Congress Tries to Torpedo the Intervention in Libya

Congress, which allowed George W. Bush to launch the country into two wars, of which one was completely made up (Iraq, for those who might have forgotten), is suddenly waking up. Just as American participation in the intervention in Libya, as little as it was, helped to avoid a massacre in Benghazi and Misrata, among other things. The Republicans, whose only political objective is to throw toxins into the political system, are starting to make it known that they do not agree with Barack Obama’s decision to intervene alongside other NATO countries.

The House of Representatives, controlled by the Republicans, should decide this week to pass a measure limiting the financing for the American military effort in Libya, under the pretext that the president did not ask Congress for authorization to intervene in North Africa. A move which would put an end to financial support and the future of the Libyan operation.

But this decision risks creating strange alliances: Democrats opposed to the war and Republicans who are furious at what they consider to be an abuse of power on the part of the 44th president; and Democrats who are loyal to the president allied with the Republicans hawks.

According to Barack Obama, the Libyan intervention does not fall under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which limits the power of the White House to declare war. The law was adopted in reaction to decisions made by Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War. The War Powers Resolution clearly defines the “hostilities” for which the president must seek Congressional authorization. Yes, the president believes that the Libyan operation does not fall under the definition intended by Congress in 1973.

The House of Representatives should make a decision in the following days, depending upon the American public opinion, which shows little interest in Libya at a time when the economy is just catching its breath. But as the hawkish Republican senator Lindsey Graham pointed out, “If we fail against Gadhafi, that’s the end of NATO.”