In regard to the actions Obama is taking in Libya he doesn't think it amounts to war. Basically he thinks that since we are using un-maned ships to drop bombs and don't have troops on the ground it doesn't constitute a war. And therefore he ignored the advice of the OLC in the Justice Department and continues operations in Libya without regard for the War Powers act.
My question for Obama is this. Would it constitute an act of war if a country (say Russia because they might have the technology) flew an un-maned plane to the US and dropped a bomb on something? And just like in Libya, they wouldn't have any troops on the ground. I have a hard time seeing how that would not be defined as an act of war. Yet when he does it Obama doesn't think it is.
At the very least its nice that someone in the Justice Department was telling him he was wrong. At least Obama didn't pull a Bush/Yoo and just have some bullshit document drawn up to justify his actions. Small steps I guess. Maybe by the time I'm retired we will have cleaned out the entire foreign policy establishment that thinks it can redefine things and do stupid shit whenever it feels like it.
Update: I was wrong about how they went to the OLC within the Justice Department to get legal advice. According to this, they did the OLC's job for them by contacting relevant agencies about the legal matter and just lumped the OLC's advice in with them. And then they did a rare thing by ignoring that advice. That sounds like just a step or two below a Bush/Yoo.
My question for Obama is this. Would it constitute an act of war if a country (say Russia because they might have the technology) flew an un-maned plane to the US and dropped a bomb on something? And just like in Libya, they wouldn't have any troops on the ground. I have a hard time seeing how that would not be defined as an act of war. Yet when he does it Obama doesn't think it is.
At the very least its nice that someone in the Justice Department was telling him he was wrong. At least Obama didn't pull a Bush/Yoo and just have some bullshit document drawn up to justify his actions. Small steps I guess. Maybe by the time I'm retired we will have cleaned out the entire foreign policy establishment that thinks it can redefine things and do stupid shit whenever it feels like it.
Update: I was wrong about how they went to the OLC within the Justice Department to get legal advice. According to this, they did the OLC's job for them by contacting relevant agencies about the legal matter and just lumped the OLC's advice in with them. And then they did a rare thing by ignoring that advice. That sounds like just a step or two below a Bush/Yoo.
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