War Is War

President Obama thinks a good offense is the best defense so he has fabricated a special legal sleight of hand. It can be read in the 32-page, hastily written government report on the Libyan affair. The report is intended to defuse congressional allegations about the legality of his military action and the growing criticism coming from the American public, mainly regarding the escalating cost of the venture. Recently, ten congressional representatives — Democrats as well as Republicans — filed a joint suit against Obama for undertaking military action in Libya without congressional approval.

The gist of the administration’s response was that approval wasn’t necessary because NATO’s actions in Libya didn’t constitute a war, thus the constitutional requirements had not been circumvented. Period. Recall how sharply candidate Obama criticized his White House predecessor, George W. Bush, for exceeding constitutional limits in his war on terror? Meanwhile, Obama, the qualified constitutional lawyer seems to have morphed into somewhat of a shyster. While Republicans can certainly be criticized for hypocrisy when they use the Libyan war as a political campaign issue, Obama still needs to remember one thing: a war is a war is a war.