Ken Berwitz
Without Congressionalpermission, public debate, or any attempt to rally the American public\’ssupport, President Obama has ordered U.S. ground troops to a war zone, his mostflagrantly unconstitutional war-making since he unlawfully helped to overthrow Muammaral-Qaddafi. “The United States is set to deploy troops on the ground in Syriafor the first time to advise and assist rebel forces combating ISIS,” CNN reports. “The deployment of U.S. SpecialOperations forces is the most significant escalation of the American militarycampaign against ISIS to date.”
This should perturbeven proponents of a U.S. war against ISIS.
As Obama put it priorto the 2008 election: “The president does not have the power under theConstitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation thatdoes not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
Now he is engaging inthe very actions that he specifically declared to be illegal. And Congress isabdicating its responsibility to either empower him to wage war or to rein himin. Its passivity is enabling Obama to exceed the limits of his power in a waythat has, in the past, led to failed wars as catastrophic as Vietnam and asrecent as Libya.
