Last time this happened with Libya, President Obama claimed he didn’t have time to meet with members of Congress to seek approval before taking military action. Now the Obama administration says it would need to seek UN or NATO approval before intervening in Syria, but not the consent of Congress.
Sen. Jeff Sessions pressed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on the issue during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today:
SESSIONS: “Do you think you can act without Congress and initiate a no-fly zone in Syria without congressional approval?”
PANETTA: “Our goal would be to seek international permission… Whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress—I think those are issues we would have to discuss as we decide what to do here.”
SESSIONS: “Well I am almost breathless about that because what I heard you say is, ‘we’re going to seek international approval and we’ll come and tell the Congress what we might do, and we might seek congressional approval’… Wouldn’t you agree that would be pretty breathtaking to the average American?”
This isn’t to say there aren’t extenuating circumstances when a president might have to order military action before getting congressional approval, i.e. an imminent national security threat. But if President Bush managed to get congressional approval for Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama should certainly have the time to get it for Syria.
His reluctance to do so seems purely political: If the administration decides to intervene in Syria, Obama doesn’t want to have to make the case to Congress, and he doesn’t want an official declaration.
But what’s most offensive is that Obama sees the approval of an international body as more important than the approval of the elected representatives of the American people. It’s yet another example of his leading-from-behind policy. The situation in Syria is getting more alarming by the day, and yet Obama won’t dare take action unless an international coalition is there to take the first step with him – and, assumedly, also take the political blame from the White House if things go wrong.
UPDATE: Video of the exchange between Panetta and Sessions added below.
Sessions should have reminded Panetta about Article 2 section 2 of the constitution. n nThe President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, w…hen called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. n nNote this part, "when called into the actual Service of the United States" . nWell any kind of action in Syria isn't in actual service of the United States and he has no authority over the military unless it is. n
Obama has a fondness for international bodies so common among the left – something going back to the days of the League of Nations. And a clear disdain for elected legislators who he not only thinks are "beneath him", but have the temerity to remind him of inconvenient constraints like the Constitution, checks and balances, and binding law.
If Obama feels the need for Un approval but the congress approval, impeachment hearings need to be on the table. Obam was hired by the american voter, not the UN. If he wants to work for them, he should resign, and become a member of the UN. nSlowly but surely, we need to know who he is working for; we pay his salary, and not the UN! nEnough is enough!
Psalm 109 A Psalm of David. n… n6. Set a wicked man over him [as a judge], and let [a malicious] accuser stand at his right hand. n 7. When [the wicked] is judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer [for leniency] be turned into a sin. n 8; Let his days be few; and let another take his office and charge. n 9. Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. n 10. Let his children be continual vagabonds [as was Cain] and beg; let them seek their bread and be driven far from their ruined homes. n 11. Let the creditor and extortioner seize all that he has; and let strangers (barbarians and foreigners) plunder the fruits of his labor. n 12. Let there be none to extend or continue mercy and kindness to him, neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children. n 13. Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their names be blotted out. n 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. n 15. Let them be before the Lord continually, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth!– n 16. Because the man did not [earnestly] remember to show mercy, but pursued and persecuted the poor and needy man, and the broken in heart [he was ready] to slay. n 17. Yes, he loved cursing, and it came [back] upon him; he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from him. n 18. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment, and it seeped into his inward [life] like water, and like oil into his bones. n 19. Let it be to him as the raiment with which he covers himself and as the girdle with which he is girded continually. n… n nLet it come upon him suddenly and without warning, with perfect timing, and perfect cleverness and exponentially multiplied – a real bumper crop Harvest – Seed in Kind.
Obama needs to be tried for Treason and executed, period! Panetta needs to be taken out of his office, then we need to throw the UN out of the United States and stop funding them and NATO!