President Trump and the media tell us that we are at war with Iran. Legally and realistically we are not. Article One, Section Eight of our Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war. However, in our history the president has on a number of occasions unilaterally declared and implemented a war against a given country and has then been given authorization by Congress to continue the action. Congress is required to renew its authorization within 60 days.
As I write this, the re-authorization for Trump’s Iran war has not yet been granted. Korea and Vietnam are key examples of president-declared wars. The lack of a formal declaration does not mitigate the seriousness or human cost of the actions, with 35,000 American servicemen and women dying in the Korean War and 58,000 in Vietnam. Since the Civil War — save for the families of those lost in our subsequent wars — we Americans do not know what it is to be in a real war. When entire blocks in your neighborhood are bombed into rubble, you’ll know you are in a war. When our energy grid is devastated and you have no drinking water, electricity, heat or cool air, you’ll know what war is. When your food stores that have not been destroyed have empty shelves and you seriously begin to think you’ll have to eat your pets to keep your children from starving, you’ll know what war is. When the females in your family are gang-raped by invading foot soldiers, you’ll know what war is. When all your loved ones are blown to smithereens or consumed in fire, you’ll know what it is to be in a war.
The congressional mandate on war is a protection for the nation against a mercurial or ego-driven leader whose perspective may unintentionally, accidentally, incompetently or by misreading a country’s intentions plunge the nation into a full war. Donald Trump is a president who has shown he is mercurial and ego-driven and who may easily misread a perceived enemy — China, for example — and risk a war with that nation.
President Trump has often acted on a whim, rather than on proven information. China and some other nations will stand up to the United States in ways that most countries would not. That would be a military disaster for America. The United States, under Trump, has fired our most experienced and knowledgeable military leaders and replaced them with arguably well-intentioned but less capable unprepared leaders appointed on the basis of political loyally rather than military competence. Without congressional control of war, we are in a very precarious position. We need a leader who is stable, consistent and who will avoid unnecessary provocations, and a Congress that will exercise its prerogative to protect us from a real war. Your vote and that of your congressional representative can keep us out of another Big Muddy.
Robert Hilliard, Ph.D., of Fort Myers is a Purple Heart veteran of World War II and the Battle of the Bulge and a former federal government official and college dean.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Will Congress protect us from a real war? | Opinion
Reporting by Robert Hilliard / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
