...a joint congress on November 7, 1973 the house voted 284-135 and the Senate voted 75-18 in favor of the War Powers Resolution which they believe would prevent further executive abuses. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 has been an ineffective piece of legislation as it contains far too few restrictions and no attainable consequences for not following the resolution. Failures range from in 2011 when President Barack Obama sent troops to Libya, overstayed the 60 day restriction, and then simply transferred leadership over to the United Nations; to President Bill Clinton bombing Kosovo without a declaration of war from congress. Failing to appeal up to the supreme court, the appellate court ruling stood, deemed the 31 congressmen who sued Clinton had no legal standings, as Congress had not demanded an immediate end of US...
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...white papers to restore the constitution white papers Restore. Protect. Expand. Amend the War Powers Resolution Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. CCR uses litigation proactively to empower poor communities and communities of color; to guarantee the rights of those with the fewest protections and least access to legal resources; and to train the next generation of civil and human rights attorneys. Formed in order to work hand in hand with people’s movements, CCR has lent its expertise and support to a wide range of movements for social justice. We strive to complete the unfinished civil rights movement through targeting racial profiling and other modern-day manifestations of racial and economic oppression and through combating discrimination that is based on gender or sexuality and struggling against government abuse of power. For decades, CCR has pushed U.S. courts to recognize international human rights and humanitarian protections – and we have had groundbreaking victories that established the principle of universal jurisdiction in this country and extended human rights standards...
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...Realism and the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Saddam Hussein’s quest for regional hegemony pitted his country against the forces of international law. A prime example of where realist theory falls short, Hussein’s forces were trumped by a multilateral coalition of international peacekeeping institutions in one of history’s most lopsided wars. Hussein sought power, and was willing to sacrifice his country’s foreign relations, as well as the health of his own people, to obtain it. In Gulf War I, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was quickly dismantled in a conflict instigated by its own realist intentions. The theory of realism is based on the three factors of statism, survival, and self-help of the sovereign state. The survival of the state as a whole, rather than its citizens themselves, is the main focus of realism. The realist state is expected to enhance its national power by any means necessary; “A POLICY MAKER’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS TO CREATE, MAINTAIN, AND INCREASE NATIONAL POWER – THE MEANS AVAILABLE TO A STATE TO SECURE ITS NATIONAL INTERESTS – AT ALL COSTS” (Lamy 71). Oftentimes, this comes at the expense of surrounding states. A realist state is concerned with its own security first and foremost; “THE FIRST MOVE…FOR THE REALSIST IS TO ORGANIZE OWER DOMESTICALLY. ONLY AFTER POWER HAS BEEN ORGANIZED CAN COMMUNITY BEGIN” (Lamy 72). However, once domestic security has been established, the realist state will look to pursue its self-interest...
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...1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution at the request of President Johnson based on misinformation provided to Congress. The resolution authorized President Johnson to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression”. Most Americans are going to agree with taking necessary measures to protect our own. The American people were led to believe two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. Seventh Fleet had taken place in the Gulf of Tonkin. Americans believed our military patrol boats had been attacked and further aggression was imminent by the North Vietnamese. President...
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...Through the course of American history a ubiquitous theme of seceding oppression and holding true to one’s rights and beliefs is accentuated, however this sweet tea of American values has been brewed by an otherwise tart source, the tea leaves of tension. In the debate over slavery which consumed nineteenth century America, proponents and opponents of free labor clashed ceaselessly. The ensuing Civil War was caused by a self-preservation instinct that each side used to substantiate their discord. Foremost, beginning with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the South began to resort to outcrying against the government, as they saw their future potentially dwindle away. Thereafter, through the repercussions of the growing sectionalism and...
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...organization that was built directly out of the ashes of World War II. After witnessing mass genocide of various groups of people by Nazi Germany and the rest of the Axis powers, the Allies met and determined that change needed to occur immediately. By the end of the meeting, the Allied leaders concluded that the solution to their problem was to form a brand new worldwide organization. This organization was planned to include representatives from all over the world and the representatives would come together to work out all global issues. The name of the group was to be called the United Nations and all of the plans for it was laid out in a document called the United Nations Charter. The organization was officially...
