Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 25. januar 2007 / Time Line January 25, 2007
Version 3.524. Januar 2007, 26. Januar 2007
01/25/2007
Immediate Impeachments Needed to Prevent "The Guns of August" in
Eurasia
by Francis A. Boyle
On the evening 10 January 2007 in a nationally televised address to
the American people from the White House, President Bush Jr.
announced that he was going to "surge" an additional 21,500 U.S.
troops into Iraq. Both President Bush Jr. and Vice President Cheney
also made it perfectly clear that they would initiate this "surge"
against the manifest will of the American people expressed in the
U.S. national elections of November 2006 and without obtaining
authorization by the U.S. Congress.
Both President Bush Jr. and Vice President Cheney invoked the
President's alleged powers as Commander in Chief of U.S. armed
forces under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S.
Constitution as authority for their unilaterally determined
"surge".
But that provision was put into the Constitution for the purpose of
guaranteeing the supremacy of civilian control over the U.S.
military establishment. The Constitution made it clear in Article
I, Section 8, Clause 11 that only both Houses of the United States
Congress acting together had the power "To declare War, grant
Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules concerning Captures
on Land and Water." This is popularly known as the War Powers
Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Pursuant to its constitutional power under this War Powers Clause,
and acting in order to prevent another Vietnam War, Congress
enacted into law the 1973 War Powers Resolution over the veto by
President Richard Nixon, which means that it was adopted by at
least a two-thirds favorable vote in both the House and the
Senate.
In specific respect to the 10 January 2007 "surge" of 21,500 more
U.S. troops to Iraq, the War Powers Resolution explicitly requires
that President Bush Jr. obtain additional authorization from
Congress before going forward with the "surge," which he did
nonetheless unilaterally. Section 4(a) (3) makes it quite clear
that the requirements of the War Powers Resolution are triggered
"In the absence of a declaration of war [which we do not have for
Iraq], in any case in which United States Armed Forces are
introduced ... (3) in numbers which substantially enlarge United
States Armed Forces equipped for combat already located in a
foreign nation ..."
At the time, we had about 132,000 troops in Iraq. Sending in an
additional 21,500 troops would "substantially enlarge" those armed
forces. Therefore, the Bush Jr. administration required further
authorization from Congress for this euphemistic "surge," which is
really a substantial escalation.
The Bush Jr. / Cheney refusal to obtain additional authorization
from Congress for this substantial enlargement of U.S. armed forces
in Iraq constitutes an impeachable offense under the terms of
Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution for
violating the Constitution's War Powers Clause and Congress's own
War Powers Resolution.
The same constitutional arguments apply to the Bush Jr.
administration's proposed substantial enlargement of U.S. armed
forces in Afghanistan by one combat brigade of about 3,500 U.S.
troops on top of the 21,000 U.S. soldiers already there.
Of course the War Powers Resolution also requires express
authorization from the U.S. Congress before the Bush Jr
administration can launch a military attack upon Iran, which it is
currently threatening and preparing to do.
If President Bush Jr. and Vice President Cheney are not stopped
immediately by means of impeachment, they could readily set off
World War III in the volatile Middle East, Persian Gulf and Central
Asia, where two-thirds of the world's hydrocarbon resources are up
for grabs among the United States, Russia, China, and India.
The 'Guns of August' indeed.
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