[Peace-discuss] Johnson opposes military action in Libya

[Robert Naiman]

Yeah, this is one of the talking points of the no big deal crowd: there's
been no declaration of war since WW II.

But that is fundamentally misleading, because 1) the WPR talks about
declaration of war *or* authorization of force; both Iraq wars were
authorized, the war in Afghanistan was authorized and 2) it was in
significant measure because of the Korea and Vietnam experience that
Congress passed the War Powers Resolution.

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 3:32 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> No argument from *me* here, just quoting the pundits' latest.
> And as for an actual Declaration of War, somebody pointed out that that
> hasn't happened since WW II...
>  --Jenifer
>
>
> --- On *Fri, 3/25/11, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>* wrote:
>
> A lot of folks seem to be under the mistaken impression - fostered in part
> by the Administration - that the War Powers Resolution - which despite the
> name "resolution," is a law - only contains reporting requirements.
>
> This is, of course, false...
>
> § 1541. Purpose and policy
> [...]
> (c) Presidential executive power as Commander-in-Chief; limitation
> The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to
> introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into
> situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly
> indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to
>
> (1) a declaration of war,
>
> (2) specific statutory authorization, or
>
> (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its
> territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
> [...]
>
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/usc_sec_50_00001541----000-.html
>
> There was no declaration of war. There was no specific statutory
> authorization. There was no attack on the United States or its armed
> forces. Therefore, the President violated the War Powers Resolution.
>
> On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 3:03 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com<http://mc/compose?to=jencart13@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
>
> The current language used [to justify not consulting Congress] focuses on
> short duration and skips the eminent threat to the homeland stuff. Let's see
> if that's gonna play...
>  --Jenifer
>
> --- On *Tue, 3/22/11, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org<http://mc/compose?to=naiman@justforeignpolicy.org>
> >* wrote:
>
> Kucinich has pledged to introduce an amendment to any funding vehicle
> that would defund military operations in Libya - i.e., pretty similar
> to what Tim Johnson is proposing. He is circulating a letter to that
> effect; the last time I looked, Paul, Jones, and Stark had signed it.
>
> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 5:53 PM, Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com<http://mc/compose?to=kmedina67@gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> > Good going, Tim Johnson.
> > I am curious to see what Kucinich does.
> > -karen medina
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 3:52 PM, Rohn Koester <rohnkoester at hotmail.com<http://mc/compose?to=rohnkoester@hotmail.com>>
> wrote:
> >> Johnson opposes military action in Libya
> >>
> >> Tue, 03/22/2011 - 11:30am | Tom Kacich
> >>
> >> U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, who already opposes U.S. involvement in
> >> wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, today said he would introduce legislation
> to
> >> de-fund military action in Libya.
> >>
> >> The six-term Republican said he would work with Rep. Justin Amash,
> R-Mich.,
> >> a freshman congressman, to draft legislation declaring the action
> >> unconstitutional.
> >>
> >> “Constitutionally, it is indisputable that Congress must be consulted
> prior
> >> to an act of war unless there is an imminent threat against this
> country.
> >> The president has not done so,” Johnson said. “In fact, this is the same
> man
> >> who questioned President Bush’s constitutional authority to commit
> troops to
> >> war.”
> >>
> >>
> http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2011-03-22/johnson-opposes-military-action-libya.html
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Peace-discuss mailing list
> >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<http://mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>
> >> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > -- karen medina
> > "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark
> Twain
> > _______________________________________________
> > Peace-discuss mailing list
> > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<http://mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>
> > http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org<http://mc/compose?to=naiman@justforeignpolicy.org>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<http://mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>
> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<http://mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>
> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org<http://mc/compose?to=naiman@justforeignpolicy.org>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>


-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20110325/487833ae/attachment-0001.html>