PCHiway wrote:Now, the paper that the White House sent over to Congress the day before yesterday could, I suppose, be that notification. That paper said, in effect, that since the US is just playing a supporting role in air operations and not engaging in any ground or sea operations beyond pilot rescue...that it isn't really a war and as such doesn't need a Congressional OK.

As of now, most media major media outlets seem to be giving Obama a pass on this. Libya stuff is way below the fold these days. If I'm sitting in the West Wing...I'm not seeing a lot of clamor from the hoi polloi for some sort of resolution on this matter. That could change of course...it will depend on how much of a stink the GOP is willing to make...the media always loves a good fight.

GMTom wrote:What I do not understand is how can lobbing bomb after bomb, killing scores of soldiers at a time NOT be thought of as "war"
per my dictionary link:
War:
1. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties.
4. A condition of active antagonism or contention
5. A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious.
fits all those definitions quite well.
...This reminds me of Clinton and his "can you define IS"

Sometime in the future, a Republican President will want to intervene internationally and

The Boland Amendment prohibited the federal government from providing military support "for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of Nicaragua." It aimed to prevent CIA funding of rebels opposed to the Marxist provisional junta, the Boland Amendment sought to block Reagan administration support for the Contra rebels. The amendment was narrowly interpreted by the Reagan administration to apply to only U.S. intelligence agencies, allowing the National Security Council, not so labeled, to channel funds to the Contra rebels. In order to block this, the amendment was changed to prohibit any funds for military or paramilitary operations.[4][5]

Administration officials argued that the Boland Amendment, or any act of Congress would not interfere with the president's conduct of foreign policy by restricting funds, as the president could seek funds from private entities or foreign governments

rickyp wrote:At least Obama is making a clear legal arguement... Not just plotting to avoid the law like one of his predecssors.

To a certain extent Obama is protecting the powers of all future presidents.

PCHiway wrote:According to the timer set by the War Powers Resolution, Obama has until Sunday. That's when the 90 day limit will expire. After that, by existing law, Obama would have to officially tell Congress something...

rickyp wrote:I don't think he is making a clear legal argument at all. Its evident that he is approaching the problem on a very short term and short sighted basis.

Well, I listened to a lawyer on CNN tell everyone it was 50/50.... So if the expert was really expert, I'd say thats better than an unclear arguement...

The airforce claims Canada has taken 10% of the air sorties. So if you figure that it means they expect another 3000 guided bombs will be dropped on the Libyans in the next little while. Surely they gotta hit the crazy coot soon.

And Steve; read what i quoted from Wiki. I'm referring to Reagan.

The report’s findings:

“DOJ and ATF inappropriately and recklessly relied on a 20-year-old ATF Order to allow guns to walk.” The agencies misrepresented the intention of the order to justify their actions.

“Supervisors told the agents to ‘get with the program’ because senior ATF officials had sanctioned the operation.” At least one agent was cautioned that if he didn’t stop complaining about the dangerous nature of the operation, he would find himself out of a job, and lucky to be working in a prison.

“Operation Fast and Furious contributed to the increasing violence and deaths in Mexico. This result was regarded with giddy optimism by ATF supervisors hoping that guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico would provide the nexus to straw purchasers in Phoenix.” ATF officials were seemingly unconcerned over the deaths of Mexican law enforcement officers, soldiers, and innocent civilians, noting that you had to “scramble a few eggs” to make an omelette, in a callous disregard of human life.

Senior ATF personnel including Acting Director Ken Melson, and senior Department of Justice officials at least up to an assistant attorney general, were well aware of and supported the operation.

Department of Justice officials hid behind semantics to lie and deny that they allowed guns to be walked across the border.

When asked by the Oversight Committee how many of 1,750 specific weapons that “walked” under orders of the ATF and DOJ could have been interdicted if agents were allowed to act as they were trained, the agents answered they could have stopped every single one.

The more than 2,000 weapons that the Obama Justice Department allowed to be delivered to Mexican narco-terrorist cartels are thought to have been used in the shooting of an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers battling the cartels. Two American law enforcement officers have also presumably fallen prey to these weapons, along with an unknown number of civilians on both sides of the border.

President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice has purposefully armed narco-terrorist drug cartels that have been accused of bombings, ambushes, mass murders, public executions, and the assassination of police, politicians, and civic leaders.

GMTom wrote:Yemen is close behind, yet we are not in these places?