Democratic senators: Trump lacks 'legal authority' for preemptive, 'bloody nose' strike on North Kor

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Democratic senators: Trump lacks ‘legal authority’ for preemptive, ‘bloody nose’ strike on North Korea

By David Nakamura February 5 at 1:48 AM

A group of Democratic senators is warning President Trump that he lacks the “legal authority” to carry out a preemptive strike on North Korea, amid questions over whether the White House is considering a risky “bloody nose” attack.

In a letter to be sent to Trump on Monday, the 18 senators said they are “deeply concerned about the potential consequences of a preemptive military strike on North Korea and the risks of miscalculation and retaliation.” They emphasized that it is an “enormous gamble” to believe that such an action, even if it were modest in scope, would not provoke an escalation from dictator Kim Jong Un.

“Moreover, without congressional authority, a preventative or preemptive U.S. military strike would lack either a constitutional basis or legal authority,” the senators wrote in the letter organized by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Congressional aides said the letter was prompted by the circumstances surrounding the sudden derailment of the White House’s original choice for ambassador to South Korea, a post that has remained vacant since Trump took office.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/02/05/democratic-senators-trump-lacks-legal-authority-for-preemptive-bloody-nose-strike-on-north-korea/

[janterry]

1. So, what will they do about it?

If Trump decides to act.....what will they do about it? We'd be in the middle of a mess - I don't see much that could be done.

[Scarsdale]

2. NOBODY tells shithead

what he can and can not do. Isn't that why he was sent away to school, because his parents could not handle him? He is STILL as childish now as he was then. How do the gop members live with themselves, with this poor excuse for a MAN as their representative? I guess as long as the (Russian) checks clear, the gop will go along with anything, even a totally laughable so-called president. I am ashamed of this country, accepting this orange oaf into the WH. Putin has to be really pleased with the work he has done, destroying the US.

[SergeStorms]

3. Rome burns.........

the GOP fiddles.

We have a "president" who thinks he alone is the supreme law of the land. Everyone in government works for him! The American people must bow down and worship him! Or so he thinks, anyway, and in TrumpAmerikkka what he thinks is the only thing that matters.

Well. Mr. Trump, fuck you! I'll die before I bow down to you.

[dchill]

4. That'll stop him.