There is no question that Donald Trump was wrong...under United States Constitutional law...and under United Nations international law...by his Thursday, April 6th, 2017 attack on Syria.
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the U.N. It was ratified by the United States - among many other nations - in 1945. However...The Charter has since been ratified by most countries on our planet. It is a treaty that stipulates that no nation can use military action on foreign land without permission of the U.N. Security Council or unless there is a claim of self-defense. There was no cause for self-defense by Donald Trump when he gave the U.S. Navy the go-ahead to bomb an airfield in Syria.
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution states that "Congress shall have power to declare war." In other words...the President is required by law to seek and receive Congressional approval before going to war. And although Article II of our Constitution designates the President as Commander-In-Chief of the Army and Navy - which, of course, now includes all branches of the armed forces - Article II also proclaims that the President cannot engage the military in any form of activity against a foreign adversary unless he receives authorization by Congress. And no matter how you say it...Trump ordering to launch 59 tomahawk missiles on Syria from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea...constitutes a force of war.
There is no doubt that the dictatorship of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad...and his ruthless regime...have killed about one-half-million people in their country with another five-million who have been displaced. To gas babies and other children - not to mention adults - is unthinkable...unconscionable...and inexcusable. And Assad should not be allowed to get away with performing such heinous acts of murder. All that being said, however...no U.S. President can be willy-nilly when going to war... especially when it is not Constitutionally legal.
My previous column of Friday, April 7th titled...TRUMP'S MILITARY STRIKE ON SYRIA WAS "UNLAWFUL"...was an accurate assessment by Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia...and by me. Oh I was criticized by numerous readers by my commentary, but so were many Democrats - and some Republicans - in Congress... who came to the same conclusion. I guess I'm in good company.
The United Nations did not green light Trump's strike. Therefore, such military action was indeed unlawful. U.S. officials at The Pentagon stated it was a justified assault because it "intended to deter the (Assad) regime from using chemical weapons again." But the mission failed. Yes, Donald Trump and his Administration have bragged about the success of the attack, but the runways at the airfield were in no way obliterated...planes are still flying from the base...and no chemical weapons were destroyed. So where's the success?
Trump's National Security Adviser - U.S. Army Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster - told reporters that the plan was to reduce Assad's ability to "continue mass murder attacks against Syrian civilians." But that has not been done. As for any stockpile of chemical weapons, McMaster firmly stated..."There were measures put in place to avoid hitting what we believe is a storage of sarin gas, so that that would not be ignited and cause a hazard to civilians or anyone else." Again...how was the mission successful?
Russia claims their Syrian ally doesn't have and doesn't use chemical weapons. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Let us remember that on Tuesday, April 4th, seventy Syrian civilians suffered horrific deaths while another one-hundred or so innocent people were treated at hospitals.
Is it possible - and I'm not implying that it is, but simply wondering...if Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin...cooked up this strike on the Syrian airfield...as a way for Trump to show the American people...that he's not buddy-buddy, so to speak, with Putin? After all...more than half the country thinks some sort of a relationship does exist between the two leaders, going back to before the 2016 election. And to evaluate further...the amount of damage at the air base was nowhere as severe as The Pentagon first reported. Meanwhile, The White House official statement is that Russia is covering up for Assad...since The Kremlin says Syria was not behind the chemical weapons attacks on the Syrian people. So again...without making any accusations, but merely asking a question...could the military action itself...combined with the Trump Administration's aforementioned statement...be the actual cover-up? If any of that is true - and I did say IF...then Trump would fall in to the same category as Putin and Assad.
Syria had agreed in 2013 to join the Chemical Weapons Convention and to comply with the decision to get rid of all such deadly forms of destruction. Obviously, Assad broke his promise when toxic gas bombs were dropped on his country's soil to kill his own citizens. So what then does Putin see in Assad? I will tell you. They are cut from the same fabric. They are made from the same mold. They are both monsters.
But Syria's violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention - which the Trump Administration used as reason enough for America's military action - does not jive with either the U.S. Constitution or the U.N. Charter. After all, the 2013 U.N. Security Council Resolution does not give permission for any nation to invade another country unless there is an imminent threat. The United States was not under attack...therefore we need not defend ourselves, as there was no danger to the American people and no immediate crisis affecting our country. So what Donald Trump did was - in plain English - against the law.
Then there's the question of humanitarian intervention. Without U.N. authorization, the U.S. cannot use that explanation as justification for military force either.
