I thought only Congress can declare war. What the hell?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-02-21 03:32am

How is Bush doing this?

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-21 03:33am

Well one way could be described in the words of Abba!

Money! Money! Money!

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 03:34am

he gets 60 days to play around with. they decided that after vietnam, cuz the world is too fast for a comittee to decide to fight, after a nuke strike or something.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-02-21 03:38am

Superman wrote:How is Bush doing this?

Congress passed a resolution authorizing the use of force. In a recent ruling the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals effectively ruled that this was the equivlant of a declaration of war. So, Congress has already declared war (Against both OBL and Iraq).

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-02-21 03:39am

Enforcer Talen wrote:he gets 60 days to play around with. they decided that after vietnam, cuz the world is too fast for a comittee to decide to fight, after a nuke strike or something.

No president really followed that rule, you know. Just something my American Gov/Economics teacher said.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 03:41am

prolly true. presidents are fun that way.

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-21 03:41am

So, how many of us believe that there will be a full blown war in the next six months?

:: raises his hand ::

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 03:41am

Im betting 6 wks.

korea, that might be 6 months.

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-21 03:48am

Enforcer Talen wrote:Im betting 6 wks.

korea, that might be 6 months.

Yep..I meant within six months...but that sounds about right. I wonder if Korea or Iraq will have the same outcoming as Vietnam?

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 03:49am

iraq? prolly not. they arent backed by a superpower, and we're using a touch more force this time, with a better objective.

north korea might be harder.

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-21 03:54am

Yep, and they didnt take to kindly to DIE ANOTHER DAY did they? Jeez there was an uproar about a few particular bits of that movie...

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 03:57am

some people just cant take criticism.

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-21 04:00am

Is that the Korean's or the Bond film makers? Cause I'm on the side of the Bond film makers...I thought DAD was great!

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2003-02-21 04:01am

Ill let you decide. lol.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-02-21 04:31am

Mid-march is the current date, but quite frankly people were saying it was coming in October 2002.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-02-21 05:01am

closet sci-fi fan wrote:I doubt we will goto war with North Korea(although we should be going after them instead of Iraq).

When a paper dog successfuly catches an asbestos cat through hell, that would happen. Any war on that penninsula will be a disaster- North Korea is a much more difficult foe than Iraq. Rule 1 of successful international politics- don't attack someone who can hurt you bad.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2003-02-21 06:20am

Two things, As Duchass noted Bush has authorization to go to war, Not unrestricted Warfar(The normal sense, He can attack anyone related to Iraq, IE if he wanted to cut funding and support to Iraq with a Decliration of War he could techiquely invade France if he so chose, With only a Decliration of Force he can only attack Iraq and not any possible allies or supporters)

Second
North Korea stand a serious chance of winning aginst any US invasion
We might be able to bomb them day in and day out but if they have a serious chance of hitting our fleet hard and can esiplly pound our troops,
Remeber there is no where in South Korea that North Korea Artillery can not reach, remeber we are dealing with two very small Countrys here forcing us to bunch our units togther and make them even more vurunable to NK Artillery, We can bomb some, but they follow Soviet Doctrine(Meaning they have a hell of alot of Artillery)

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-02-21 03:59pm

There is also the War Powers Act which more or less gives Bush the authority to send in troops withouth consulting Congress for a few months.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-02-21 04:01pm

Basically 99% of the president's power comes from precedent. In other words, if another president did it and got away with it, then this president can do it, as well. Congress can't be bothered to declare war; they've got important squandering of tax dollars to tend to.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 2003-02-21 04:05pm

As Bush is Commander-in-Chief, he can attack whoever he wants.

He needs Congress to authorize money to continue fighting.

Happend in 'Nam, congress wouldn't pay anymore, so the yanks pulled out.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2003-02-21 04:13pm

Didn't the resolution from congress for fighting terrorism also give him some leway on fighting this war??

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2003-02-21 06:07pm

Didn't the resolution from congress for fighting terrorism also give him some leway on fighting this war??

Completly seperate Resoultion but yes he could have gone to war on Iraq with that one as the lanugage is very vauge, but he went back on urging from his own party to get a brand new Iraq Specific one, Then at the urging of the Democrats, a few months later he went back and got a second one. Teddy Kenndy wants him to go back and get a third one but most people ignore him

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2003-02-21 06:35pm

Only congress can declare war, but the president has the powers of commander in chief. This is set by the constitution, and cannot be changed without an admendment.

However, there was a bill passed called the War Powers Act. This congressional bill says that if the president deploys troops, congress can recall them after 60 days. After sixty days, the president can keep them an additional 30 if he shows that pulling them back would jepordize their safety. After 90 days total, the troops must come home if congress so demands it. The problem with this law is that it may not be constitutional. Because it hasn't been used yet, the executive has never challenged it in court. If the congress tries to inact this, the president can flat out refuse, and the issue will be decided by the judicial branch.

Besides a constitutional admendment, there is only one thing congress has that can bring the boys home: the power of the purse. Congress is who fiances the military, and they can if they desire to cut off all financial support. This is of course a desperate measure, as cutting off the military while in the field amounts to political suicide.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I thought only Congress can declare war. What the hell?

I thought only Congress can declare war. What the hell?

Re: I thought only Congress can declare war. What the hell?