Liberty in America
columnist: rtbohan

Topic: War
The Imperial President and the Irresponsible Congress

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The "imperial presidency" exists because of the irresponsbile congress.

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by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Friday, June 20, 2008

Ron Paul has criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for taking a provisions giving Congress a hypothetical check on a possible war against Iran out of a supplemental funding bill for the war in Iraq.([link edited for length]),  The language she removed said that the President could not go to war with Iran without  first getting the approval of Congress .  Speaker Pelosi was critized by Representative Paul because, as he said, the Democrats won control of the Congress in 2006 by a campaign promise to end the war in Iraq, and at the first opportunity they collapsed.

But it isn't just the Democrats, it is the Congress as a whole which collapsed. And that collapse. has been evident and growing for more than fifty years.  Putting a statement that the President must get approval from Congress on the books does nothing to hinder the President, because the Congress has consistently shirked its constitutional duty to declare war. We hare fought two wars against Iraq, a war in Viet Nam and a war in Korea during that time, and none of these wars has been declared.  The Congress did give permission for each of these wars, the usually by an act giving the President power to do whatever is necessary.  Bu this is not the constitutional provision, and it is done so that the Congress can call the war Truman's war or Johnson's War or Bush's war and turn a bad war to their political advantage.

As a part of the system of checks and balances in the Constitution, the Congress was given primary responsbility in domestic decisions of the United States government. But there is a presidential check on that power, the President's veto.  The President is given primary responsibility in foreign affairs:  he appoints ambassadors to foreign countries, he makes treaties, and he is the commander in chief of the armed forces.  The congress has a check on each of these powers in the requirement of Senate consent to the appointment of ambassadors, treaties and high level military promotions.  The whole Congress has additionally the power to raise and provide for the armed forces and to declare war.  This is exclusively the duty of the Congress, and it is not fulfilling that duty to tell the President, "Do whatever you think is right and we will back you up"

Under international law, as well as common law, the President can authorize limited military action without a declaration of war.  The military personel, like everyone else, have the right to engage in self defense.  The President has the right, in certarin circumstances, to use military force in retarliation or reprisal for the hostile acts of another government.  The occupation of Vera Cruz under President Wilson, or the bombing of Libya fall into that category (although in the Libyan case it appears they were being bombed for an act of Syria).

But a declaration of war is required for an operation which will involve not only the deployment of a massive military force, but the conquest of the armies of another country and the invasion and probable occupation of that country.  Since the adoption of the constitution the Congress has declared war four times.  It came very close to declaring war five times, but the President in that case not only had not requested a declartion of war, he had requested the country not do it.  The Congress in that case contented itself with raising an army of 50,000 men and appropriating $10 million to fight a war which never happened.

The last case, the "Aroostock" was a congressional over reaction to a conflict between Maine and New Brunswick over disputed territory which had led to some brushes between the local militias.  President Van Buren believed the conflict out to be cooled rather than exapanded, and that a diplomatic solution could be found. It was, in the Webster Ashburton Treat of 1841.  It was included here because at least three presidential requests for a declaration of war were defended, truthfull or not, on the grounds that if the request did not request the declaration, the Congress would declare one on its own.  These were the War of 1812, The Spanish-American War, and World War I.

A Congressional Declaration of War is important because the Congress can use this, as it cannot use a general permission to the President to do whatever he wants, to indicate opposition to war as a means of settling this particular dispute and also to set limits to the goals and the outcome of the war.  In the case of World War I, six Senators (Stone of Missouri, Hardwick of Georgia, Vardemann of Mississipi, Gronna of North Dakota, Gore of Oklahoma, and LaFollette of Wisconsin, and fifty Representatives voted against the Declaration of War, despite compelling evidence that it was necessary and wide popular support.  When War was declared against Spain in 1898, the Congress added that Jones resolution that the war with Spain could not result in the acquisition of Cuba as a U.S. colony,  A large number of Congressmen were willing to approve a war against imperialism, but did not want to approve one which would lead to U.S.  Imperialism. (The United States after the war turned Puerto Rico and the Phillipines into American colonies, and contented themselves with extorting a naval base at Guantanamo and a provision in the Cuban constitution--the Platt Amendment--allowing the United States to overthrow the Cuban government whenever it was so inclined).

It has been said after every war that the President misled the Congress when he asked for the declaration of war.  In most cases this seems to have been partially true, both of the causes of the war and in the goals the President actually intended to pursue in the war.  Only in World War II is the cause of war quite clearly  a matter of self defense.  But the Congress has to assume the responsibility for making that determination.  It the Congess takes its proper position as the sole determiner of whether the country goes to war, we will not have the spectacle of the Congress giving a blank check to the President and then saying, "But he did not tell me the truth, and I was too busy making a speech supporting the resolution to read the intelligence report which allegedly proved the President was wrong".

Nature abhors a vacuum.  So does power.  Congress should take its power back.

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©2008 rtbohan, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008
Last modified: Friday, June 20, 2008

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