Well, here we go again.

Our Peace President is ready to bomb Syria in submission. They have crossed a “red line” that he told them not to, but recanted and said that the world drew the red line. So, he wants to send a couple hundred Tomahawk TLAMs in there at $1.5 million each to do – just what? We don’t know. Even as he makes his case to Congress, he does not know. To punish Assad for using chemical weapons on his people, I guess. He must be punished.

Or is it a shot across the bow?

Think back to Libya. The unconstitutional intervention at that time was to take out their air force, artillery and provide air support for the civilian rebels that were getting slaughtered. It was definitely not for regime change. But then we bombed every palace, house, tent and tree that we thought Ghaddafi was possibly hiding under. We all remember the gripping scene as they dragged him from that culvert, beating and kicking him before blowing his head off. Humanitarian missions don’t all end good you know.

Well, lets get back to the red line. Two days before this chemical attack, UN Weapons Inspectors arrived in Syria. They were there to investigate a previous chemical attack in March. The Russians and the UN say that the evidence points to the rebels being behind that attack.

Hold the phone! I thought John Kerry said that there were no questions. This is certainly enough for me to hold off a missile attack on a sovereign nation. Russia has provided the United States with other intelligence that points to the rebels. In the spirit of the reset, we have discarded that intelligence at the same time, refusing to share any of our intelligence with the Russian government. That’s right, as the Russians and Chinese send warships of their own to the area, we refuse to share intelligence that could erase the red line.

Another thing you keep hearing is that the Peace President did not need to go to Congress, and that he still does not need their approval. Well, he’s right they don’t have to approve; but they Do have to vote and grant that authority! That is the Constitution.

Article I
8.11 To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

Article II
2.1 The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

The framers were all to aware of the bad things that happen when one man is granted sole power to take a nation to war. There was never any intent to grant that power. Congress declares a war and then the Commander in Chief assumes command for executing that war. Very simple.

George Washington said, “The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.” (1793.)

James Madison had this to add, “The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature . . . the executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.” (1793.)

They were extremely clear as it was discussed in the ratification debates and Madison attempted to relax the people in his writing of the Federalist Papers.

There is nothing in the Syria conflict that effects any part of our national security, or our national interests. We have not been attacked or even threatened. This comes down to a manhood contest between Assad and Obama. He can not be questioned or be seen to be weak or wrong. It is a terrible thing to use chemical weapons on people just as it is to lop off their heads with machetes. But I digress.

Our Peace President keeps telling us of the atrocities of dead civilians, women and children killed and laying under their burial shrouds. They weren’t combatants; they weren’t fighting. They were killed and the Assad regime needs to be held responsible.

Allow me to close with this question. Who will hold our Peace President responsible for the women, children and non-combatants killed by the multitudes of drone strikes he has ordered in countries we are not at war with, nor have we declared hostilities against like Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia?

Are those women and children any less dead? Their fathers, mothers, siblings any less sad or enraged? Is the killing of civilians in a sovereign nation not against these world norms?

Any military action in Syria will be a blatant act of aggression by our country upon a sovereign nation embroiled in its own civil war. The ordering of such will qualify as High Crimes and misdemeanors and our Peace President should be impeached.

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