Senator Webb Gives a Good Example of How Not to End the War
Note to Senator Webb: You are not the president and Congress is not the Executive branch.
In a 56-41 vote, Webb's amendment would have required troops in Iraq to have time at home equal to time served in theater. While it is a clever attempt to end the war, it is not the province of Congress to control the military. Congress has one true constitutional avenue to end the war: cut off funding. Anything apart from a cut in funding is simply an attempt at usurping power.
I understand the Democrats desire to end the war. Their attempts are simply a reflection of their constituents demands, but that doesn't mean they should do so in a way which will would alter forever how the U.S. engages in warfare. Imagine if congress could have voted on the storming of Normandy, or island hoping in the Pacific? It would have been a bureaucratic nightmare.
The bottom line is that if Jim Webb and his friends on the hill wish to end the war they should have the political courage to simply cut off funding. If they fail they should try again. Then again who ever let the pesky constitution get in the way of a good idea.
1 comment:
All of these spiteful and petty arguments derive from the congressional abrogation of power to declare war and the United Nations era. A simple declaration of war on Iraq would have allowed the president far greater lattitude in the prosecution of the war and would have given a clear cut set of goals.
If they didn't want a war, why opt for the "military option" to begin with in the affair?
We would be far more cautious and efficient in our prosecution of wars if we returned to the idea that short of declared war, a military serves in defense only. This would make debates about war and the use of military force CRYSTAL CLEAR, and would do away with the open ended wars that seem to derive from an era which needs to pass into history.
Perhaps nuclear weapons have made my ideas quaint. If so, then we are doomed to muddled and inefficient wars until the final trigger is pulled.
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