Why are we having an Iraq war when Congress never declared war?

Question

and we are not talking a one day or one week romp into some banana republic here, we are talking since 2003, we have been fighting a war and spending hundreds of billions of dollars.

Should this be allowed to go on without a formal declaration of war?

In fact, why has war not been declared?, isnt that the real problem here...that if Iraq was dire enough for us to fight a war then war would have been declared. The fact that no war has been declared speaks volumes. We need to change this in the future to prevent further situations like this. Sometimes wars have to be fought, but when they do, the case must be so clear, that war can be declared in open debate by those empowered to do so.

I think the reason our country has so many problems and is heading in wrong direction is because of lack of clear cut good decision making that is legal and makes common sense....and Iraq is a perfect example. We are at war, but we are not at war. Illegals are another....they are illegal, but not really. China another...they are our enemy but our best buddies. What happened to the days when black was black, white was white, up was up and down was down? A commie an enemy, and war was really serious enought to be declared?

Answer 1

The technical answer is that because after 9/11, Congress authorized the president to use "necessary force" to bring those responsible to justice. That open-ended cop-out allowed the pres to use force against whomever HE decided was responsible, just as the Patriot Act allows the Pres to declare anyone an "enemy combatant", and the Military Tribunals Act allows the Pres to determine who can be tortured in secret prisons.
The Congress at the time gave the pres unrivaled power, and he's using it. The Congress right now isn't doing anything to stop it.

Answer 2

This really old old ground.....
The Use of force resolution passed by Congress acts as a declaration. The rest is semantics... In world where things can happen with a button push, the idea is a bit dated. Even if there was a paper that said, Declaration? People would still be whining....

Answer 3

Wars don't have to be declared; they have to be won.

Winning in Iraq is as easy as herding a thousand cats out of the woods onto a moving merry-go-round.

It helps to know who the fighters are. In corner number one there are the Kurds. Their population is about 1/6 of the total in Iraq. They have a lot of oil in their sector in the North, have a good army, no insecurity, very few attacks, and no serious complaints.

The Kurds are giving a little help to the Shi'ites in corner number two. These guys are about 4/6 of the total population. They have a lot of oil in their sector in the South and East, now that Bush got rid of Sadaam Hussein. They also have received a lot of armament and training, also from Bush, for the last few years. They are even being helped by Shi'ite Iran, our sworn enemy! Lately, they are using Iranian IEDs to kill our guys, too. They are divided into two main factions that are fighting each other over the oil when they are not fighting Sadaam's old gang.

Sadaam's old gang are the Sunnis in corner number three. They are the remaining 1/6th of Iraq's population but, before Bush's invasion, they had all the weapons. were running all of Iraq, and controlled all the oil. They and the Shi'ites have been killing each other for 1300 years. Now, as insurgents, they would like to get back at least some of the oil. They still have some of their weapons and can hit and run, but can't hold a position very long. They avoid our guys if they can and do most of their damage to the Shi'ites with suicide bombers coming in from all over the world - an endless supply.

The Sunnis were helped somewhat by incoming Al-Qaeda Sunnis in corner number four, who want to train with live targets (our guys) and do the jihad thing. Lately the more moderate Sunni tribes are killing them. The last ones standing will leave when the targets leave. The dangerous plotters are all in Pakistan, anyway.

Our guys are in corner number five. There are about 160K of them, well-armed and courageous, but poorly led. After deposing Sadaam, their Commander-in-Chief held a democratic election, which the Shi'ites naturally won and will always win with 4 Shi'ites per Sunni. (They were the ones with the purple fingers.) Now the C-i-C wants the Shi'ites to give some oil to the Sunnis, their blood enemy, and can't understand why they won't. He also wants the Sunnis to pay taxes to the Shi'ites, their blood enemy, and can't understand why they won't. The C-i-C should ask his father why "reconciliation" and a "National Unity Government" will never, never, never happen.

The Shi'ites could defeat the Sunnis, but prefer not to. They would rather keep getting more equipment and training as long as possible. So they pretend weakness and political stalemate. It's a con and our guys are being killed for no good reason.

Bush can beg and beg, but these guy will never live together in peace. They have to fight it out without our interference - or anybody else's interference - until they have had enough and can agree on boundaries for Kurdistan, Sunnistan, and Shiastan.

If the C-i-C had brains, he would take our guys out of combat and move them to strategic border areas where they could be supplied or could exit with relative safety. They could keep the war from speading and protect Kurdistan and other nations.

But he has no brains - or else he would prefer to stay the course until he leaves office and then blame his disaster on the next president.