There are other Americans who say Trump had the right to fire off missiles at Syria because his actions were supported by the 1973 War Powers Act. But the WPA does not permit the President and Commander-In-Chief to use military power on foreign soil unless there is "a declaration of war by Congress"..."statutory authorization"...or when there is "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." Among other WPA requirements, the War Powers Act also insists the President shall inform Congress within forty-eight hours of ordering U.S. military in to action. As per many members of Congress...Donald Trump did not notify the House of Representatives and the Senate - which is necessary according to WPA regulations - and there was no national emergency since no American land or persons were in jeopardy.
Republicans - and even some Democrats - have argued that other U.S. Presidents - from both Parties - have disregarded the War Powers Act. I would agree. Other Presidents may have disobeyed the WPA too. But that does not make it right. And that does not mean Donald Trump or any future President should ever violate it...or any of the other aforementioned laws of our country and our world.
There is a good chance that Trump would have received approval by the majority of the Congress...to move forward with some form of retaliation on Syria, as no decent human being wants anyone slaughtered by chemical weapons. All Trump had to do...was ask.
Now to a more recent development from Trumpworld...the horrendous gaffe that was uttered by Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer. The White House Press Secretary - on Tuesday, April 11th - at a briefing to reporters...suggested that Assad is worse than Adolf Hitler was during World War II. "We didn't use chemical weapons in World War II. You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler...who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons." As a Jew, especially, it pains me to think that The White House spokesperson... a man speaking on behalf of the President of the United States...would make such a reprehensible remark. It's mind-boggling that Spicer would not recognize the atrocities of Adolf Hitler...that this Nazi madman...put to death six-million Jews... most of whom were murdered in gas chambers. But after Spicer made the appalling comment above...the hole he dug for himself got bigger and bigger. "I think when you come to sarin gas, he (Hitler) was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing." Spicer then called the Nazi concentration camps... "Holocaust centers"...when they actually were death camps. Since his moronic statements...Sean Spicer has apologized on numerous television networks. But like his boss who has done it time and time again - along with others in the Trump Administration - Spicer put both feet in his mouth. And one day, the filth and stench of his toes...of Trump's toes...or of those of any on his staff...are going to cause someone to light a match...and (metaphorically) burn this White House to the ground.
I take credit for being one of the earliest journalists...one of the earliest people in America...going back to 2015...to question Donald Trump's fitness, temperament and sanity to serve as President of the United States. And I was chastised by Republicans - and believe it or not by some Democrats too - for saying so...very early in the campaign. It's now been less than three months since Trump's been sitting behind The Oval Office desk...but his impulsive tweets...his off-the-cuff remarks...and his overall fly by the seat of his pants attitude...prove one thing, if nothing else. Donald Trump should not be America's President.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
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GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
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First let me state my opinion of the UN, it is an anti-American, anti-Israel organization that should be thrown out of New York. We should stop paying its bills until it starts to work for peace and freedom. Yes, Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution states that "Congress shall have power to declare war." America did not with this attack declare war, we did not go to “war”. I have read the US Constitution many times and cannot find what you “claim” is in Article II “Article II also proclaims that the President cannot engage the military in any form of activity against a foreign adversary unless he receives authorization by Congress,” nowhere in the Constitution does it say that! Stop making up stuff! You can quote Tim Kaine, I rather quote House and Senate leadership, the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan endorsed President Trump's actions in a statement released Thursday night. "Tonight the United States responded," he said. "This action was appropriate and just.” The Senate Majority Leader "Mitch McConnell: President Trump “Had the Authority For Syria Strike”. I think I’m in better company! The United States is the leader of the Free World and should NEVER REQUIRE a “green light” from the UN. You ask “where's the success” , the biggest success is the world now knows that America is back and won’t be cowering in the corner in fears as we have for the last 8 years. Let me correct myself, America did not cower in fear only our President and his administration did. Your conspiracy theory is laughable; it makes you sound like those who claim America was to blame for 9/11 and that the CIA blew up the World Trade Center. You claim President Trump is buddy-buddy with Putin, let’s remember who said to then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to let the incoming Russian president — and outgoing prime minister — Vladimir Putin know “After my election, I have more flexibility.” Yes, that was President Obama about his buddy Putin. Also remember Susan Rice lied that "We were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile." Remember this was a deal with Putin. As usual for Susan Rice she lied to maybe protect Obama’s buddy Putin. In 2014 John Kerry said “all of Syria’s chemical weapons had been removed,” and he also praised Putin and Russia for their help. These are facts not opinions! The War Powers Act does grant the President a lot of leeway as long as he notifies Congress within 48 hours of making a strike. To correct you again President Trump on Saturday (less than 48 hour) sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and President Pro Tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch (R-UT) the President stated "I acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive," he continued. "The United States will take additional action, as necessary and appropriate, to further its important national interests." With that letter the President fulfilled his responsibility under the War Powers Act. You can have your opinions on the President, wrong as I may feel them to be, all I’ll say is we are safer today and better off than if Hillary Clinton were President. Remember that was our choice.
