The Breakdown: Is the US Military Action in Libya Unconstitutional?

The Breakdown: Is the US Military Action in Libya Unconstitutional?

The Breakdown: Is the US Military Action in Libya Unconstitutional?

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have started questioning the constitutionality of Obama’s announcement that the US will pursue military operations in Libya.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Exactly one week ago, citing the UN Security Council mandate to impose a no-fly zone, President Obama announced the US shall pursue military operations in Libya. Remarkably, for a Congress usually quick to question the constitutionality of the President’s every move, members on both sides of the aisle have only in the past few days begun to raise serious questions. In this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Christopher Hayes talks with constitutional scholar Bruce Ackerman about the War Powers Resolution and the Obama administration’s legal rationale for intervention in Libya.

Exactly one week ago, citing the UN Security Council mandate to impose a no-fly zone, President Obama announced the US shall pursue military operations in Libya. Remarkably, for a Congress usually quick to question the constitutionality of the President’s every move, members on both sides of the aisle have only in the past few days begun to raise serious questions. In this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Christopher Hayes talks with constitutional scholar Bruce Ackerman about the War Powers Resolution and the Obama administration’s legal rationale for intervention in Libya.

Further Reading:
Bruce Ackerman’s Foreign Policy op-ed on “Obama’s Unconstitutional War

More on the growing Congressional coalition against the war

Rep. Kucinich proposes an amendment to defund missions in Libya

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x