Who makes war?

At the NYRB , David Cole observes: “While Obama sends his representatives around the world to obtain backing and gain more legitimacy for a US-led military response, he has not sought the approval of the one body whose authority is clearly required: the United States Congress. A military intervention in Syria, even if it was confined to an unmanned cruise missile attack, would unquestionably constitute an act of war. And whatever the validity of such an act under international law, under the US Constitution only Congress has the authority to authorize war or lesser forms of military force. The Framers gave that power to the legislature precisely because they wanted to make going to war more difficult, and knew that presidents would be more inclined to bellicosity than a multi-member legislature.”

If he follows through, Obama’s actions will not be unprecedented: “Presidents have of course often used military force without Congress’s prior approval.” But Presidents “have generally attempted to fit their actions within the long-recognized exceptions to the principle of Congressional authorization: namely, when they must act in self-defense to an armed attack or imminent armed attack, leaving no time for recourse to Congress. But there is no conceivable justification along these lines for a military strike on Syria. President Obama is responding to an attack allegedly ordered and carried out by the Assad regime on its own citizens, not on the United States or American citizens.”