[Peace-discuss] FW: Attacking Syria "Impeachable"

Tue Apr 10 16:24:23 UTC 2018

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

From: Boyle, Francis A
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 11:24 AM
To: sectns.aals at lists.aals.org
Subject: FW: Attacking Syria "Impeachable"

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

From: Institute for Public Accuracy via ActionNetwork.org <accuracy at accuracy.org<mailto:accuracy at accuracy.org>>
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 11:17 AM
To: francis.a.boyle at gmail.com<mailto:francis.a.boyle at gmail.com>
Subject: Attacking Syria "Impeachable"

Attacking Syria "Impeachable" [On Twitter]

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle at illinois.edu
  Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He said today: "Any U.S. attack targeting the Syrian government or its forces would clearly violate both U.S. and international law. When Obama was in a similar position in 2013<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h0/wlcHvnzW1b3hMCRTobMuNhzF9O8bEWVpbnomAMeu8l992NffscmuDWigTk7TdhPY1C1aDkeJsSDxCoe5B4A9wbT6tw5EV3mQlofWNI-2FPEZPD4Lht43P-2Bje-2B4wkemwpdrhLV5bQzBZX58lzoqeLRZjwlkVloEnGxDPW5lWDA8NzqH6oiWe61TN33AAudQfnUqGXv1ZjL-2F3sapRqL-2F0qLL8kzXG-2FELunm8tZONdLLyRjgePo6TKg-2BcCc0gPYzGTk1ijV2vxgwttsPfqYE01DsBmiWG249cJvCE8AYe0Gk1BRmtJqYJ0O8oGqmfILxxFdg3jGaLFPrL-2BaHZaY5Mj4sXVDa7ntAmw9ukGE2cwIRk6A-2FAwXJ2kMsEcgbd3jFYfHdW>, his advisor Ben Rhodes [see below] has since commented that they turned back largely because they were afraid of impeachment. That fear is well founded. While the prospect of impeaching Trump is thrown around frequently for partisan purposes, on this issue, the constitution is clear: Initiating a war or any such attack without authorization is clearly impeachable.
  "Last year, at the National Press Club, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., claimed<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h1/VRuKV3C42OYp9Eb2Juyw-2FFCb-2Bj5G-2BXosSe97xfN3EmN25G-2B1Iz4QuW-2Blr-2F8IcULWBiEhCVtteFkw8itcKwZiRV8tJRCHeCD-2BefbQwW7E4roS-2FSDTIRQSZbknrwrZ3O4BCyiR1bWD-2B5JzlHHvrESzXUXcBChd-2Blc0BmUULzRb0rctAMzYbUxvRymtCFXbvojLl9CX-2F5bQEEVWnguFKcciblsGBqzUUJs3NUbLrrWHFzn-2FYrwfhmYyZR7kd5RQJ-2Fn40-2FleZOz8k1Ffh0o7DZ2SosQN7pAyTKRrRrOzn-2FEu-2BAQ-3D> the authority to target the Syrian government stemmed from the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Gen. Dunford was totally incorrect<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h2/wlcHvnzW1b3hMCRTobMuNhzF9O8bEWVpbnomAMeu8l-2BjlDoGneFTbCeo8Md5KtsaNxBUD5POQV92Hv2Pa0u-2BZAqXclTxs5eZ3JhGbRWn5UoGDh8XycdRUbb3K0nkwHd2jn6EYqfMrSd7pACTpQmLeb9NYsJAHnukOVuVZRlJ0pBF810iwbUJmkyFXsS9FfMG7nENX93xCxvMIjQqySgtaMb3Ky1oyjh1OUfyUT2TM-2FOTt50Knp3359qcrWKqO4DOP44wqEtlLPqlY-2B-2FZROtyKIgbt8L0bEsHmiPBjZ-2BsmiLINafMaSvWTrGd6ZLVi0G6>. The AUMF passed after 9/11 has indeed been used to justify the bombing campaign purporting to target ISIS, but it cannot possibly be used to justify targeting the Syrian government.

