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September 19,
2001
War Powers and
Civil Liberties
No Time for Cowboy Politics
By Michael Ratner
Congress has approved resolutions giving
the President 40 billion dollars and open-ended authority to
use military force. The Senate and House have authorized him
to attack any nation, organization or person involved in or that
aided the September 11 terrorist attacks. The resolutions name
no county or group as targets and contain no time limit. The
only positive aspect of these resolutions is the fact that President
Bush sought and received the approval of Congress, as the Constitution
requires. However the use of unlimited military force that the
resolutions allow is dangerous, irresponsible policy.
A massive military response
against a country, presumably Afghanistan, appears unwarranted
and could potentially kill thousands of civilians. The initial
steps should be to identify, extradite, try and punish the perpetrators
of these acts in a court of law. Only if this fails should force
be used for effectuating arrests. The focus should be on the
perpetrators and organizations; it should not be on wars with
other nations.
Employing military force out
of anger, for purposes of retaliation or to satisfy domestic
outrage is unlawful and does nothing to end terrorism. Massive
bombing continues the cycle of violence that invariable creates
sympathizers who become the new terrorist. War will make us more
vulnerable. In the wake of the embassy bombing in East Africa
the U.S. used military tactics striking Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical
plant in the Sudan killing innocent people. This did not stop
or even slow terrorism. Arguably, those actions may have sown
the seeds of September 11.
Dangerously this congressional
resolution contains no time limit, no congressional oversight
and no requirements that the President ever come back to Congress
for additional authority. This, unlike prior authorizations of
force e.g. authorization to use force in Lebanon, gives the
President unlimited power without the checks and balances of
the Constitution. It eviscerates congressional control over the
use of force and puts the power of war into the hands of one
man, leading us quickly from democracy to one-man rule.
The resolution permits the
use of military force against nations that "aid[ed]"
the September 11 attack "Aid" is a vague, broad concept
that may permit attacks on nations with only a tenuous relationship
to the terrorist acts. This determination will be made with no
congressional check and without any requirement of congressional
approval.
The President should obtain
the authority of the U.N. Security Council to use military force.
This is what his father did in going to war against Iraq. Multilateral
action through the U.N. will be more effective in fighting terrorism
than going it alone, obtaining such consent is both responsible
law and policy.
Finally, we share in the hope
that those responsible for these heinous acts will be caught
and punished. But we fear that the course our country is currently
embarked upon is fraught with danger for us all. CP
Michael Ratner is director of the Center
for Constitutional Rights.
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