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March 29, 2024

The Policy Racket

Airstrike campaign in Libya divides Congress

WASHINGTON - The members of the U.N. Security Council, the Arab League and NATO might have united this weekend to stand behind the ongoing airstrike campaign to impose a no-fly zone in Libya, but in Congress, lawmakers are still sorely divided over whether it’s a smart, or even legal, idea.

It’s been two days now that the U.S. has been making missile strikes over the north African country where Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been stoking a civil war for the last several weeks, responding to calls to relinquish his 42-year grip on power by instead, launching a military campaign against his own population.

The U.S.’s action is being supported by France and Britain, and has the backing of a United Nations Security Council resolution, the Arab League and most members of NATO -- but not, officially, of Congress.

“It is doubtful that U.S. interests would be served by imposing a no-fly zone over Libya,” said Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana last week, the highest-ranking Republican in the Senate on foreign policy affairs. In the days since, several Republicans have followed his lead, questioning the value of the U.S. getting involved -- and asking why Congress wasn’t consulted.

“If the Obama administration was contemplating this step ... it should begin by seeking a declaration of war against Libya that would allow for a full congressional debate on the issue,” Lugar continued.

Under the Constitution, the president is the commander-in-chief, but he isn’t supposed to be able to take the country headfirst into a war without Congress’ consent.

But the military does a lot more fighting around the world than Congress gives it express permission to -- and in this particular instance, it doesn’t look like all congressional leaders are itching to be asked for their official approval.

“I support the president’s decision to deploy U.S. assets to help allies enforce a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians as laid out in the United Nations resolution,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this past weekend. “The U.S. military action was not taken lightly, and it was done in concert with a broad international coalition.”

There’s likely an unspoken subtext to those comments as well: even though there's talk about ousting a despotic leader of an oil-producing country in the Middle East, the circumstances around the invasion of Libya are unlike the last president’s invasion of Iraq.

So long as he doesn’t declare war -- and Obama hasn’t -- the president is technically able to engage the military for up to 60 days without congressional consent, under the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Everyone hopes this campaign, so far limited to just the air, doesn’t take that long.

But this is the Middle East, and to boot, Libya’s not the only country in the region where leaders challenged by the people power movements spreading across the region are opting for such draconian measures to stifle protest.

That potential for mission creep -- whether it’s an expansion to other areas, or the eventual introduction of ground troops in Libya -- is giving many more Republican lawmakers pause, questioning the U.S.’s interests of getting involved in Libya’s civil conflict and causing them to demand Congress deliberate the actions commenced this weekend.

“On Libya, is Congress going to assert its constitutional role or be a potted plant?” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who also heads up the Senate’s chief campaign arm, said Sunday on Twitter.

But deliberations take time, and that’s something the Obama administration, and its European and Arab allies, agreed they didn’t have any more of this weekend. The coordinated launch of air strikes came the same day as reports that Gadhafi’s troops had reached Benghazi, the Libyan rebels' last and strongest outpost.

“Of course we would always welcome congressional support,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this weekend after meeting with military allies in Paris. She added that the Obama administration was confident it was acting well within its own authority.

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