Authorization to Go to Iran
Senator Biden today made a big point that Bush, in his view, does not have authorization to send troops into Iran.
As best I can tell, he's wrong. He's right when he said the authorization for Iraq does not authorize Bush to send troops to Iran. But the War Powers Act, according to my understanding, gives the President the right to send troops pretty much anywhere, and get Congressional authorization later, else pull them out.
What's really funny to me about this, though, is that Biden says Bush can't go into Iran without Congressional authorization, yet just this Sunday, Biden was saying the only way Congress can force Bush out of Iraq is by cutting funding. That's almost self-evidently false: the very authorization that he says is required for Iran, that Congress passed for Iraq, may also be revoked. By a simple majority.
The Democrats don't want people to know that. They don't want their antiwar base to know the war could be over within about two months if the Democrats wanted to end it, without even cutting funding, because the Democrats know it's a bad idea to pull out of Iraq, and don't want to actually do it.
As best I can tell, he's wrong. He's right when he said the authorization for Iraq does not authorize Bush to send troops to Iran. But the War Powers Act, according to my understanding, gives the President the right to send troops pretty much anywhere, and get Congressional authorization later, else pull them out.
What's really funny to me about this, though, is that Biden says Bush can't go into Iran without Congressional authorization, yet just this Sunday, Biden was saying the only way Congress can force Bush out of Iraq is by cutting funding. That's almost self-evidently false: the very authorization that he says is required for Iran, that Congress passed for Iraq, may also be revoked. By a simple majority.
The Democrats don't want people to know that. They don't want their antiwar base to know the war could be over within about two months if the Democrats wanted to end it, without even cutting funding, because the Democrats know it's a bad idea to pull out of Iraq, and don't want to actually do it.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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