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Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - SumOfAllFears - 06-20-2011 12:20 PM
By Chris Stirewalt
Published June 20, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Obama, Congress at the Brink Over Libya War
“We have seen who is attacking civilians. They are targeting houses and flats. Tomorrow they will target schools and hospitals.”
-- Khalid Kaim, Libyan deputy foreign minister, taking foreign journalists on a tour of civilian casualties in Tripoli after NATO airstrikes.
It has now been 90 days since the U.S. entered the Libyan civil war and a growing, bipartisan coalition in Congress maintains that the Obama administration is now in violation of the law that has governed U.S. military deployments for the past 38 years.
Speaker John Boehner may have gotten a round of golf in with President Obama but he doesn’t seem to have had any success in convincing the president to help him tame a revolt in Congress over the conflict.
Republican leaders, looking to avoid a constitutional crisis, have been asking the White House for at least an acknowledgement of congressional authority over American involvement in the five-month-old stalemated civil war. The U.S. has been involved in the war since March 20 and now even the most ardent interventionists in Congress want the administration to make some nod to congressional authority.
The administration, meanwhile, continues to hold that the president doesn’t need congressional authorization because the U.S. role in the conflict – air raids on Libyan government positions, logistical support for the under-armed European members of NATO and aid for the coalition of eastern tribesmen and Islamists which American forces are backing – is not significant enough.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who along with Sen. John McCain is part of a shrinking group of GOP supporters of the war, said Sunday on NBC that it’s time for Obama to “step up” and explain his strategy, but that it was also time for Congress to “shut up” and stop raising doubts about the war that would empower Libyan strongman Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi.
That is the harshest argument yet to come out of the interventionist wing in Congress: that those demanding Obama submit to Congress on the subject are aiding Qaddafi and risking a region-wide conflagration if Qaddafi and his fellow secularist, western tribesmen are allowed to remain in power.
As members of Congress drift back in to Washington today, there is a sense of anxiety as members confront the fact that addressing (or not addressing) Obama’s unauthorized use of force means not only setting new precedents for the separation of powers in Washington, but possibly the end of NATO.
The NATO-led coalition has failed to deliver the swift victory Obama once promised and over the weekend managed not only to accidentally blow up a column of rebel troops but also killed an unknown number of Tripolitan civilians in an errant bombing run. The Europeans lack the precision munitions and firepower to knock over Qaddafi or avoid errors like the ones of the past several days, but because Obama has adopted the legal stance that the conflict is too small for him to seek permission the administration is loathe to provide the firepower needed to bring the war to a swifter resolution.
Another constraint is in the fact that the rebel coalition lacks the broad-based support to form a national unity government. Even ardent interventionists worry about Islamists experiencing similar success in Libya as they have in the political vacuum in Egypt.
If Obama is forced to disengage from Libya, it could very well mean the end of the increasingly weak NATO alliance, which, by extension, would mean the end of European support for Obama’s nation-building effort in Afghanistan, which is bogging down over administrative and diplomatic conflicts, despite the success of U.S. war fighters in the field.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - RobertN - 06-20-2011 12:44 PM
(06-20-2011 12:20 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote: By Chris Stirewalt
Published June 20, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Obama, Congress at the Brink Over Libya War
“We have seen who is attacking civilians. They are targeting houses and flats. Tomorrow they will target schools and hospitals.”
-- Khalid Kaim, Libyan deputy foreign minister, taking foreign journalists on a tour of civilian casualties in Tripoli after NATO airstrikes.
It has now been 90 days since the U.S. entered the Libyan civil war and a growing, bipartisan coalition in Congress maintains that the Obama administration is now in violation of the law that has governed U.S. military deployments for the past 38 years.
Speaker John Boehner may have gotten a round of golf in with President Obama but he doesn’t seem to have had any success in convincing the president to help him tame a revolt in Congress over the conflict.
Republican leaders, looking to avoid a constitutional crisis, have been asking the White House for at least an acknowledgement of congressional authority over American involvement in the five-month-old stalemated civil war. The U.S. has been involved in the war since March 20 and now even the most ardent interventionists in Congress want the administration to make some nod to congressional authority.
The administration, meanwhile, continues to hold that the president doesn’t need congressional authorization because the U.S. role in the conflict – air raids on Libyan government positions, logistical support for the under-armed European members of NATO and aid for the coalition of eastern tribesmen and Islamists which American forces are backing – is not significant enough.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who along with Sen. John McCain is part of a shrinking group of GOP supporters of the war, said Sunday on NBC that it’s time for Obama to “step up” and explain his strategy, but that it was also time for Congress to “shut up” and stop raising doubts about the war that would empower Libyan strongman Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi.
