Congress- just Congress- is authorized by the Constitution to declare war."


True--but the Supreme Court has decided (by refusing to hear cases arguing otherwise) that the President does have the authority as Commander in Chief to carry out military actions needed to protect the interests and safety of the people of the United States--with or without a declaration of war. This precept has actually been codified in law under the War Powers Act.

I agree, and I don't have a problem with the War Powers Act. It allows the president to act quickly when needed until Congress can convene and declare war. But the War Powers Act has conditions and limitations which have been violated just as flagrantly as the Constitution. Do you think the war in Iraq is in compliance with the War Powers Act?

Inasmuch as the Congress voted overwhelmingly to authorize military action against Hussein, and continues to vote to authorize the expenditure of money to carry on those actions resulting therefrom, I'd say you are arguing a moot point (as usual).

I agree again, to a point. It's moot in that nobody in the government give's a rats ass about abiding by the law, and the American people don't seem to care. That doesn't mean it isn't wrong, though. It's illegal, and it undermines the system on which our nation is based.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Yes--I just reread it (War Powers Act) and the war in Iraq is in compliance. Basically, what it requires is informed consent of Congress, which has happened, and reports from the President, which are happening. If Congress wanted to stop it, they could do it today by cutting off the funding. It is entirely legal.

I won't be happy until we bitch-slap Iran and Syria. I'm not joking. I'm sick of all this BS. If you don't want our forces coming in, then get rid of your tyrants and don't harbor terrrorists.

No offense to anyone who doesn't agree with me. I'm not trying to change anyone's view, but that's mine.

Any sympathy or willingness to be politically correct on this topic died with my colleagues in the WTC.

Real question, Brian: Do you know if Bush has been providing reports to Congress every 60 days?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I won't be happy until we bitch-slap Iran and Syria. I'm not joking. I'm sick of all this BS. If you don't want our forces coming in, then get rid of your tyrants and don't harbor terrrorists.

No offense to anyone who doesn't agree with me. I'm not trying to change anyone's view, but that's mine.

Any sympathy or willingness to be politically correct on this topic died with my colleagues in the WTC.


Iran and Syria? Oh, it won't end there. Not by a long shot. You do realize this may be exactly what the 9-11 plotters and hijackers (and the current terrorists) are/were dreaming of? Perpetual war.

"I won't be happy until we bitch-slap Iran and Syria. I'm not joking. I'm sick of all this BS. If you don't want our forces coming in, then get rid of your tyrants and don't harbor terrrorists."

Sounds cool - do you think we should do it while we still have 150,000+ troops committed to Iraq and Afghanistan? and will we pay for it with the billions of dollars we are recovering from Iraq's oil production?

My 8 yr old is getting pretty good with the pellet gun. Sounds like I better get him a .22 rifle to practice with next, and then maybe a 9mm sidearm so he'll be all ready for the draft in 10 years.

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kangaroo -- please do not read or respond to any of my posts

Yes, and just think, when he's finished his compulsory 10 years of national service whilst Bush's grand kids are Roades Scholars at Oxford and Cambridge (the community colleges not the...........well you know what I mean) he can leave the military, assuming he's lived that long to start paying off the 10+ trillion dollar debt that is owed to, lets see, China, and probably by then, Saudi.

That, my friends is the definition of irony.

Oh, mean time, the incumbent republican president is still deluding himself that tax cuts WILL save manufacturing jobs in the mid-west.

>You do realize this may be exactly what the 9-11 plotters and hijackers (and the current terrorists) >are/were dreaming of? Perpetual war.

We help them become martyrs. Sounds like win/win.

How exactly does one "get rid of a tyrant" by definition wouldn't a tyrant be in power because he is willing to kill the people that don't want him there? I have no doubt a portion of the people in Iraq wanted Saddam out but they probably weren't willing to be killed just to speak their mind. There will always be tyrants in the world, if you believe they can all be quickly and easily removed there are plenty of wars in the oil bearing nations George W Bush would love to sell to you and the rest of the American public.

Does losing more Americans (and bankrupting our treasury) in more and more conflicts result in win/win? Think about it, seriously: How far are we willing to go to "get those guys?"

They owe no allegiance to any nation, they reside in half the nations of the world, we don't really know who most of them are. We SHOULD spend billions to try to track them down and get them, even if it means pissing everyone off. However, I'm not up for spending trillions (seriously) of our kids' money to pummel, occupy and rebuild a bunch more countries. -TB

>They owe no allegiance to any nation, they reside in half the nations of the world, we don't really know who most of them are. We SHOULD spend billions to try >to track them down and get them, even if it means pissing everyone off. However, I'm not up for spending trillions (seriously) of our kids' money to pummel, >occupy and rebuild a bunch more countries. -TB

You are correct about the nature of the terrorists. Yes, we should do watever is necessary to eliminate them on all fronts. Kill them where we can find them. Freeze assets where we can find them. Do not allow any nations to "harbor" them.

Doing nothing is not an option.

"We SHOULD spend billions to try to track them down and get them"

The war against Islamic terrorists is a war that will cost us billions one way or the other, you get to choose how we pay. The reality is that it will take more than just our military and force to put an end to it. In addition to military force, our laws, and building warm fuzzy coalitions we need to attack the money flow. Although these demons hide all over the world the money comes from primarily a few countries. Just like crippling the mob by arresting everyone on tax evation we need to put energy on finances. Without finances thing become harder for them.

The money flow is what enables all of this. If you are an investor check out http://divestterror.org/ for a start. Many people are supporting terror with $ without knowing it. We need to squash businesses and countries that don't get this and that list may get really long at the start but we have to do it.

If GB or Kerry want to make a dent they have to do this now, they need to get our allies to do it now, and we as a group need to lean hard on our "friends" the Saudis (and do it seriously not just when we are looking) to stop the flow of money and the Madrasas and we need to convince our enemies like Iran and Syria they should do the same and if not they will face punishment of one kind or another.