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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (46201)	9/22/2002 3:08:54 PM
From: Skeet Shipman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

American Historians Speak Out 'Consulting' Congress On Iraq Is Not Enough Published: Sep 16 2002 tompaine.com Joyce Appleby is Professor of History Emerita and Ellen Carol DuBois is Professor of History at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). The nation stands on the verge of war with Iraq and American historians are speaking out. Consultation with Congress is not enough. A congressional resolution authorizing military action falls short. We believe the Constitution is clear: Congress must debate and vote on whether to declare war on Iraq. Over 1,200 historians have signed our petition to that effect. We believe the president is flouting the Constitution, which explicitly gives to Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. "We ask our senators and representatives to do this," the petition reads in part, "because Congress has not asserted its authority to declare war for over half a century, leaving the president solely in control of war powers to the detriment of our democracy and in clear violation of the Constitution." At noon today, Sept. 17, Constitution Day, we are delivering our petition to Congress. Historians who have signed the petition include: Sanford Levinson of the University of Texas, Jack Rakove of Stanford University, David Beito of the University of Alabama, David DeLeon of Howard University, Melani McAlister of George Washington University, David Levering Lewis of Rutgers University; and Teresa Meade of Union College. Read the complete text of the petion and the full list of signers at HistoryNewsNetwork.org. The Constitution is not a document to be selectively observed. Its provisions support each other. The balancing of powers was the device the Founding Fathers hit upon to prevent the tyranny of concentrated power. In writing Article I, Section 8, they balanced the president's power as commander-in-chief against the authority of the people's representatives to determine whether or not to commit the nation to war. There is no ambiguity of original intent here. After weeks of resistance, the president finally said he would consult Congress and seek a resolution authorizing the use of military force. The announcement quieted many critics and media commentators, but it should not have. It is a deceptive distraction. A resolution might be only a vaguely worded affirmation of the dangers of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. By contrast, a vote on a declaration of war would involve Congress in a sober assessment of the costs, risks, and wisdom of a preemptive strike at Iraq. Inadequate as mere consultation is, President Bush has undercut even its limited value by telling audiences he doesn't expect any debate on Capital Hill to alter his position. This imperious response does not sound like a man who once swore to uphold the Constitution. A preemptive attack on Iraq is not like invading Grenada or Panama. The stakes are much higher, the risks far more serious for the nation and the world. That's why Congress must debate whether or not to declare war and then take a vote. A resolution that is less than a declaration of war might satisfy those people who think Congress should have a say in the matter, but it would not satisfy the Constitution. Either Saddam Hussein has pursued a path that requires us to wage war against him, or he has not. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is not about police actions or interventions -- it is about war. Congress must debate whether to declare war and then take a vote. The last time a president asked Congress to declare war was on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Presidents since then have preferred the flexibility of undeclared wars, proxy wars, covert wars, and United Nations action -- a trend that has eroded congressional authority. While the clandestine nature of Cold War operations helps explain this, it in no way justifies a further expansion of executive power at the expense of the legislative branch. Who remembers America's past ways of conducting foreign policy? Historians do. We cultivate the memory of our nation's principles and practices. In this spirit, over 1,200 American historians have turned to an old tradition -- petitioning Congress for redress of grievances. We hope to call members of Congress back to their duty and contribute to a rejuvenation of civic culture in this, the oldest democracy on Earth. We stand at a historical crossroads -- the nation will either return to its constitutional provision for making war or continue the baleful practices of the Cold War and its for-us-or-against-us mentality, its imperial presidency, and the suppression of dissent. At the very time that people around the world are restive under despotic governments, we should show them how democracy works. Whatever position individual Americans may take on a preemptive attack on Iraq -- for, against, or undecided -- they should urge their Congressional representatives to muster the facts and arguments and bring them to bear in open debate: Should we or should we not declare war on Iraq? If we must consider the untested doctrine of preemptive war, let us rely on the well-tested Constitution to guide our decision. That course alone can give legitimacy to the initiative. * * * TomPaine.com Independent, Commercial-free Public Affairs Reporting and Commentary

To: JohnM who wrote (46201)	9/22/2002 3:16:16 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

Question: is Saddam "harboring" Al Q? Answer, completely unclear. ...You are trying to introduce a different topic. I see. Palestinian terrorists count, until somebody tries to argue that they are evidence for taking action, when all of a sudden only Al Qaeda counts. This is not a different topic, it's the same topic -- has Saddam worked with terrorists? Has he given WMDs to terrorists? You keep saying there is no evidence, so we should do nothing about Iraq. If the answer to these questions is yes (and now the first is definitely yes, and the second yes with high probability), then who cares if Saddam backed 9/11 specifically? The threat of Saddam using his friendly terrorists to stage another 9/11 is too high to bear. It's you who are changing topics by saying that we can only focus on Al Qaeda, nothing else. This war is not about taking revenge for 9/11. It's about preventing the next 9/11. We're not fighting just Al Qaeda. We're fighting terrorism and militant islam, and those regimes that sponsor them.