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...agrees with the emergence of nationalism based on those prospects. Both articles differ in the way they approach nationalism and view the term as two very different concepts, one as the basis for equality, inclusion and democracy, therefore agreeing with the lecturing view of nationalism, while the Von Treitscheke interpretation regarded power, authoritarianism, and militarism. The strive for equality is still...
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...Gulf “Our objectives are clear. Saddam Hussein's forces will leave Kuwait. The legitimate government of Kuwait will be restored to its rightful place and Kuwait once again will be free. Iraq will eventually comply with all relevant United Nations resolutions...” George H. W. Bush In order to analyze the Gulf Crisis between Iraq and Kuwait, the factors must first understand which contributed to the conflict. In 1980, Iraq carried out a major air and land attack on Iran. For eight years, the Iran-Iraq War grew more intense, until the U.S. “accidentally” downed an Iranian plane, killing 290 passengers. Some major factors with many others conduce to this war in time: territorial dispute, religious disputes between Islamic moderates and fundamentalists, and more importantly, a personality conflict between Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s president, and Ayatollah Khomein, the leader of Iran. During this war, the U.S. began to provide protection to Kuwaiti tankers, and hence, resulted in military conflicts with Iranian speedboats. Indirectly, the U.S. supported Iraq’s actions in this war. While the U.S. was busy protecting Kuwait, Kuwait supported Iraq financially by giving it more than $10 billion. At the close of the Iran-Iraq War in 1990, Iraq was eager to pay its international debt. But, how? Iraq’s chief export was petroleum. According to Iraq, Kuwait was providing a surplus of oil in the international community by exceeding it assigned OPEC quota. Furthermore, Iraq accused...
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...would argue that the UN has been very effective in ensuring peace and, as an effect, security. To some extent the UN has been very effective in ensuring peace and security solely due to the reason it is the closest organisation our world has to global governance. Its policing the international system and the world is better with it than without. The approach to reaching its aim is done via the power vested in the Security Council. The Security Council are responsible for ensuring the un role as peacekeeper and has the power to legally binding resolutions, economic sanctions and to even take military action in order to maintain peace. Effectively, the UN is therefore a creation of its members. The Powerful 5 (P-5) USA, Russia, UK, France and China, have the ability to pass legally binding resolutions which can promote peace and security and eradicate any form of threat. A recent example of this is formed in the Syria crisis and the UNs decision to get rid of the Chemical weapons it had used on its civilians in order to reach peace. This demonstrated the power of the legally binding resolution and showed the importance of the UN as a form of global governance. Nevertheless, the United Nations is more of s debating society and is merely just a creation of its members. In a borderless world, perhaps other institutional bodies have done the job for UN in promoting peace and security, evident in the G-20 involvement to help control the issue of the financial crisis 2007. To some extent...
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...would argue that the UN has been very effective in ensuring peace and, as an effect, security. To some extent the UN has been very effective in ensuring peace and security solely due to the reason it is the closest organisation our world has to global governance. Its policing the international system and the world is better with it than without. The approach to reaching its aim is done via the power vested in the Security Council. The Security Council are responsible for ensuring the un role as peacekeeper and has the power to legally binding resolutions, economic sanctions and to even take military action in order to maintain peace. Effectively, the UN is therefore a creation of its members. The Powerful 5 (P-5) USA, Russia, UK, France and China, have the ability to pass legally binding resolutions which can promote peace and security and eradicate any form of threat. A recent example of this is formed in the Syria crisis and the UNs decision to get rid of the Chemical weapons it had used on its civilians in order to reach peace. This demonstrated the power of the legally binding resolution and showed the importance of the UN as a form of global governance. Nevertheless, the United Nations is more of s debating society and is merely just a creation of its members. In a borderless world, perhaps other institutional bodies have done the job for UN in promoting peace and security, evident in the G-20 involvement to help control the issue of the financial crisis 2007. To some extent...
