White House Defends Libya Policy, War Authority

A lawsuit filed by 10 Members of Congress on June 15 charged that the president breached his authority under the War Powers Resolution when he ordered U.S. involvement in the bombing in Libya.
White House Defends Libya Policy, War Authority
Andrea Hayley
6/16/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015


<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Libya_115879745.jpg" alt="REMNANTS: A Libyan man walks past a destroyed army tank June 11 in Ajdabiya, southwest of the city of Benghazi.  (Gianlugi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images )" title="REMNANTS: A Libyan man walks past a destroyed army tank June 11 in Ajdabiya, southwest of the city of Benghazi.  (Gianlugi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images )" width="575" class="size-medium wp-image-1802581"/></a>
REMNANTS: A Libyan man walks past a destroyed army tank June 11 in Ajdabiya, southwest of the city of Benghazi.  (Gianlugi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images )

A lawsuit filed by 10 Members of Congress on June 15 charged that the president breached his authority under the War Powers Resolution when he ordered U.S. involvement in the bombing in Libya.

The complaint charges that President Barack Obama ignored the provisions of the resolution, and that he should completely withdraw from Libya. The White House has defended its policy, issuing a 32-page report detailing war operations, and justifying the U.S.’s role in the NATO operation.

Passed in 1973, the War Powers Resolution serves as a check on the power of the president to commit to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. Since enacted, the legislation has posed challenges for the country’s commander-in-chief, but no president has ever had to seriously contend with the courts.

Nearly two-thirds of House lawmakers voted this week for at least one of two bills to rebuke the president for failing to seek Congressional consent for military actions in Libya.

The majority of lawmakers supported a resolution presented by Speaker John A. Boehner to request explanations from the White House.

Less votes were cast for a proposal by Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the same lawmaker heading up the lawsuit.

In a letter to the president dated June 14, Boehner requested a legal explanation for why the president was not following the War Powers Resolution. He asked for the response by Friday, very close to the 90-day mark, when the resolution forbids armed forces from remaining in a country without a declaration of war, or congressional approval.

The White House says that the United States became involved in Libya in support of an international U.N. resolution, and that the president transferred U.S. command of the mission to NATO as promised in a speech to the American people.

The president’s position, according to the report, is that the United States has important “interests” served by the operation, and that the scope and duration of the actions are of a limited nature, and therefore do not require congressional approval.

Boehner’s letter also questioned whether the military mission is able to secure a U.S. strategic policy objective. The White House argues that they have a responsibility to protect the Libyan citizens.

Obscuring this argument are two facts: That coalition forces have demanded that Moammar Gadhafi step down from power, and that citizens in a similar predicament in Syria are not being helped by the U.S. government, despite needing protection themselves.

The White House sent over their 32-page response to members of Congress Wednesday afternoon, before the deadline.

The legal argument offered in the report is threadbare to say the least, according to Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) expert James Lindsay, in a blog posted on the CFR website.

The main legal argument fits in just one paragraph, stating that U.S. military operations in Libya are distinct from the kind of “hostilities” written into the War Powers Resolution, and therefore do not qualify under the act, Lindsay wrote.

The United States is not engaged in “sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve the presence of U.S. ground troops, U.S. casualties, or a serious threat thereof,” the administration report states.

Read More..."Straight Face Test’

‘Straight Face Test’

In a press conference today, Boehner said the president’s justification “doesn’t pass the straight face test, in my view, that we’re not in the midst of hostilities,” and he said he wanted a better justification from the White House.

Boehner also called on the president to “talk to the American people about this mission. ... To outline to the American people why we are there, what the mission is, and what our goals are, and how do we exit this.”

Gordon Adams, professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at American University in Washington, D.C., said this war powers legislation has been used to challenge every president since it was enacted near the end of the Vietnam War.

“This is a hardy perennial, and it has always been used for partisan advantage,” Adams said in an interview.

“Nobody treats this as a binding statute, even though it is a binding statute,” Adams added.

The courts have always dismissed these kinds of lawsuits, and today’s lawsuit is going nowhere, he predicted.

With a dominating role in NATO, the United States is currently providing the majority of its intelligence, logistical support, and armed drones for the Libyan offensive. The cost of the war thus far is $716 million, close to half of which are munitions.

The projected cost estimate is currently $1.1 billion, which brings U.S. involvement through to the end of a second NATO authorization.

Humanitarian expenditures thus far have been $81 million, and include funding from the Department of State.

Reporting on the business of food, food tech, and Silicon Alley, I studied the Humanities as an undergraduate, and obtained a Master of Arts in business journalism from Columbia University. I love covering the people, and the passion, that animates innovation in America. Email me at andrea dot hayley at epochtimes.com
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