On Friday, the editorial board of The New York Times warned that allowing the president to escalate military action against ISIS -- the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – without Congressional approval would set “a dangerous precedent” in a move the board also called “unjustifiable.”
"As the Pentagon gears up" to expand its fight against the terrorist organization, the article notes, “Congress appears perfectly willing to abdicate one of its most consequential powers: the authority to declare war.”
“The cowardice in Congress, never to be underestimated, is outrageous,” the board continued before stating:
Some lawmakers have made it known that they would rather not face a war authorization vote shortly before midterm elections, saying they’d rather sit on the fence for a while to see whether an expanded military campaign starts looking like a success story or a debacle.
By avoiding responsibility, they allow President Obama free rein to set a dangerous precedent that will last well past this particular military campaign.
The editorial board tried to praise the president: “Obama, who has spent much of his presidency seeking to wean the United States off a perpetual state of war, is now putting forward unjustifiable interpretations of the executive branch’s authority to use military force without explicit approval from Congress.”
Interestingly, the Times noted that in May of 2013, Obama himself argued that the 2001 law had become obsolete and ought to be repealed. “Unless we discipline our thinking, our definitions, our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited for traditional armed conflicts between nation states,” the president stated.
The Times insisted the 2001 law was enacted “when the nation was gripped with panic” and “ gave the president a broad mandate to go after the perpetrators” of the terrorist attacks on September 11 of that year.
“Now the White House is repudiating that thinking and making the perplexing argument that makes the 2001 law authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan and the 2002 law authorizing force in Iraq” give the president the power to battle ISIS “indefinitely and anywhere in the world.”
“Obama may not wait long to ramp up military operations in Iraq and Syria,” the board continued. “Congress should weigh in -- and soon.”
