by Taylor Marsh
If you didn't watch Charlie Rose last night you probably went to sleep with few worries. On the other hand, if you happened to catch former General Jack Keane on his show you likely had to have a stiff drink before retiring. It likely didn't work. The drink, that is. Keane is not only for "the surge" Mr. Bush is about to announce. Keane believes it's actually the beginning. That's correct, the beginning. As Keane sees it, "the surge" will create renewed success, which will inspire everyone to hang on, so that in '08 -- that's right -- we will actually send even more troops to get the job done and secure "victory" in Iraq. God bless the good general, but good grief and God help us all.
Murtha lays it out above.
The following comes from Rep. Brad Miller through his comments on MyDD.
The premise of the War Powers Resolution... is that the Constitution requires the "collective judgment" of the President and Congress to introduce armed forces "into hostilities," or to continue the "use of force in hostilities."
Dick Cheney now says that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 is an unconstitutional infringement on the authority of the President, but the Bush Administration sought the Iraq war resolution to authorize the use of military force in Iraq under the War Powers Resolution.
What our armed forces are now doing in Iraq has little to do with the authorization in the Iraq war resolution, of course.
When Congress acted under the War Powers Resolution to authorize military action in Lebanon in 1998, it only authorized American forces to remain for 18 months. In 1993, Congress acted under the War Powers Resolution to require that forces be withdrawn from Somalia by March 31, 1994.
Biden has recently said we may need to revisit the Iraq war resolution. Interesting idea.
Senator Biden is absolutely wrong about Congress's authority to stop Mr. Bush on escalation. Mahablog did an interesting post on this topic yesterday, so check it out if you haven't already.
But as Miller suggests, revisiting the Iraq war resolution is another matter.
The one thing Democrats cannot afford to do is throw up their hands and do nothing. It's unacceptable. It's also not enough to oppose the Bush-McCain-Lieberman escalation, without putting some action behind it.
Pelosi has even reigned in Tauscher.
However, listening to Keane last night I got an eerie feeling. With Patraeus in charge now, there is obviously a new sense of optimism from some that escalation can actually work.
Senator Ted Kennedy is giving an important speech on the subject today. Democrats can't waiver. Escalation is out.
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