Commitment In Congress To Stop Libya War
The war in Libya was begun without congressional approval, but it was not begun without congressional attention. When Barack Obama rushed the American military into the civil war in Libya with less than 24 hours of notice in advance, there was no opportunity for members of Congress to hold hearings, to debate, or to vote on a declaration of war. This week, Congress is in recess, and so has been unable to respond to President Obama’s seizure of war powers from the Legislative Branch.
Individual members of Congress, however, have not been inactive. Though they have not been assembled in the U.S. Capitol Building, U.S. Representatives have been communicating with each other, and attempting to organize resistance to the new war.
Four members of the House of Representatives have signed a single letter of protest against Obama’s insertion of the United States in the civil war in Libya. In that letter, Barbara Lee, Mike Honda, Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva have committed not just to log a verbal protest, but to take action, to “fight”“, against the unconstitutional new war. They write,
“With the potential for protracted civil war in Libya, and similar circumstances of unrest and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Yemen, and elsewhere, we cannot afford to sidestep critical diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to rely solely upon the deployment of more guns, bombs, and troops. This represents a dangerous path toward perpetual U.S. military engagement around the world.
The United States must immediately shift to end the bombing in Libya. Rest assured we will fight in Congress to ensure the United States does not become embroiled in yet another destabilizing military quagmire in Libya with no clear exit plan or diplomatic strategy for peace.”
Read the full statement by these antiwar four.
What form will this “fight in Congress” by Lee, Woolsey, Grijalva and Honda take? Will they support legislation by Dennis Kucinich to remove funding for U.S. military action in Libya, or will their opposition take another tack?
