“Rather than continually renouncing its responsibility in deciding if and when we initiate war, Congress needs to reassert its war powers and stop President Trump’s reckless foreign policy.”
(The AEGIS Alliance) – Even though President Donald J. Trump tweeted the air strikes he had ordered in Syria on Friday evening by declaring “mission accomplished” on Twitter—and echoed President George W. Bush’s infamous speech in May of 2003 after the United Stated invasion of Iraq, where thousands of U.S. troops still remain, Trump’s televised address left this action open-ended.
“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” Trump said Friday night.
In just about two years for the second time, the president last week made accusations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad about being responsible for a chemical attack in Syria, and ordered missile attacks before international investigators could verify these accusations and without Congressional approval.
Although some in Congress condemn the president for initiating military action without the approval of Congress, with a bipartisan 88 legislators signing a letter that Friday urging Trump should consult them before starting an attack, top lawmakers appeared to seem indifferent about the fact these strikes went against constitutional laws.
“A pinpointed, limited action to punish and hopefully deter Assad from doing this again is appropriate, but the administration has to be careful about not getting us into a greater and more involved war in Syria,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement he tweeted out Friday night.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) struck a similar note, and condemned the chemical attack and urged the president to adopt a more ‘coherent strategy’ to ‘hold Russia accountable’ for supporting Assad’s government.
Democratic leaders: Trump's military strike on Syria is "appropriate" (Schumer), but if he wants do more he needs to "come to Congress" and "present a clear set of objectives." (Pelosi) #Resist pic.twitter.com/QEdn6DEHEu
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) April 14, 2018
In light of this open-ended phrasing included during Trump’s speech, anti-war activists implore Americans to resist agreeing with Schumer and Pelosi’s complacency, and to let Congress know to speak out with force against any more military actions by the president.
“This impulsive decision to strike Syria, without waiting for the chemical inspectors to carry out their investigations and without Congressional approval, is a dangerous escalation of an already horrific war,” leaders of Code Pink in wrote in an email to supporters. “Even though United States military has stated the operation has come to an end, President Trump and John Bolton, the National Security Adviser, want a further sustained bombing campaign, one that threatens a broader war with Russia and Iran.”
Code Pink included petition link that Americans are able to sign, for demanding Congress to invoke the War Powers Act, that requires the president to consult legislature for military deployment and is able to limit the amount of time troops that are able to be engaged without the approval of congress, in order to prevent additional strikes.
“Congress must do its job!” Code Pink continues on. “Instead of continually abdicating its responsibility to decide if and when we go to war, Congress must reassert its war powers and stop the President’s reckless foreign policy. Tell your senators and representative to invoke the War Powers Act to stop unconstitutional strikes on Syria.”
Featured Image: Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Senate Minority Leader (Senate Democrats/Flickr/cc)
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
