Congress again abdicates war power
Enacts constitutionally meaningless laws to conceal abject congressional surrender
March 30, 2023
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
Re: “Senate votes to repeal decades-old authorizations for Iraq and Gulf wars,” (News report by Amy B. Wang, A13, March 30, 2023)
To the Editor:
The Senate repeals of the 1991 Gulf War authorization and the 2002 Iraqi War authorization are constitutionally meaningless without a prophylactic against unconstitutional presidential wars not declared by Congress. We’ve seen this rodeo before.
Congress repealed the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorizing the Vietnam War in 1971. President Richard Nixon signed the repeal but did not break stride in extending the war. Every President since Harry Truman in 1950 to justify the Korean War has claimed inherent Article II authority to initiate war without congressional authority. As regards the 1991 Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush later asserted, “I didn't have to get permission from some old goat in the United States Congress to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.”
President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed inherent authority to attack China if it invades Taiwan, and to attack Russia if it invades one inch of NATO territory. Mr. Biden has stated the AUMF repeals will not disturb any deployments of United States troops in Iraq or neighboring Syria.
If Congress were serious about reclaiming its constitutional war power, it would prohibit the expenditure of any funds of the United States to conduct offensive operations anywhere in the world or in outer space without a prior congressional declaration of war. That brandishing of the power of the purse ended the Vietnam War on August 15, 1973.
Sincerely,
Bruce Fein, associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, 1981-83, and author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy
300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: 202-465-8728; 703-963-4968 (M)
Email: bruce@feinpoints.com
THANK You❗️ This Perpetual HumanSacrifice /MassDestruction For PERSONAL GAINS, Global “democracy” CRUSADE is so beyond “Out of Hand” it’s a Criminally Depraved Rabid Addiction.