Who would have thought that an undeclared war in Libya would bring Republicans and Democrats together. Nine liberal Democrats have found something they agree with Republicans on: President Barack Obama’s authorization of military strikes on Libya without congressional consent is unconstitutional. If you recall, Congress voted 296-133 to give President Bush authority to invade Iraq.
Those Democrats join GOP critics, including Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and tea party favorite Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. And Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio even suggested that Obama’s action could be an “impeachable offense.”
Sen. Paul points out that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says “Congress shall have power to declare war.”
“It is alarming how casually the administration talks about initiating acts of war, as though Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution does not exist,” the freshman senator says in a statement on his congressional website.
“Frankly, it is not up to the president whether or not we intervene in Libya, or set up ‘no-fly’ zones, or send troops. At least, it is not if we follow the Constitution.”
Nine liberal House members “strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president’s actions” during a Democratic Caucus conference call Saturday. One Democrat lawmaker said, “they consulted the Arab League. They consulted the United Nations. They did not consult the United States Congress.”
Anger is not limited to the United States Congress. In a stinging rebuke of U.S. policy in Libya, the Russian defense minister accused the U.S.-led coalition of killing Libyan civilians through errant air strikes and called for an immediate cease-fire on Tuesday. China called Tuesday for an immediate cease-fire in Libya where the U.S. has launched punishing airstrikes. “All parties must immediately cease fire and resolve issues through peaceful means,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, citing reports that the airstrikes had caused hundreds of civilian deaths.
China, with Russia, India, Brazil and other developing countries have condemned the U.S.-led air strikes on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as risky and unwarranted overreaching by the West.
In what can be called an embarrassment to Obama after his brief tour of Brazil, the Brazilian government called for an immediate ceasefire and joined China, India, and Russia is saying they regretted the loss of life.
Italy is now threatening to withdraw it’s use of military bases unless the United States agrees to stay within the parameters of the UN Resolution it is now violating.
Michelle and Barack Obama toast in Chile during their South America Tour
Our Democrat friends in Congress have taught us after the war in Iraq that we can not unilaterally invade or attack a country which poses no threat to us. We can not violate the terms of a UN Resolution. And we can not enter into any war unless we have complete support of the international community. These attacks on Libya violate all of those lessons.
This illegal war must end and Obama must be impeached for illegally committing troops to a war without the consent of Congress and he should be held accountable for the hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives that were lost due to this unilateral action. After all, there is no doubt this is the route that Democrats would have taken had Bush been President.
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