments. There is no provision in the Constitution for a "recess war."

Consider:

The "emergency" bombing of Libya in 2011 took place during the Spring (Easter) Congressional recess.

The "emergency" push to bomb Syria in 2013 took place during the August Congressional recess.

And now the "emergency" bombing of Iraq in 2014 is taking place during the August Congressional recess.

MORE AT LINK

[JayhawkSD]

1. You are flogging a dead horse

Congress long ago surrendered its war moking power - handed it over to the executive branch in a craven act of political cowardice. Those who sit in Congress do not want the political liability of having been either "for" or "against" a particular war, because either position jeopardizes their chance at reelection depending on how that war turns out. They are quite happy to be no part of any such decision and to have the president alone be the scapegoat for wars gone bad. They care nothing about the constitution.

[Demeter]

2. Time to get another horse, then

[TheKentuckian]

3. Yup, minus a constitutional amendment Congress has no authority to cede it's

mandates.

[JayhawkSD]

4. I like both comments.

The one about getting another horse, and the one about an amendment to prevent Congress from ceding its powers.

How about an amendment requiring a Parliment rather than a Congress? They are at least noisier.