ReplyDeleteMy reply to the above reader's response will be in two parts.
DeletePART ONE OF TWO
1) Your evaluation of the United Nations is unbelievably false and is, quite frankly, laughable.
2) The Tenth Amendment Center states the following. "Under the Constitution, a war is a war whether you call it a war or something else. Constitutional scholar, Rob Natelson, wrote about the legal meaning of the word 'war' in March, 2011. Founding-Era dictionaries and other sources, both legal and lay, tell us that when the Constitution was approved, 'war' consisted of any hostilities initiated by a sovereign over opposition. A very typical dictionary definition was, 'the exercise of violence under sovereign command against such as oppose.' (Barlow, 1772-73). I have found no suggestion in any contemporaneous source that operations of the kind the U.S. is conducting were anything but 'war.'" Therefore, according to the above...Donald Trump engaged in war.
3) According to the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute, "The purely military aspects of the Commander–in–Chiefship were those that were originally stressed. (Alexander) Hamilton said the office 'would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first general and admiral.' (U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph) Story wrote in his Commentaries: 'The propriety of admitting the President to be Commander-In-Chief, so far as to give orders, and have a general superintendency, was admitted. But it was urged, that it would be dangerous to let him command in person, without any restraint, as he might make a bad use of it. The consent of both houses of Congress ought, therefore, to be required, before he should take the actual command. The answer then given was, that though the President might, there was no necessity that he should, take the command in person; and there was no probability that he would do so, except in extraordinary emergencies, and when he was possessed of superior military talents.' In 1850, (U.S. Supreme Court) Chief Justice (Roger) Taney, for the Court, said: 'His (the President's) duty and his power are purely military. As Commander–In-Chief, he is authorized to direct the movements of the naval and military forces placed by law at his command.'" Constitutional scholars have argued this matter for decades...and the Founders were ambiguous with their writings. However, broad agreement does show that the President cannot engage the military in any form of activity against a foreign adversary unless he receives authorization by Congress.
4) Obviously you are going to quote Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.
5) Your comment that the United States "should never require a green light from the U.N." is your opinion. Facts are facts. The U.S. needs approval from the U.N., as per the references in my column.
6) I'm sorry, but the "hater" word has to be brought in to this discussion again with people like you. For you to say that the United States under President Barack Obama was "cowering in the corner" is disgraceful. Keeping our men and women of the armed forces out of harm's way is not "cowering in the corner."
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF TWO
PART TWO OF TWO
Delete7) As usual, it's people like you who do not read my column carefully. I in no way proclaimed a "conspiracy theory" of any kind. I merely asked questions and do wonder IF there is the possibility of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin cooking up the Syria attack to show Trump and Putin are not friends.
8) Obviously you are going to call Susan Rice a liar. Republicans seem to use her as a scapegoat with everything. And none of it is true.
9) Syria had promised that they had no chemical weapons when they agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. They lied.
10) Contacting Paul Ryan and Orrin Hatch was not sufficient, according to the War Powers Act.
11) And, of course, you always seem to want to bash Hillary Clinton. She has nothing to do with this. The election of 2016 is over. Why do you and other Republicans who read my column always seem to bring in Secretary Clinton when debating an issue? It truly shows your hate.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF TWO
1) The United States Congress in 1973 disagreed and passed the War Powers Act based on the fact that the President/Commander-in-Chief had the Constitutional power to initiate military action without Congress. That was the reason they wrote and passed and then overturned President Nixon’s veto. You can quote everyone one you want but the fact is that the US Congress put it on the Congressional Record that the President without this Act has the power under the Constitution.
ReplyDelete2) I stand by the facts and my opinion on the UN.
3) You didn’t read what I wrote “Let me correct myself, America did not cower in fear only our President and his administration did.” America doesn’t cower and our men and women in uniform are the greatest fighting force ever and never cowers. Just the Obama White House did!
4) Susan Rice said “Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile” who did she verify it with? John Kerry said “all of Syria’s chemical weapons had been removed,” who did he verify it with? They lied!
5) The War Powers Act requires the “Notification of Congress within 48 hour” the President notified the Speaker of The House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, that sir is NOTIFICATION!
6) I put in Hillary Clinton just to show where her foreign policy with President Obama got us.
1) The 1973 War Powers Act does not permit the President and Commander-In-Chief to use military power on foreign soil unless there is "a declaration of war by Congress"..."statutory authorization"...or when there is "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." None of that applied to Donald Trump and his attack on Syria. Period. Final.
