The United States Constitution requires that before the Commander-in-Chief, the President, can go to war, Congress must declare war. Congress has done so five times in US history.
In the latest issue of The Week, there’s a discussion of whether, by precedent, especially since World War II, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution has been effectively abrogated. You can find it here (for subscribers only).
One can argue that the action taken by President Obama in Libya did not, strictly speaking, authorize making war. Rather, it can be said, Libya confronted a humanitarian crisis similar to that afflicting Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, which had to be addressed with military instead of scientific assets.
Be that as it may, even those who believe in a robust executive and federal government can’t, it seems to me, feel comfortable with the stunning disregard for the Constitution exhibited by American wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, among other places, since 1945.
Over the years, we’ve lost many lives and spent billions of dollars on wars that appear to have been extra-constitutional and so, illegal. Shouldn’t we have a discussion about what the Constitution requires when it comes to war making?
[I blog on altogether different topics at my personal blog. Click the link at your own risk.]