Obama Defies Congress and the Libyan People Will Suffer for His Mistake in Judgment

In my June 6th blog I wrote the following :

“3. Libya has become the subject of a US House of Representatives resolution condemning President Obama’s waging war in the country for more than 60 days without seeking congressional agreement. The American Congress, not the President, has the power to declare war, and it is a power jealously guarded. Remember President Lyndon Johnston’s problems with Congress over the Bay of Tonkin, followed by a strict congressional resolution that so tightly controlled his war-making in Vietnam that it spelled the end of the war for America? Watch this new fight over Libya because it could do more damage to President Obama than anything that has come before, even his Obamacare health care overhaul.”

Since then, the US Congress has received a letter from Mr. Obama explaining why he has aided Libyan freedom fighters and why he believes that his actions do not constitute an activity requiring congressional approval. The letter was written after Congress told him that he was operating outside the law and would receive no more funding if he didn’t comply.

Today, the House of Representatives has voted against the resolution that would permit continued open-ended funding of US military actions in Libya. The Senate, controlled by Obama’s Democratic Party, has not voted on the resolution but the consensus is that it will not pass the Senate either.

Keep in mind, please, that Congress approves of US action to help Libya free itself of Colonel Qadhaffi. Keep in mind also that had the President written and asked for congressional concurrence in the first 60 days of US military activities in Libya, the support would have been 100%.

But, now, President Obama has dug a hole for himself because he refused to accept that Congress has the prerogative to fund wars under the US Constitution. So, Congress and the President are facing a constitutional debate just when they ought to be digging in to finish the job in Libya.

House of Representatives Speaker Boehner said Congress does not “want to do anything that would undermine NATO or to send the signal to our allies around the world that we are not going to be engaged. This is primarily a fight between the Congress and the president over his unwillingness to consult with us before making this decision," the speaker said.

Mr. Obama has really made a mountain out of a molehill this time and he will suffer for it. But, the sad thing is that Libyan citizens may suffer, too, and he should have thought of that before defying Congress.