[Marxism] The war powers two-step

[Eli Stephens <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Links and formatting in the original:
  http://lefti.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html#5074091838893652926


Under the fraudulent headline "Put War Powers Back Where They Belong," two 
war-mongers, James Baker and Warren Christopher, propose an equally fraudulent 
replacement for the War Powers Act. They start with another fraudulent 
statement:

     Our Constitution ambiguously divides war powers between the president (who 
is the commander in chief) and Congress (which has the power of the purse and 
the power to declare war).

But the "commander-in-chief" doesn't decide what wars to fight, any more than 
generals do. The commander in chief and generals decide how to fight wars. What 
wars are to be fought is unambiguously the province of Congress, which has the 
sole power to declare war. Indeed, as this blogger writes (hat tip Cursor), 
when 
the Constitution makes the President commander-in-chief, the rest of the 
sentence must be read as well:

     The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the 
United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the 
actual Service of the United States.

So only after Congress declares war, calling the armed forces "into the service 
of the United States," does the President even become commander-in-chief.

But for all the fraudulent character of its underlying premise, Baker and 
Christopher's actual proposal is even more fraudulent. It "provide[s] that the 
president must consult with Congress before ordering a 'significant armed 
conflict' — defined as combat operations that last or are expected to last more 
than a week." Even ignoring the fact that "expectations" can be substantially 
lower than reality (Donald Rumsfeld on the invasion of Iraq: "It could last six 
days, six weeks. I doubt six months."), there have been many illegal U.S. 
invasions which have lasted less than a week - the invasion of Grenada and the 
invasion of Panama for starters.

Then there's that word "consult." WTF does that mean? Why don't they write "the 
President must get the 'approval' of Congress," why just use the word 
"consult"? 
Because that's precisely what they mean. "Hey guys (and gals), I'm about to 
invade Iran. What do you think? You don't approve? Ah, well, thanks for letting 
me 'consult' with you."

Then we get to the "well, not always" clause:

     If secrecy or other circumstances precluded prior consultation, then 
consultation — not just notification — would need to be undertaken within three 
days.

But "secrecy or other circumstances" can always be invoked when war is 
concerned, and once a war is launched, well, we all know we can't deny funding 
to the troops "in harm's way." Well, maybe you and I could, but Congress can't 
or won't. It's downright unpatriotic, don't you know? Practically treasonous 
not 
to "support the troops" in "harm's way."

Ah, but the Congress has options!

     Unless it declared war or otherwise expressly authorized a conflict, it 
would have to vote within 30 days on a resolution of approval. If the 
resolution 
of approval was defeated in either House, any member of Congress could propose 
a 
resolution of disapproval. Such a resolution would have the force of law, 
however, only if it were passed by both houses and signed by the president or 
the president’s veto were overridden. If the resolution of disapproval did not 
survive the president’s veto, Congress could express its opposition by, for 
example, using its internal rules to block future spending on the conflict.

Did you follow all that? First, Congress gets to vote to approve. But if they 
don't approve, it doesn't mean a thing! Next, someone has to propose a 
"resolution of disapproval." Not a law, mind you, just a "resolution," which 
has 
not the slightest force of law. Even then, the resolution of disapproval can be 
vetoed by the President, which means that unless 2/3 of the Congress 
disapproves, the resolution of disapproval fails. And if it passes? It still 
doesn't mean a damn thing! Because whether it does or not, Congress' only real 
power is to block "future spending" on the conflict. But since the budget for 
any given year already includes a trillion dollars for the military, it could 
be 
one heck of a long time (and one heck of a lot of dead people) before Congress' 
power of the purse could be brought to bear (assuming it ever would be, of 
course, which history shows has a probability of precisely zero).

Baker and Christopher conclude:

     "The statute is good for Congress because the legislative branch would get 
a more significant role when the nation decides whether to go to war."

To which I conclude, hahahahahahahahahahaha. Are you effing kidding me, Jack?


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