General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm astonished so many DUers are cool with ending Habeas Corpus [View all]DissedByBush
(3,342 posts)It did not name OBL. Read it again for those we are at war against, if you bothered to read it at all, which does not appear to be the case. Nothing says it has to be restricted to nations either.
"Every country experiences terrorism"
Most experience home-grown terrorism and treat it as a criminal issue, as we did with Timothy McVeigh, as the Germans did with the RAF. This is a large, powerful foreign organization conducting military attacks throughout the world against us and our allies.
9/11 was Pearl Harbor, worthy of a declaration of war and the military action to follow up with it. The basic irrelevant differences are that the enemy has not constituted itself as a state, and as has been its habit for decades, Congress chooses to exercise its war powers using the language of "authorization of force" rather than "declaration of war."
"So no, even Congress cannot make up stuff to claim we are 'at war' "
Congress has that constitutional authority, like it or not. We were attacked, and Congress rightfully and constitutionally authorized military action against the organizations involved in the attack and those who materially support them. Obama, as is his constitutional duty, is implementing that authorization against them as Commander in Chief.
Unless you think 9/11 was a big conspiracy perpetrated by the Eeeeeevil Joooooos! But then you have much larger issues than simply not understanding Congress' authority.
"which is why we elected Democrats, to stop this 'forever war' with 'the world' nonsense"
Whether the mechanism is war or police action, those who have proclaimed themselves as our enemies and have vowed our destruction must be dealt with. The advantage of war is that we can strike them beyond our borders where they live, train and plot. Unless you'd rather we wait until they get here, ready to strike?
Part of my reason for electing Democrats was the hope that they could prosecute a war without also turning the US into a police state as Bush was trying to do. We're not doing well on this front. I also hoped that Obama could prosecute the war without pissing off every country in the world. He seems to be doing pretty well on that front.