John Larson wants the president to seek approval on U.S. enforcement of a 'no-fly' zone. | AP Photos
A hard-core group of liberal House Democrats is questioning the constitutionality of U.S. missile strikes against Libya, with one lawmaker raising the prospect of impeachment during a Democratic Caucus conference call on Saturday.
Reps. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Donna Edwards (Md.), Mike Capuano (Mass.), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Rob Andrews (N.J.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) “all strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president’s actions” during that call, said two Democratic lawmakers who took part.
Kucinich, who wanted to bring impeachment articles against both former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over Iraq — only to be blocked by his own leadership — asked why the U.S. missile strikes aren’t impeachable offenses.
Kucinich also questioned why Democratic leaders didn’t object when President Barack Obama told them of his plan for American participation in enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone during a White House Situation Room meeting on Friday, sources told POLITICO.
And liberals fumed that Congress hadn’t been formally consulted before the attack and expressed concern that it would lead to a third U.S. war in the Muslim world.
While other Democratic lawmakers have publicly backed Obama — including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and top members of the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees — the objections from a vocal group of anti-war Democrats on Capitol Hill could become a political problem for Obama, especially if “Operation Odyssey Dawn” fails to topple Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, leads to significant American casualties, or provokes a wider conflict in the troubled region of North Africa.
(Pelosi did not participate in Saturday’s call; she is in Afghanistan to meet with U.S. military and diplomatic officials.)
U.S. warships fired more than 100 Tomahawk cruise missles on Saturday in a bid to knock out Libya’s air-defense systems, targeting command-and-control and radar units near Tripoli, the Libyan capital, and the city of Misurata, according to Pentagon officials and media reports. French aircraft attacked armored units loyal to Qadhafi around the city of Benghazi after they ignored international calls for a cease-fire.
Saturday’s conference call was organized by Rep. John Larson (Conn.), chairman of the Democratic Caucus and the fourth-highest ranking party leader. Larson has called for Obama to seek congressional approval before committing the United States to any anti-Qadhafi military operation.
“They consulted the Arab League. They consulted the United Nations. They did not consult the United States Congress,” one Democrat lawmaker said of the White House. “They’re creating wreckage, and they can’t obviate that by saying there are no boots on the ground. … There aren’t boots on the ground; there are Tomahawks in the air.”
“Almost everybody who spoke was opposed to any unilateral actions or decisions being made by the president, and most of us expressed our constitutional concerns. There should be a resolution and there should be a debate so members of Congress can decide whether or not we enter in whatever this action is being called,” added another House Democrat opposed to the Libyan operation.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51595.html#ixzz1HGAe3XtmNote: This is quite amazing, that suddenly the liberals are mentioning the Constitution. For the past two years, I don't think that ever came up when passing the socialist medicine for Americans, under "Obamacare".
Nor, has it come up when the president hired over 36 Czars, some with the worse criminal records straight out of a gangster movie! Some Czars were forced to resign after their history was exposed. What does this say about our Commander in Chief? Does it demonstrate that nothing and no one gets in his way, as he moves forward with an agenda that undermines both America's policies on the home front and its foreign policies?
The "new" Congress needs to find its voice, along with a copy of the Constitution. Review the duties of the President and find out exactly why he now contradicts his own statements made when he was a jr. Senator. (See: Obama’s Contrasting Positions on War and the Constitution)
There aren't any liberals on Real Americans Defend Israel. The very title of this blog says it all! We support our troops and all that goes with being an American i.e. U.S. Constitution and its freedoms that fly under our founding fathers' documents. We questions what is happening in America today and exactly how far one man is allowed to go before someone in Congress puts the brakes on his agenda and policies.
Who are the rebels demonstrating in Libya? What and who is their leadership? Egypt has already been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood; so, demonstrations are backed by those hidden from the local media until they pop out unexpectedly after everyone goes home. Democracy and freedom are more than a one-time demonstration. If I am correct, before America's Revolution, Americans had sat down and counted the cost and understood what their freedom would entail. In the uprisings throughout the Middle East, they are putting the cart before the horse - and apparently have no idea how to develop their country, once a dictator has been toppled. Should Americans take the lead and guide them?
Or, have we become so incidental, or the Muslims puppets, that these same folks demonstrating in the ME want to use America's military power to overthrow their government and then tell us to "Go to Hell, as they burn our flag and cry, "We hate the West!"
