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Originally posted by Niki2:
I keep hearing screaming that Obama didn't "consult" with Congress before moving on the UN Resolution for same.

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...The power to declare war is firmly and explicitly vested in the Congress of the United States under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

Let us make no mistake about it, dropping 2000 lb bombs and unleashing the massive firepower of our air force on the capital of a sovereign state is in fact an act of war and no amount of legal acrobatics can make it otherwise.

It is that same arrogance of power which the former Senator from Arkansas, J. William Fulbright, saw shrouded in the deceit which carried us into the abyss of the war in Vietnam. We determined we would never again see another Vietnam. It was the awareness of the unchecked power and arrogance of the executive which led Congress to pass the War Powers Act.

The Congress through the War Powers Act provided the executive with an exception to unilaterally respond only when the nation was in actual or imminent danger; to “repel sudden attacks.”

Today we are in a constitutional crisis because our chief executive has assumed for himself powers to wage war which are neither expressly defined nor implicit in the Constitution, nor permitted under the War Powers Act.

This is a challenge not just to the Administration, but to Congress itself:

The President has no right to wrest that fundamental power from Congress - and we have no right to cede it to him.

We, Members of Congress can no more absolve our president of his responsibility to obey this profound constitutional mandate then we can absolve ourselves of our failure to rise to the instant challenge that is before us today.

We violate our sacred trust to the citizens of the United States and our oath to uphold the constitution if we surrender this great responsibility and through our own inaction acquiesce in another terrible war.

We must courageously defend the oath that we took to defend the Constitution of the United States of America or we forfeit our right to participate in representative government.

How can we pretend to hold other sovereigns to fundamental legal principles through wars in foreign lands if we do not hold our own presidents to fundamental legal principles at home?...

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Wow. It's a good thing Pres. Bush II got Congressional approval for his attack on Iraq back in 2002, or folks might be saying he also started an illegal war.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

Unless you can specifically show me the exact document with the words "declaration of war against Iraq".

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Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Geezer,

Why defend the indefensible?

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Geezer,

Why defend the indefensible?

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Was I? I thought I was just noting that Pres. Bush II had a clearer authorization by the Congress to use force in Iraq that Pres. Obama has in Libya.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Once again; they voted unanimously for the no-fly zone, so why are they screaming now?

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Originally posted by Niki2:
And Iraq was an invasion of a sovereign nation; Libya is a no-fly zone and there is no intention of invading. Biiig difference.

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Originally posted by Niki2:

DT: I dunno, I think those “hired guns” (if you mean the opposition) were kind of being killed before we got in there, weren’t they? Or are you saying we SENT all those Libyans in to cause all this? Awful lot of Libyans to hire, isn't it? Are you saying WE gave them plastic guns??? I’d find that pretty far fetched, I’m afraid. I don’t think we have any need to get Ghadafi to do something “evil”, I think he’s been doing that quite nicely by himself.

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