A Most Cogent and Succinct Indictment Against Yet Another American Military Adventure
To bad no one cares.
Constitutional watchdog. Especially with a Dem in the White House. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, a supporter of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, disagrees with Operation Odyssey Dawn (sounds like a stripper) and is describing POTUS's decision to deploy force again Libya without first seeking congressional authorization “an affront to the Constitution.” Interesting.
Dr. Bartlett, a Western Maryland Republican, chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces. In a statement Monday, he said “The United States does not have a King's army.” Here is his statement.
Wait, why'd he vote for Iraq then? The Baltimore Sun reported that Bartlett spokeswoman Lisa Wright qualified his support of the Iraq war in the event one might inadvertently allege hypocrisy.Washington, Mar 21 - Congressman Roscoe Bartlett released the following statement today concerning the situation in Libya. Congressman Bartlett represents Maryland’s Sixth District and he is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces of the House Armed Services Committee.
“The United States does not have a King's army. President Obama's unilateral choice to use U.S. military force in Libya is an affront to our Constitution. President Obama's administration has repeated the mistakes of the Clinton administration concerning bombing in Kosovo and the George W. Bush administration concerning invading Iraq by failing to request and obtain from the U.S. Congress unambiguous prior authorization to use military force against a country that has not attacked U.S. territory, the U.S. military or U.S. citizens. This is particularly ironic considering then-Senator Obama campaigned for the Democratic nomination based upon his opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq.
“Moammar Qadhafi is a tyrant despised throughout the Middle East and North Africa. His brutal and merciless attacks against his own citizens are horrific. It is self-evident that the tragic situation in Libya is not an emergency since the Obama administration sought and obtained support from both the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council to authorize military force against Qadhafi. The Obama administration also had time to organize a 22-nation coalition to implement a no-fly zone with military attacks led by U.S. Armed Forces against Qadhafi’s forces. Nonetheless, the Obama administration failed to seek approval from the American people and their elected legislators in the Congress. Failing to obtain authorization from the U.S. Congress means that President Obama has taken sole responsibility for the outcome of using U.S. military forces against Qadhafi onto his shoulders and his administration."
“Rep. Bartlett was a reluctant supporter of H.J.Res. 114 [the joint resolution to authorize military force] after [the] failure of the Spratt subsitute which would have required an additional vote by Congress to authorize military force by the U.S. in the absence of a UN resolution. The Spratt resolution was his preference. Rep. Bartlett was critical of the UN for failing to uphold its resolutions and of President Bush's interpretation that the ambiguous wording in UNSC Resolution 1441 [the November 2002 U.N. Security Council Resolution that offered the regime of Saddam Hussein "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations"] was an authorization for the US to use military force.
Does anybody care? No, Ringo. Nobody cares.There is nothing more "American" than rooting for any military endeavor against anyone or any country or any people. You'd think that after Vietnam we'd be rather chary about engaging in ill-defined, nebulous military actions couched and phrased conditionally and in absolute contravention and violation of the Constitution.
You'd think.
