Challenging the Rush to War
by John Nichols*
The Nation
Posted March 5, 2003
thenation.com
<<...Considering the fact that the Bush Administration is the planet's primary proponent of war with Iraq, Nancy Lessin wants to know why the US Congress has failed to follow the example of parliaments around the world that are debating whether a war is necessary.
"When we look at the world community, we see that they had a debate in the Parliament of Turkey. They had a debate in the Parliament of Great Britain. They are having serious debates in legislative bodies all over the world, and yet there is no debate in Congress," says Lessin, the mother of a 25-year-old Marine who has been dispatched to the Persian Gulf...>>
<<...The willingness of some in Congress to demand a debate is reassuring to Nancy Lessin, who is frustrated by the failure of the White House and leaders in the House and Senate to take seriously the dictates of the Constitution. As the mother of a Marine who would fight the war and an activist with the group Military Families Speak Out, Lessin says she is certain that the best way to support the troops is to demand that Congress take seriously its constitutionally defined responsibility to debate whether the US should go to war. "The men and women who have already been assigned to the Persian Gulf are doing a job," Lessin says. "They do not write their job description. Their job description is written in Washington, DC. The decision on whether to go to war is a political decision. We see it as our duty to make sure that the job description does not involve invading Iraq. But even if members of Congress do not share that view, they have a duty to hold a debate and to vote on whether to declare war. They swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, and we are demanding that they obey that oath."...>>
*John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, has covered progressive politics and activism in the United States and abroad for more than a decade. He is currently the editor of the editorial page of Madison, Wisconsin's Capital Times. Nichols is the author of It's the Media, Stupid |