Delete2) Your opinion on the United Nations is noted. But your views are disgraceful. Period. Final.
3) I did read what you wrote. But I will rephrase my answer since you want to nitpick. You continue to prove that you are a hater. For you to say that President Barack Obama was "cowering in the corner" is disgraceful. Keeping our men and women of the armed forces out of harm's way is not "cowering in the corner." It's being a wonderful President and a magnificent Commander-In-Chief. Period. Final.
4) Stop calling every Democrat a liar. It's unbecoming. Susan Rice and John Kerry never lied. Period. Final.
5) Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have stated that the President must inform "Congress" - just as the War Powers Act states. Not two people in Congress. But CONGRESS. The President shall inform within forty-eight hours of ordering U.S. military in to action. But the other requirements, as I have noted in my column and in #1 in this reply to you, are also applicable. The bottom line...there was no "national emergency" because the United States was not under attack. Period. Final.
6) The foreign policy of President Barack Obama was outstanding. He kept us safe from war...safe from terrorism. And Hillary Clinton was one of America's greatest Secretaries of State. Period. Final.
GBD
My opinion about the UN is backed up by FACTS, what diplomatically have they done to help the US and succeeded with in decades? They are a waste of our money and should be reorganized or disbanded.
ReplyDeleteOnce again you are wrong. The War Powers Act 50 U.S. Code § 1543 - Reporting requirement: “the President shall submit within 48 hours to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President pro tempore of the Senate a report, in writing, setting forth” President Trump did that. There is NO REQUIREMENT to notify individual members of Congress. Read the LAW!
I don’t call every Democrat a liar, just those that lie. Susan Rice has been caught multiple times lying, that makes her a liar!
Yes Obama did a great job giving us ISIS, the problems in Libya, Egypt, the Iran deal, North Korea and of course our great reset with Russia. With a President and Secretary of State like those two who needs enemies. It is amazing we survived the eight years. I am not the hater, I am the hated by the left, those that don’t care about or honor the US Constitution, they are the haters. You sir are a hater!
1) Your opinion of the United Nations is just that...an opinion. NOT FACTS.
Delete2) I refuse to debate this issue with you anymore. The bottom line is that the War Powers Act is very clear that there must be "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." There was NO emergency to any of the above. Donald Trump violated the law. Accept it. For THAT is a FACT. And I am not wrong. Furthermore, the War Powers Act (also known as the War Powers Resolution) "requires the President to consult with Congress before introducing U.S. armed forces into hostilities or situations where hostilities are imminent, and to continue such consultations as long as U.S. armed forces remain in such situations." Again, there were no hostilities against the U.S., and nothing was imminent. Plus, the President must consult with CONGRESS. And as numerous members of both the House and Senate have said - members who are Democrats and Republicans - that CONGRESS was NOT notified. You can believe what you want...and you can say all day long that there was "no requirement to notify members of Congress"...but you'd be wrong. That's not my interpretation, but the interpretation by Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.
3) Susan Rice has never "been caught" lying. You're a hater.
4) I don't know whether I should just laugh at your lack of intelligence or pity you for your lack of knowledge, but when Donald Trump called President Barack Obama "the founder of ISIS," his remarks were immediately proven false. ISIS began in 2004 - when President George W. Bush was in The White House. ISIS began in Iraq as part of al-Qaeda. It was started by a Jordanian Islamist...again in 2004. ISIS was heavily involved in the insurgency against the U.S. armed forces in Iraq...during a war that should never have happened since Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. ISIS was also responsible for the suicide bombing at a mosque in 2006...again during George W. Bush's time behind The Oval Office desk. The beginnings - or the "found(ing)" of ISIS had NOTHING to do with President Obama. FACT. You CANNOT dispute it. I won't even comment further on your moronic (which means lack of judgment) statements regarding the Iran deal, Russia, etc. President Obama kept America safe for 8 years. The economy improved dramatically after the disastrous recession during Bush's term. The unemployment rate when Bush left office was at an unbelievably high 7.8 percent and rising. It peaked at 10.0 percent during President Obama's first year in office...all at the fault of Bush. Remember that President Bill Clinton left office with our country in the best economic condition in modern history. When President Obama left office, he had gotten the unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent. So don't tell me anything bad about President Obama, who will probably go down in history as one of the top 5 Presidents in our nation.
5) You ARE a hater of Democrats, liberals, progressives and anybody connected with anyone named Obama and Clinton. We honor and care about the U.S. Constitution. I am done having any conversation with you. Go away. If you're going to read my column and make up stories...do me a favor and not read my commentaries.
GBD