Marie Cocco: Resolving to End the War

[marmar]

from Truthdig:

Marie Cocco: Resolving to End the War


Posted on Jan 15, 2007
By Marie Cocco

WASHINGTON—Could it be that it was all so simple then?

The last time the United States Congress declared war, it did so in one brief paragraph. It directed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to use “the entire naval and military forces’’ to defeat the enemy and pledged “all of the resources of the country’’ to the effort.

War has become complicated since 1941. We no longer have wars, in fact.

We have “conflicts’’ or “military actions’’ or “peacekeeping missions’’ or “enforcement actions.’’ In Iraq, we started with the October 2002 “authorization for use of military force’’ against Saddam Hussein’s regime for allegedly threatening the U.S. with its alleged weapons of mass destruction, and for defying various United Nations resolutions. American involvement in this war has exceeded World War II in its duration—fitting, perhaps, for a conflict that started with a resolution no mere paragraph in length, but six pages long.

The muddying of the constitutional separation of war-making powers—they’re divided between the president and Congress—went on and on through the Cold War and has continued long after its end. Now we careen toward a constitutional showdown.

President Bush does not see in November’s election a public mandate to change course in Iraq. He does not regard the public will, or the expression of it that comes through the new Democratic Congress, as impinging on what he takes to be his unfettered prerogatives as commander in chief. He is escalating the U.S. military commitment in Iraq despite bipartisan opposition. “I made my decision and we’re going forward,’’ Bush said Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes.’’

This clipped statement of presidential defiance comes after a more explicit enunciation of White House thinking, delivered last week by spokesman Tony Snow. “Congress has the power of the purse,’’ Snow correctly pointed out. “The president has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way.’’

This notion would no doubt surprise the Founders, as it should anyone who believes the United States is a democracy. ......(more)

The complete column is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070115_marie_cocco_resolving_to_end_the_war/

[fasttense]

1. And this is at the heart of the bushes war policy

"If the king believes that parliament is wrong, the king may do what he wishes."

In this case, the decider believes that We the People and Congress are wrong, the decider may do what he wishes.

[Cobalt-60]

2. I'm getting a new pitchfork

We may have to clear some manure from the White House.