Unfortunately, none of the presidential candidates from either party are much smarter than Bush. They haven't yet figured it out.

Answer 4

*LOL* Who are you going to declare war on? Declaring war is so 1940's, which by the way was the last time Congress actually declared war.

Congress didn't declare war on North Korea, North Viet Nam, Panama, Granada, Somolia, Afghanistan, or Iraq. That war has not been declared says nothing.

Answer 5

Congress authorized the use of force:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-2.html

The Constitution does not specify the exact words to be used in declaring war.

If "authorizing the use of force" does not contemplate military action, then I don't know what would.

Clearly, Congress authorized the Iraq war.

Answer 6

Beautifully said.

Congress has the power of declaring war.

The problem is that most of the government officials are in on this movement of a One World Government.

Answer 7

Spin Doctors in Washington at work! Politics are all about the spin, one day Saddam is our best friend, paid and supplied by us to fight Iran, the next day he is our worst enemy, ready to attack the US with his alu tubes and portable toilet trailers.

Answer 8

It's ridiculous - and I blame both sides of the aisle for it.

The Republicans for being such idiots, and the Democrats for not standing their ground and doing the right thing.

Answer 9

very long discussion which might lead you to get some answers...

Son : Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq ?
Dad : Because they had weapons of mass destruction.

Son : But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of massdestruction?
Dad: That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.

Son : And that's why we invaded Iraq ?
Dad: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.

Son : But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?
Dad : That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2008 election.

Son : Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
Dad : To use them in a war, silly.

Son : I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?
Dad : Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had thoseweapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.

Son : That doesn't make sense. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?
Dad : It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.

Son : I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did?
Dad : Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.

Son : And what was that?
Dad : Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.

Son : Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?
Dad : Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.

Son : Kind of like what they do in China ?
Dad : Don't go comparing China to Iraq . China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops and help make U.S corporations richer.

Son : So if a country lets its people exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?
Dad : Right.

Son : Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
Dad : For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.

Son : Isn't that exactly what happens in China ?
Dad : I told you, China is different.

Son : What's the difference between China and Iraq ?
Dad : Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath party, while China is Communist.

Son : Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?
Dad : No, just Cuban Communists are bad.

Son : How are the Cuban Communists bad?
Dad : Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.

Son : Like in Iraq ?
Dad : Exactly.

Son : And like in China , too?
Dad : I told you, China is a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.

Son : How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?
Dad : Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, the US government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they Stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.

Son : But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?
Dad : Don't be smart.

Son : I didn't think I was being one.
Dad : Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba .

Son : Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?
Dad : I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.

Son : What's a military coup?
Dad : That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States .

Son : Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
Dad : You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.

Son : Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
Dad : I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.

Son : Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?
Dad : Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan .

Son : Why did we invade Afghanistan ?
Dad : Because of what they did to us on September 11th.

Son : What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
Dad : Well, on September 11th, nineteen men - fifteen of them Saudi Arabians - hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings, killing over 3,000 Americans.

Son : So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
Dad : Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

Son : Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?
Dad : Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.

Son : Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?
Dad : Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.

Son : Fighting drugs?
Dad : Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.

Son : How did they do such a good job?
Dad : Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.

Son : So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people's heads and hands off for other reasons?
Dad : Yes. It's OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing bread.

Son : Don't they also cut off people's hands and heads in Saudi Arabia ?
Dad : That's different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear Burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.

Son : Don't Saudi women have to wear Burqas in public, too?
Dad : No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.

Son : What's the difference?
Dad : The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers. The Burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers.

Son : It sounds like the same thing with a different name.
Dad : Now, don't go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.

Son : But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia .
Dad : Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan .

Son : Who trained them?
Dad : A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.

Son : Was he from Afghanistan ?
Dad : Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.

Son : I seem to recall he was our friend once.
Dad : Only when we helped him and the Mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.

Son : Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?
Dad : There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.

Son : So the Soviets - I mean, the Russians - are now our friends?
Dad : Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq , so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.

Son : So the French and Germans are evil, too?
Dad : Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

Son : Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't do what we want them to do?
Dad : No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.

Son : But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
Dad : Well, yeah. For a while.

Son : Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
Dad : Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.

Son : Why did that make him our friend?
Dad : Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.

Son : Isn't that when he gassed the Kurds?
Dad : Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.

Son : So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?
Dad : Most of the time, yes.

Son : And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?
Dad : Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.

Son : Why?
Dad : Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America also, since God is on America 's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless un-American Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq ?

Son : I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
Dad : Yes.

Son : But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq ?
Dad : Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.

Son : So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W Bush heard voices in his head?
Dad : Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.

Son : Good Night, Dad....!

Thank God no more questions!!! !!