Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund any war it chooses? Are there constitutional and legal requirements that must first be met before war is waged?
These questions should be addressed in a national debate over the U.S. military involvement in Ukraine and Israel. Sadly, there has been no debate. The media are mouthing what the CIA is telling them, Congress is in lock-step, and only a few websites and podcasts — my own, “Judging Freedom” on YouTube, among them — are challenging the government’s reckless, immoral, illegal and unconstitutional wars.
The Supreme Court has ruled that all power in the federal government comes from the Constitution and from no other source. Congress, however, has managed to extend its reach beyond the confines of the Constitution domestically by spending money in areas that it cannot regulate and purchasing compliance from the states by bribing them; and in foreign policy by paying for wars it cannot legally declare.
Congress cannot legally declare war on Russia or Iran, since there is no American militarily grounded reason for doing so. Russia and Iran pose no credible threats to American national security. Moreover, the U.S. has no treaties with Ukraine or Israel that trigger an American military defense. But Congress spends money on those wars nevertheless.
Under the Constitution, only Congress can declare war on a nation or group. The last time it did so was to initiate American involvement in World War II. But Congress has given away limited authority to presidents and permitted them to fight undeclared wars, such as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and President George W. Bush’s disastrous and criminal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it was sending around 100 troops to Israel to man the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, the U.S. has sent there. Then, the administration announced that it was sending a second THAAD unit and another 100 troops. The THAADs will presumably be used in Israel’s defense against Iran.
Congress has not only not declared war on Iran; it has not authorized the use of American military forces against it. Yet, it has given President Joe Biden a blank check and authorized him to spend it on military equipment for Israel however he sees fit, without a lawful or even credible American military objective.
Hellbound and Down 