From the New York Times:
President Obama and his legal advisers are deliberating about how the United States military may lawfully continue participating in NATO’s bombing campaign in Libya after next week, when the air war will reach a legal deadline for terminating combat operations that have not been authorized by Congress.
Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a president must terminate such operations 60 days after he has formally notified lawmakers about the introduction of armed forces into actual or imminent hostilities. The Libya campaign will reach that mark on May 20…
Talk about things coming back to bite you. Liberals passed the War Powers Resolution – I believe over Nixon’s veto – to ensure that when North Vietnam was ready to conquer the South, the United States wouldn’t be able to stop it. It was, after all, a long-standing goal of American liberalism to ensure that South Vietnam was betrayed and crushed, and America defeated. A weakened Nixon couldn’t stop them, and so they got their way. But fast-forward 40 years and you’ve got a liberal President who wants to keep fighting a war without Congressional authorization – what to do?
The logical thing would be to seek such approval – Obama would get it. While some Republicans would vote again, most would vote in favor. Combined with Democrats similarly inclined, Obama would have his authorization. So, why not do it? Because Obama doesn’t want to demonstrate the rift which has built up in his party. Probably half the House Democrats would vote against. A divided party is not what Obama wants heading in to 2012…neither do any of the other Democrat leaders. They want everyone to pretend that all is well and everyone over in Democrat Land is one big, happy family with nary a word of censure between them. This is vital because if the economy tanks, Obama doesn’t want to draw a serious primary challenger.
But, on the other hand, Obama doesn’t want Gaddafi marching on Benghazi and winning the war. A humiliating loss in Libya would harm the President – it would be just the sort of hit to Obama’s executive ability which GOPers would be able to massively exploit. So, a bunch of liberals are forced to find some way around a law liberals wrote to prevent precisely what Obama now intends – fighting a war without Congressional approval.
The GOP should make an issue of this – after all, the law is the law. If liberals don’t like the War Powers Act, let them propose repeal and we’ll debate that. But right now that is where the law stands…and we should force Obama to seek Congressional authority for further military action. Put them on record; make them own the effort and the results. Don’t allow them to slip away, using their utter contempt for law to find an escape hatch.
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