Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution clearly states – “Only Congress can declare war.” The 1973 War Powers Act was a failed attempt to prevent President Richard Nixon from involving the USA in more foreign conflicts without debate in Congress. Two million dead Vietnamese civilians in the former French colony and 58,000 US casualties later might give us pause before plunging into more conflicts. Since the Vietnam carnage, USA military interventions have occurred in fifteen nations. “A Chronology From Vietnam to the Balkans” will historically declare involvement of our military abroad without Presidents following Article I, Section 8.
The Pentagon now has 800 outposts in other nations, making us clearly the most interventionist force of 195 countries in the world. Documentary history such as “Blowback” and “The Sorrows Of Empire” by Chalmers Johnson, a former government servant, illustrate how our foreign policy is more of an obstacle than aid to keeping peace globally.
The conflict in Afghanistan has dragged on for seventeen years, leaving that suffering nation in ruins, while increasing our moral and economic deficits.
If any USA citizen does not know the history, language and culture of another country, how dare she or he dare go there as a soldier or representative of our young country? We are spending over $2 billion daily on “defense”. According to the late Admiral Noel Gayler (with 45 years active duty in the US Navy) “We have never been more insecure in our history.” Gayler was a powerful foe of atomic weapons.
The April 2017 missile attack on Syria was carried out by an order from Commander-In-Chief Donald J. Trump without consultation by Congress as stipulated by Article I, Section 8 of the constitution. Mr. Trump has stock in the Raytheon Corporation which builds the deadly Tomahawk missiles fired into Syria. An estimated 118 of the million-dollar missiles were launched into Syria. Civilian casualties are not the foremost concern of Pentagon war planners behind computers.
Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner is one of several board members at Peace Action in Silver Spring, MD urging all US citizens to support the Restricting Use of Nuclear Weapons Act (HR 669.200). This legislation will prohibit our President from launching nuclear weapons without a Congressional declaration of war. Peace Action is located at 8630 Fenton St. Suite 934, Silver Spring, MD 20910, (301) 565-4050. Eisenhower warned us about the Military Industrial Complex, now spending $2 billion daily on “defense.” President Kennedy defined use of nuclear weapons as our “final mistake.” President Trump blustered, “If we got them, why not use them?” We cannot undo damage from our previous wars waged by Presidents who ignored Congress.