  "Excuses of 'humanitarian intervention' have no basis in international law and in these circumstances are transparently hollow. Israel apparently just attacked Syria (illegal) from Lebanese airspace (also illegal). Israel itself just openly admitted that it is killing Palestinian civilian protesters -- part of a decades-long brazenly illegal policy. The U.S. representative to the UN, Nikki Haley, prevented even an inquiry by the UN into the matter. There's no evidence of any humanitarian concern here, simply a search for pretexts to pursue geopolitical goals which may well include carving up Syria<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h3/wlcHvnzW1b3hMCRTobMuNhzF9O8bEWVpbnomAMeu8l9FCgYH4gsFUlmLVC45gMmyBu3iwx45h-2BiUwMKh18MZ9xGYjHwSWt5UlhRmPcFXttawLZG2lRBKLfD7pgDpCoJsdObMinV0ZcJHvC-2BMmhVeEDxzj4-2F9TNBdubuozloAArZaowkaldbE89xN8bryCmXJKYL0o7WTe8wYQGNFWBJekt0DoMOem4DsJvnx1ZBII87IFhoyfOoWOr6VCk-2FYzwY2G3O4zI0SFXa-2FhnSp7B4gwU5V3KEoiTpH77QMdU-2BC-2B3ElpQ0XvQHjNfcQIvz5cbB6>."

   Boyle’s books include Foundations of World Order (Duke University Press).

In 2017, Ben Rhodes, Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor, and foreign policy speechwriter, told Politico that President Obama feared impeachment if he targeted the Syrian government<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h4/BK-2FddZHorvpZqC2XOaq6m8oXz0tHXNdii9okDKtdNmIXiAIs1JnDNfe-2BqGIneotP9wtuoSH6khFjs8XX4XwxXvS2M3nq0jdkL-2BlyXK20h5ya8wp8BHCdvIAMcft-2FTYm3X0ItMqQO8oP-2BmngOENgIhT2i2M-2FkG8QkUqk65zARb-2BkE-2BfOhp49mzsusRJlYLamGw1cE2W2-2B7WX-2ByIom0YlldAgakSCXbvuHDXsmbFpS9E9VuE5SlZn7e-2BqhaM51M3-2Fr4alvU4d-2F7Q-2FXO-2Fs2uNzZUAqSnqWd6TxF5Yyr2A4s4VyrFd9DAf5RKoyqAHvSRpV6qUVDpDH4sJEcDptLYVh3VnOYuTR-2BUs72kXod-2F3gQWZf4M0Wu8z2-2B2Hq8xDbBy85u>:

Rhodes: "The only country in the world that was prepared to join us [in attacking the Assad government] was France. And we had no domestic legal basis. We actually had Congress warning us against taking action without congressional authorization, which we interpreted as the president could face impeachment."

Politico: "Really? Was the prospect of impeachment actually a factor in your conversations?"

Rhodes: "That was a factor. Go back and read the letters from Boehner, letters from the Republican members of Congress. They laid down markers that this would not be constitutional."

House Speaker John Boehner wrote to Obama in 2013<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/BAE/ni0YAA/t.2gi/W7y0NWJgSYeVzKjl6zL3_A/h5/Clv8ebhWwsL-2F31me2cyMZrYeTv8Jx6Zru-2FR9rnn224AHkPk6OIu7ycefWO-2B23Kyqp-2B3Z1ut04rWMva0t066YKifwKi5nCyfI3DHVjRfiGLe9-2FANWy5J-2Fo6vLv-2B70fu-2BYFGi0oycPsKsYtYa2lOFklg4gSLI00laF1oBJtRllW-2F2g4rRGegIzsiqJ1iBxn6NeStdNM-2Bo6lqGDxZN16W4pSEA1313nq32x-2FBU5q2VtJhNdpKHqJSxw74O-2BpabKTbO6SeTgwEYeVDt0DqdEzNEJji8nA-2BSCUzh0-2BJqtM1NSpdSUwb8KtJt-2FKmPgfPuAOC33ypttxoShXFxCYYp3W973ow-3D-3D>: “It is essential you address on what basis any use of force would be legally justified and how the justification comports with the exclusive authority of Congressional authorization under Article I of the Constitution.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

April 10, 2018

Institute for Public Accuracy
980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org<mailto:ipa at accuracy.org>

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