Rick
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2007
- Messages
- 1,844
The US stopped declaring war after world war two. Not fighting wars, just declaring them. All presidents after WWII up to and including obozo have initiated undeclared wars. This is an example of the post WWII accumulation of power in the executive branch, and also the erosion of democracy generally. It really has to end. The president ought to only be able to take military action without a declaration for, say, the first 24 hours of an attack on the US or US forces. After that, all wars should be declared by congress. Another reform that could be done at the same time is recognize the evolving nature of war - that it isn't always prosecuted by nation states, and that the US should be able to declare war on any war-waging entity, eg al qaeda. The people have to pay for wars and do the fighting and dying - their representatives should have to approve it in all cases.