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...The Ethnic Cleansing Of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the International Community’s Failure to Prevent Genocide Brendan McElhaney November 2012 African American Studies 412 War Crimes And Genocide The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was an intricate and bloody conflict that resulted in the death of as many as 200,000 people.[1] The international response to the war was delayed; the actions of the Serbians against the Bosnians and Muslims were tacitly accepted by the major international players including the United States, Europe, and the United Nations. As U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said regarding the situation in Yugoslavia, “We don’t have a dog in that fight.”[2] This passive view of the situation in the Balkans was also demonstrated by the actions of the European Union, United Nations, and United States early on in the conflict. As the situation in Bosnia deteriorated, the international community took a passive approach to quelling the conflict. This apathy resulted because of involvement in past wars, politics, fear, misinformation, and an overall reluctance to act unilaterally. Only in the face of continued aggression by Serbians did the international community finally intervene and bring an end to one of the worst conflicts since WWII. Yet the ending of this saga actually rewarded Serbian aggression. Through various international mandates, policies, and conventions that were either completely ignored or enforced sporadically...
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...What are the different Constitutional responsibilities with regard to war making for both the President and Congress? The different constitutional responsibilities as I understood them between the President and congress is that, the president is the main person who is in charge of the military, as it is said in the constitution he is the commander and chief of the military. The President can’t declare war only congress can this is where the biggest difference in responsibilities comes into play. The President may be the commander and chief of the military, but only in times of war and when an unexpected attack on home soil happens, but he himself cannot declare war this is a power that was only bestowed on congress, the President however...
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...Final Exam Vietnam and America 1. Discuss the war under Johnson (1963-68). Why did the Johnson administration expand U.S. military in Vietnam in 1965? How did it do this? Were these actions effective? If not, why were they ineffective? In what ways did the Johnson administration deceive the U.S. Congress and the American people about the reasons for increasing American intervention in Vietnam and the tactics the administration employed to fight the war? Vietnam consumed Johnson’s energy and his presidency. Johnson, who believed in containment and the domino theory, saw Vietnam as a test. His foreign policy advisors, many who remained from the Kennedy administration, shared his views. Johnson had been in Congress when China became Communist, and he vividly recalled the domestic political turmoil that followed as Republicans attacked Democrats for “losing” China. He would not, he said, “be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” The war was going poorly in South Vietnam and the political situation in Saigon became uncertain as one unstable government succeeded another. Also, the 1964 Tonkin Gulf crisis was a crucial event in the war’s escalation. Out of frustration, President Johnson, acting on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, ordered bombings of military targets in North Vietnam. This was known as Operation Rolling Thunder. President Johnson also explained that the reason for being over in Vietnam was to help South Vietnam...
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...The Senate Committee On Foreign Relations voted on Wednesday to give President Barack Obama the power to a launch a limited military attack to punish Syria for using chemical weapons. The vote was 10-7. It marked the first time in more than a decade — since a 2002 resolution that preceded the Iraq war — that members of Congress have voted to authorized military action. The resolution, which could be voted on by the full Senate as early as next week, forbids Obama from using ground troops in Syria and allows the military response to last no longer than three months. The yes votes comprised seven Democrats and three Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, who had expressed reservations that the United States was not doing enough to arm the rebels fighting Syrian leader Bashar Assad. Earlier in the day, President Obama landed in Stockholm and, at a press conference with the Swedish prime minister, declared that punishing Syria for using chemical weapons was a matter of upholding the credibility of the world. Answering a question about his statement last year that Syrian use of chemical weapons would be a “red line,” President Obama said the response was not about him. “I didn’t set a red line — the world set a red line,” President Obama said. “The international community’s credibility is on the line, and America and Congress’ credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the notion that these international norms are important.” He further...
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...including a sharp rise in Presidential authority in areas of foreign policy and war. The power struggle between Congress and the Executive Branch is not new, however, but it seems to have reached to new levels in recent years. The debate over who has more authority in foreign policy issues has existed since the framing of the Constitution. I doubt the framers, however, could have imagined a world in which the President has almost unrivaled power in the realm of foreign policy. Ever since the United States became a world power following World War Two, the Executive Branch has increased in power and authority. Does the Executive Branch need more authority and flexibility when foreign policy is concerned though? When the United States is at war, we may need quick and decisive decisions that only the Executive Branch can give. When the military found Osama Bin Laden, President Obama did not wait to consult Congress. He and his advisors simply sent in the Seals and killed him. This is a good example of why so many believe the President needs more authority in times of war. Wars need a fast response when a situation arises and the country does not need Congress to endlessly debate about what to do; therefore, they have given the President more leeway in war powers over time. Congress did briefly give war powers back to themselves in the War Powers Act of 1973 during the crisis over the Vietnam War and Watergate. People such as former Senator John G. Tower, however, contest that...
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