Bombing Syria – Did Trump Dive into the Swamp?
Thursday, April 13, 2017 by Jonathan R. Gibbons in“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” – Carl Sagan
The United States Congress has the power… “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;” – Article I Section VIII of the U.S. Constitution
On Thursday, April 6, 2017, President Trump ordered an attack on a Syrian base in response to a chemical attack on innocent civilians. This attack was allegedly committed by the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Under the U.S. Constitution any act of war ordered by a U.S. President must be backed by the deliberation and consent of the U.S. Congress. Not unlike President Clinton, President Bush, and President Obama, President Trump violated his war powers and usurped the authority of the people as represented through their U.S. Representatives; he also violated his campaign promises.
To declare war or to engage in a preemptive strike against a foreign enemy requires the deliberation and consent of the U.S. Congress. The president may engage in defensive military action to thwart immediate and obvious threats to America but they may not unilaterally engage in offensive military actions without the consent of the U.S. Congress. Obtaining the blessing of the U.S. Congress serves a number of important purposes not limited to ensuring the action is necessary and the facts underlying the reasoning for the attack are sound and substantial. President Obama committed a variety of similar unconstitutional attacks during his tenure as well.
Is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad even guilty? Our society is quick to find guilt in the realm of public opinion but in the realm of the law, determining guilt is a slow and tedious process. This stagnant process serves to filter out emotion and bullshit and to isolate the truth among an abundance of propaganda and hearsay. In 2013, President Obama was on the brink of engaging in a similar retaliation against Syria. It was argued then that the Syrian Government had used chemical weapons against innocent civilians as well. Unfortunately, we really don’t know what the truth is as a number of academic studies have called into question the accuracy of this claim. Gareth Porter wrote in the Middle East Policy journal:
A review of what is known about the… alleged Sarin attacks shows that it was a major intelligence failure on the order of the Iraq WMD error. It failed to reflect accurately the evidence the administration said supported the overall conclusion. Moreover, it ignored substantial evidence indicating that the incidents in question did not involve Sarin or anything else that the United States recognized as a banned chemical weapon… the evidence of responsibility for the alleged Sarin attacks did not confirm the accusation that they were carried out by the Syrian government.
Obama actually requested the authorization to attack Syria from Congress in 2013 but it was denied consent by the representatives of the people. Yes, President Obama followed the constitution more closely than President Trump on this particular action… this populist Trump Train ride beginning to feel a bit bumpy for anyone else?
In sum, President Trump most certainly violated his war powers and usurped the authority of the Congress; he also violated his campaign promises. One of Trump’s major criticisms of Hillary Clinton and past administrations was their reckless interventionist foreign policies that put America second to foreign entanglements. This marks one of the clearest betrayals of Trump’s campaign promises to date, and it calls into question his intellectual integrity and casts doubt on what he will or will not do. To date, Trump has still not been vocal about pursuing term limits on the many bought a paid for representatives that occupy the halls of our republic. Frankly, Trump isn’t doing anything to drain the swamp. If I were just a bit more of a cynical man, I’d say that Trump is already swimming in the deep end of the swamp along with the rest of the military-industrial scum that are destroying America. Let’s hope not, because if he is… we’re totally fucked.
Hillary Clinton agreed with attacking Syria… but look who disgrees with Trump… Hint… they’re Not Swimming in the Swamp
U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Trump’s Bombing of Syria
Rand Paul said that President Donald J Trump should have followed the Constitution
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Trump’s Bombing of Syria
Bernie Sanders Condemns TRUMPS Syrian Attack!
Sources:
Baker, P. & Weismanaug, J. 2013. “Obama Seeks Approval by Congress for Strike in Syria”. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/world/middleeast/syria.html
Clinton, Hillary. 2017. Independent. Hillary Clinton called for Donald Trump to ‘take out’ Assad airfields hours before air strikes
Netflix. 2016. “The White Helmets”, https://www.netflix.com/title/80101827
Overview of the Syrian Conflict: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFpanWNgfQY&list=WL&index=10
Porter, G. (2016), Chemical Attacks in Syria: How U.S. Intel Went Wrong. Middle East Policy, 23: 100–111. doi: 10.1111/mepo.12220
