The War in Libya Growing More Illegal by the Day
by Glenn Greenwald
Published on Thursday, June 2, 2011 by Salon.com
To the extent that the War Powers Resolution (WPR) authorized President Obama to fight a war in Libya for 60 days without Congressional approval -- and, for reasons I described here, it did not -- that 60-day period expired 12 days ago. Since that date, the war has been unquestionably illegal even under the original justifications of Obama defenders, though I realize that objecting to "illegal wars" -- or wars generally -- is so very 2005. After making clear that they intended to contrive "some plausible theory" to justify this illegal war, the White House finally settled on the claim that the war in Libya -- despite featuring substantial U.S. military action with the goal of destroying a foreign army and removing that nation's leader -- is too small and limited to be a real "war" under the Constitution and the WPR.
Even the White House seemed to recognize the absurdity of that excuse -- the WRP explicitly applies "in any case in which United States Armed Forces are introduced (1) into hostilities" -- and the President thus subsequently requested a Resolution from Congress approving the war. That authorization, however, never came, and now it seems that Congress is closer to doing the opposite: approving a bipartisan bill opposing the war:
On Wednesday, 74 days after U.S. forces joined the military operation in Libya, President Obama seemed to run out of goodwill on Capitol Hill.
A group of both liberals and conservatives -- defying the leaders of both parties --- threw their support behind a bill to pull the U.S. military out of the Libya operation. That prospect led GOP leaders to shelve the bill before it came to a vote. . . .Waging a war for 74 days without Congressional approval is illegal enough. Doing so when there is a growing bipartisan movement in Congress to compel an end to the war -- rather than approve it -- is even worse. And note the individuals on whom Obama is now relying to protect him from this bipartisan effort to put an end to his illegal war: "GOP House leaders" -- John Boehner and Eric Cantor, who refused to allow the bill to come up for a vote despite ample support among conservative members of their caucus as well as numerous liberal House members. Can we hear more now about how the two parties are so radically different that bipartisan cooperation is impossible? The Emperor has decreed that we will fight this war, and thus we will -- that seems to be the prevailing mindset.
On Wednesday, the bill at issue was far more drastic. Introduced by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), it would demand that Obama withdraw forces from the Libyan operation within 15 days. That would be a crippling loss for the NATO-led campaign, which relies heavily on U.S. air power.
The resolution looked, a week before, like a legislative long shot.
Then, on Wednesday, it wasn’t.
"There’s been disquiet for a long time," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), one of those who supported it. "Republicans have been too eager to support some military ventures abroad. And this, I think, is perhaps a little more consistent with traditional conservatism."
Conservatives expressed support for the bill in a closed meeting, but GOP leaders put off the vote.
woah not cool. at all.
ReplyDeletecan you explain why 'bama would go through all this?
If it is ILLEGAL then Obama must've been desperate about something right?
theres a very big double istander in the us
ReplyDeleteI think a large part of the problem in our democracy that results in things like this is because the general population is so immersed in regurgitated media that they are programmed to ignore this.
ReplyDeleteSad.
It is sad and I hope its all resolved as soon as.
ReplyDeletethis is sad but this is life, sucks.
ReplyDeleteCool blog, pal! followed, MC-hammer style!!!
ReplyDeleteSad post tho :(
here's to hoping this doesn't escalate
ReplyDeleteIntriguing story.... hanks for blog :)
ReplyDeleteits so scary whats going on. i hope the people of libya all the best
ReplyDeletedamnnn , this is bad =/ didnt know anything about this
ReplyDeletethe world does not really need more wars :(
ReplyDeleteI love the Bush sig "do you miss me yet?"
ReplyDelete