tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901931588347279408.post5859122256536420146..comments2023-12-11T04:15:38.239-08:00Comments on Now Without Hesitation: The constitution and our intervention in LibyaStephen Ellmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04616174421643618589noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901931588347279408.post-27549826520589292072011-04-06T20:23:50.342-07:002011-04-06T20:23:50.342-07:00Thanks for both these thoughtful comments -- sorry...Thanks for both these thoughtful comments -- sorry I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks and didn't see them right away.<br /><br />I think it is true that the A-bomb contributed to the sense that the President had to be supreme in all matters military. The person who presses the button does have horrifying and immense power -- and also has the dreadful responsibility of responding as quickly as ICBM's can necessitate if someone else pushes, or seems to be pushing, their button. But it's also true that no one declares war nowadays, not us, and not anyone else either (with the exception of Al Qaeda, which did declare war on us). And in fact the first undeclared war by the U.S. -- though it did have statutory authorization -- began before 1800. So this is a practice with deep roots in US and international behavior.<br /><br />The idea that we granted the President the power to go to war when we ratified the UN Charter is an interesting one. I believe President Truman used this argument in going to war in Korea -- a war authorized by the Security Council but never, in so many words, by Congress. But it's a troubling idea on three grounds. First, we ratify treaties solely by Presidential signing and Senate confirmation; the House of Representatives doesn't vote on this, whereas it must vote (as must the Senate) either for a declaration of war or for a statutory authorization of war. So "the people" are that much less involved in the decision -- though it's true that the House and Senate both vote for various related matters, e.g. our paying our UN dues, so the House isn't shut out by any means. Second, the UN obviously isn't us. It's one thing to see the UN as marking out the boundaries on what we can choose to do as a nation; it's another to see it as able to take us into war without the constitutional processes that would normally be required. Third, I don't think the UN itself normally - if ever - ventures to order nations into war, and I'd be very surprised if the text of the Security Council's Libya resolution directed any nation to enforce its provisions by the use of military means, and even more surprised if the resolution directed any nation to use military force without following its own normal constitutional processes. All of which is a long way of saying that if President Obama has the authority to take us into small military engagements, then the fact that he did so pursuant to Security Council resolution provided a very good reason for his decision; but if he didn't have such authority by virtue of our constitution, I'd be very uneasy about saying that he acquired it because he acted consistently with the Security Council.Stephen Ellmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04616174421643618589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901931588347279408.post-57451829843562371912011-03-21T12:25:51.007-07:002011-03-21T12:25:51.007-07:00It may be no accident that none of our presidents ...It may be no accident that none of our presidents have asked congress to declare war since they have had nuclear capability, although they had been involved in nine conflicts, by my count, since then. Who needs to declare war when you have an A Bomb?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6901931588347279408.post-64320307804912203712011-03-20T14:03:44.897-07:002011-03-20T14:03:44.897-07:00We are not in this unilaterally but as part of a j...We are not in this unilaterally but as part of a joint mission authorized by the UN Security Council's vote to establish a no-fly zone over Libya. Could it be said that by virtue of our international commitments (and Congress's ratification of our membership in the UN and various other coalitions) that the authority to act in concert with those forces has been delegated to the executive branch?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02859797346844515606noreply@blogger.com