House Democrats Gone Bad!

What in the world are the Democrats of the House doing now? They pass a bill that seems to be hush hush, concerning funding the war and placing a timeline on the withdrawal of troops, but then remove the section regarding the 1973 War Powers Act. Come on! Give Bush and Cheney the GREEN LIGHT to bomb Iran. Frigging unbelievable. Our only hope is the Senate, hopefully pit bulldogs Jim Webb and Russ Feingold will continue the fight. We can not afford to sit back and let the bombings begin.

The CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES names the president commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, but it also explicitly assigns to Congress the authority to declare war.
Article I Section 8
{To declare War, grant Letters of Marque (Archaic. A letter of marque was issued by a nation to a privateer or mercenary to act on the behalf of that nation for the purpose of retaliating against another nation for some wrong, such as a border incursion or seizure.) and Reprisal, (Archaic. An act taken by a nation, short of war, to gain redress for an action taken against that nation. For example, seizing a ship in retaliation for a seized ship. ) and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.}

*******While the Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war. Since World War II, the United States has been involved in many major conflicts without resorting to a war declaration. This led to some ambiguity over the extent to which the president is allowed to conduct military action under his constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces, without prior congressional approval.
In Vietnam, this question was addressed through the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was a 1964 resolution issued by Congress giving President Lyndon B. Johnson approval, without a formal declaration of war, "to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom." Both Johnson and his successor, Richard Nixon used the
Resolution as a justification for escalated involvement in Indochina. In an attempt to clarify the issue further, Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973. As stated in Section 2(a) of the act, it was passed to insure that "the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations."
While some have questioned the constitutionality of the War Powers Act, it is very precise in the conditions it sets out for military deployments. Section 5 (b) puts a time limit of no longer than 90 days for the use of United States Armed Forces in a foreign nation without a declaration of war or a joint resolution of Congress otherwise authorizing the use of force.

On the question as to who has ultimate say so, Section 5(c) of the War Power Resolution makes this crystal clear, stating, "Notwithstanding subsection (b), at any time that United States Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities outside the territory of the United States, its possessions and territories without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution." In other words, Congress can mandate the removal of troops at anytime, if there has not been a formal declaration of war.

The required formal resolution to allow the use of Armed Forces to into Iraq was Public Law 107-243, passed by the 107th Congress on Oct. 16, 2002. The resolution accused Iraq of harboring people responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Congress also concluded that "Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened vital United States interests and international peace and security," and declared Iraq to be in "material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations" and urged the President “to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations."

In short, the authorization of force was based on the Weapons of Mass destruction theory. And we all know how that turned out. No WMDs. We shouldn’t be in “war”. Iraq did not attack us, Saudi Arabia did. But, you don’t see Bush bullying the Saudis.

The Iraq resolution invoked the War Powers Clause, therefore requiring the President of the United States to gain congressional approval for all troop deployment, as stated in Section 2(b) of the War Powers Act, which points to the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution as the basis for legislation on the war powers. It provides that "Under Article I, section 8, of the Constitution it is specifically provided that Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States."

The framers of the Constitution made clear that the United States Congress has the ultimate say so, and the War Powers Act merely reinforces that authority.