That is the harshest argument yet to come out of the interventionist wing in Congress: that those demanding Obama submit to Congress on the subject are aiding Qaddafi and risking a region-wide conflagration if Qaddafi and his fellow secularist, western tribesmen are allowed to remain in power.
As members of Congress drift back in to Washington today, there is a sense of anxiety as members confront the fact that addressing (or not addressing) Obama’s unauthorized use of force means not only setting new precedents for the separation of powers in Washington, but possibly the end of NATO.
The NATO-led coalition has failed to deliver the swift victory Obama once promised and over the weekend managed not only to accidentally blow up a column of rebel troops but also killed an unknown number of Tripolitan civilians in an errant bombing run. The Europeans lack the precision munitions and firepower to knock over Qaddafi or avoid errors like the ones of the past several days, but because Obama has adopted the legal stance that the conflict is too small for him to seek permission the administration is loathe to provide the firepower needed to bring the war to a swifter resolution.
Another constraint is in the fact that the rebel coalition lacks the broad-based support to form a national unity government. Even ardent interventionists worry about Islamists experiencing similar success in Libya as they have in the political vacuum in Egypt.
If Obama is forced to disengage from Libya, it could very well mean the end of the increasingly weak NATO alliance, which, by extension, would mean the end of European support for Obama’s nation-building effort in Afghanistan, which is bogging down over administrative and diplomatic conflicts, despite the success of U.S. war fighters in the field.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - Smaug - 06-20-2011 01:20 PM
Even if it were, it would never happen.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - SumOfAllFears - 06-20-2011 01:50 PM
(06-20-2011 01:20 PM)Smaug Wrote: Even if it were, it would never happen.
If he defies the House's constitutional authority, impeachment is possible.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - Smaug - 06-20-2011 02:39 PM
(06-20-2011 01:50 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:(06-20-2011 01:20 PM)Smaug Wrote: Even if it were, it would never happen.
If he defies the House's constitutional authority, impeachment is possible.
I suppose it could, but if it did, it would die in the Senate, just like Billy Boy's did.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - SumOfAllFears - 06-20-2011 03:12 PM
(06-20-2011 02:39 PM)Smaug Wrote:(06-20-2011 01:50 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:(06-20-2011 01:20 PM)Smaug Wrote: Even if it were, it would never happen.
If he defies the House's constitutional authority, impeachment is possible.
I suppose it could, but if it did, it would die in the Senate, just like Billy Boy's did.
The trial in the senate has nothing to do with his House impeachment. I wasn't talking about the trial. Obabba could join Cliinton's infamy. And it would just maybe take Obabba's off the basketball courts for a while. Failing to comply with a constitutional mandate is an impeachable offence and a high crime. But even Republicans would see the error in making Biden Prez. That is "a big F______ing deal"
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - Smaug - 06-20-2011 03:29 PM
(06-20-2011 03:12 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote: The trial in the senate has nothing to do with his House impeachment. I wasn't talking about the trial.
I'm aware of that. I was looking ahead to the likely outcome.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - SumOfAllFears - 06-20-2011 03:32 PM
(06-20-2011 03:29 PM)Smaug Wrote:(06-20-2011 03:12 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote: The trial in the senate has nothing to do with his House impeachment. I wasn't talking about the trial.
I'm aware of that. I was looking ahead to the likely outcome.
Senate trails have little to do with the facts. Clinton worked out a plea deal to plead guilty after he left office, the day he left office or was it a few days later. IHDR.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - WoodlandsOwl - 06-21-2011 02:05 AM
The House should vote to cut off appropriations for anything to do with Libya until Obama makes the case to Congress for continued US involvement.
That's all Obama has to do. Submit a report.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - CountryRedHawk - 06-21-2011 02:24 AM
Exactly WMD. Exactly.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - RobertN - 06-21-2011 02:38 AM
I love this part. "Republican leaders, looking to avoid a constitutional crisis". Gotta love Fox Boobs.
This is EXACTLY what the Republicans want! THey WANT a "constitutional crisis" just before elections.
RE: Obabba at the Brink With Congress Over Libyan War, Impeachment Offense ? - SumOfAllFears - 06-21-2011 04:59 AM
(06-21-2011 02:38 AM)RobertN Wrote: I love this part. "Republican leaders, looking to avoid a constitutional crisis". Gotta love Fox Boobs.
It takes two, you idiot. How hard is it to notify congress that the US military is being deployed, what are the goals, and why. Or is it too far above the Messiah. Even a dumb downed, water carting, cheer leading, useful idiot like yourself has to wonder why the President's handlers will not comply.