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Appeals Court Weighs Bush's War Powers
(Michael Powell, Washington Post, March 12, 2003)
A federal appeals court is weighing on a rare and expedited basis a lawsuit challenging the president's right to wage war on Iraq without a formal declaration of war by Congress. . . . Filed by a dozen dovish House Democrats, three anonymous soldiers and 15 parents of soldiers, the lawsuit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, in Boston, argues that Congress has ducked its responsibilities and delegated its war-making powers to the president. . . . a three-judge appeals court panel has agreed to quickly take and hear the case. Lawyers expect a ruling in the next day or two. . . . John C. Bonifaz, the lawyer bringing the legal challenge, says that Congress cannot simply transfer its war-making powers to the president as a hedge against a future conflict. "If we're going to go to war now, we need a debate," he said. "If it strengthens the president's hand, so be it. At least people can be held accountable." . . . Justice Department lawyers also assert a far more expansive presidential power: If he wants to, they argue, the president can wage war all on his own, without congressional approval. This, even among legal scholars sympathetic to Bush, is a deeply controversial interpretation. . . . The question of the president's war-making powers and the tension with the legislative branch over the issue have confounded politicians and scholars almost from the founding of the Republic. The United States has fought five legally declared wars. . . . By contrast, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory Katsas told the appellate panel last week, U.S. forces have fought more than 100 times without a congressional declaration of war. Since World War II, the United States has intervened militarily in Korea, Vietnam, Haiti, Lebanon, Nicaragua and the Persian Gulf region. . . . The plaintiffs in this case argue that the constitutional founders wanted to forestall a monarchical executive who might squander the treasury and thousands of young lives on war. By giving Congress the right to declare war, the plaintiffs argue, the Founding Fathers situated war-making powers in the most representative wing of government.

posted by LoZo 10:34 AM