Restraining Executive war powers

I don't want to get overoptimistic here. But restraining Presidential power to make war is an important priority. A goal that's likely to have more success in an Obama administration than in a McCain government.

But no President is likely to volunteer to give up war powers that have accrued to Presidents over the years. With the exception in Obama's case of blatantly illegal and immoral things like the torture policy, which Cheney and Bush justified as part of the President's war powers. Not even that can be expected from McCain, who believes "America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world", as he said in his 10/07/08 debate with Obama.

Louis Fisher in the 2nd edition of his Presidential War Power (2004) discusses military interventions during the Clinton administration that deserve a fresh look by the Democratic base in the light of the Cheney-Bush foreign policy disasters. Fisher's focus is on the Constitutional issues of Executive authority on war. Whether or not the action was taken in a Constitutional way is not the same as whether a military action was advisable or not.

It does affect consideration of whether an action is moral. Classical Just War theory considers one of the key elements of a just war is that the war must be prosecuted by a legitimate, duly-consituted authority. If the President is prosecuting a war without Constitutional authority to do so, that is grounds for arguing that the war is not a just one. (Today's Republicans, of course, sneer at the concept of "just war". But that's another story.)

Clinton maintained the no-fly zones of questionable legitimacy that Bush had established over northern and southern Iraq that involved more-or-less continuous bombing of that country. The Gulf War of 1991 left long-standing commitments in its wake, which contributed to the events leading to the Iraq War of 2003-????, in no small part by effectively institutionalizing the notion that US military action against Iraq was neeeded. On the other hand, these no-fly zones were also a part of the successful disarming of Iraq of its "weapons of mass destruction". But, as we know only too well now, this didn't stop Cheney and Bush from invading Iraq under false claims about those WMDs anyway.

Clinton launched cruise missiles onto Baghdad in 1993 in retaliation for an alleged Iraqi plot to assassinate Old Man Bush. Twenty-three cruise Tomahawk missiles were aimed against Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. There was no Cogressional approval and no prior consultation with Congress by the Clinton administration.

Old Man Bush began the intervention in Somalia in 1992 with no prior Congressional approval. Congress in February 1993 failed to pass a joint resolution approving of the intervention. Again, a military commitment had been created and the Clinton administration judged it necessary to prolong it. Once the notorious "Black Hawk Down" incident occurred in Mogadishu, Congressional Republicans began demanding immediate withdrawal of American troops. In October 1993 (the month of the incident), Clinton set a date for withdrawal of combat troops by the end of October 1994. He compromised with Congress on appropriation language specifying that withdrawal timeline.

Clinton initiated an humanitarian mission to Haiti in 1993. Congress passed a non-binding "sense of Congress" resolution that prior Congressional approval would be needed to send combat troops, with qualifying language for emergencies. In 1994, Congress passed another nonbinding resolution with an even broader exception clause for "national security".

In September 1993, Clinton announced he was ready to use force in Haiti. A hostile landing of American forces was averted only by the last-minute success of a Jimmy Carter-led peace mission. Congress passed legislation effectively saying Clinton's intention to use force was unauthorized, saying "the President should have sought and welcomed Congressional approval before deploying United States forices to Haiti".

NATO air strikes in Bosnia began in 1995. Congress passed another nonbinding sense-of-Congress resolution in 1993 saying Clinton should seek Congressional approval before committing US forces to enforce a Bosnian peace deal. In February 1994, US jets shot down four Serbian bombers. In April 1994, the US began air strikes against Bosnian Serb forces. When the NATO air strikes began in 1995, Clinton claimed United Nations authority for US participation in the action.

Clinton decided in 1995 to commit ground troops to Bosnia. Congress passed some non-binding limits. Clinton sent 20,000 troops in December. Some troops remained there until 2004. Congress did not formally authorize the action.

The Clinton administration launched more cruise missiles against Iraq in 1996. They claimed a highly dubious Congressional authority based on the 1991 Gulf War statute.

The spectacularly ill-named Operation Desert Fox took place in December, 1998. Mark Conversino of the Air War College writes in some detail about that operation in Operation DESERT FOX: Effectiveness With Unintended Effects Air & Space Power Journal 07/13/05. He calls the 4-day heavy bombardment a "major armed confrontation" between the US/Britain and Iraq. I posted about the operation in The secret and not-so-secret air war against Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion 02/22/07.

After Operation Desert Fox, writes Fisher, "the United States and Britain conducted repeated air strikes against Iraq, firing more missiles and hitting more targets than during the four-day operation in December 1998".

The infamously ill-fated cruise-missile attack on a chemical factory in the Sudan took place in 1998, based on very sloppy intelligence.

Clinton launched a major cruise missile attack on Afghanistan in 1998, attempting thereby essentially to assassinate Osama bin Laden.

Clinton in late 1998 authorized NATO to bomb in suport of Kosovars in Serbia (Kosovo was then part of Serbia). Italy, Germany and other parliaments voted to authorize their countries' approval. The German debate was very serious. By contrast, writes Fisher, "The U.S. Congress, supposedly the strongest legislature in the world, watched from the sidelines".

The Kosovo War occurred in 1999. In March 1999, the House voted a nonbinding concurrent resolution to authorize US peacekeepers for Kosovo. The Senate passed a nonbinding concurrent resolution authorizing air and missile operations against Serbia. "The war against Yugoslavia began on March 24 without any statutory or constitutional support," writes Fisher.

Republican Congressman Ernest Istook of Oklahoma said at the time, "President Clinton asked many nations to agree to attack Yugoslavia, but he failed to get permission from one crucial country, America."

Fisher summarizes, "Clinton's military initiatives were remarkable both for their frequency and the absence of any institutional checks, either legislative or judicial."

Tags: clinton administration, war powers