2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate

NY Times ^ | 17 June 2011 | Charlie Savage

[Hoodat]

WASHINGTON — President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities.” Under that view, Mr. Obama needed no permission from Congress to continue the mission unchanged.

[engrpat]

If this were Bush the left and the anti war groups would be swinging from chandeliers throwing firebombs and rioting for impeachment and the press would be right there. Seems war is good when democrats do it.

[AU72]

Libya is a straw, he’s establishing a predicate for something else far more dangerous.

[shield]

NO NO NO....here what a true expert says: ‘Nothing More Impeachable' Than War Without Authorization, Says Constitutional Scholar

[Recovering_Democrat]

The article refers to Hussein as a “constitutional lawyer”.

He is a constitutional lawyer in the same sense as Bill Clinton is a faithful husband.

[yup2394871293]

Constitution? Forget the friggin’ constitution. I say send Obama to Brussels to answer for his war crimes!

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Bombing the shit out a country, even one like Libya that deserves it, definitely involves “hostilities”.

I guess Obama and Holder and Koh are using a different dictionary, perhaps the one that George Orwell used when he wrote “1984”. “War is Peace: Peace is War”.

Damned! That sounds likes Obama advisor Anita Dunn’s favorite philosopher Mao Tze-tung.

Now I understand it all.

[CharlyFord]

Consider how this will fit into the billion dollar Obama reelection campaign!

Get ready for Debbie Schultz's TV commercials!! This is gonna fit right in! Big time!

Obama saved the U.S. economy (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)

Obama saved major U.S. industries (GM & Chrysler)

Obama captures, kills, or defeats U.S. enemies (bin Laden, Gaddafi)

Obama cleans up a corrupt Congress (Weiner)

Obama converts our enemies (Muslims) into friends (screw Israel)

I'm warning you!! Get ready for it!!

[boatbums]

...argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities"

Okay, let's ask Moammar if he thinks the U.S. is being "hostile"? If they're killing people, destroying government property and personal homes, it sure sounds like that would qualify as hostilities. Just how does the Obama Administration define the word? Is this another is doesn't mean is fiasco?

[InvisibleChurch]

“Jeh” is an odd name

[unkus]

Libya is just a stinking sideshow. Have you been watching Iran’s moves while America is pre-occupied focusing on Obies side show?

Our community organizer has much more on his personal agenda than he lets on.

AND it ain’t good for America.

---

Our military is being bled dry and the economy is on the brink. The United States is being set up for the greatest military and economic “hit” in history. It’s called implementing the New World Order/One World Government. They can’t do it with a strong, soverign USA. They’re doing everything they can to take us down.

[unkus]

He uses it for toilet paper.

[boatbums]

Is this a dry-run for using US forces against Israel without Congressional constraint???

Well, he would be setting up a precedent. Everything else he's done has been praised as "unprecedented".

[unkus]

It’s rotten from top to bottom. Huma Weiner, a muslim is Hitlery’s chief of staff. She has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. It goes on and on and on.

[presently no screen name]

Your right - BHO didn’t win anything - that’s TNYT with it’s propaganda again.

[Hoodat]

Obama is doing things no differently than nearly every President since Andrew Jackson.

Remind me again the last President to go to war for three months without getting Congressional approval?

[Mariner]

"Today, 50 years later, the IAF has no indigenously built aircraft of any worth"

These suckers are hard to build. Not just anybody can do it.

Why not buy a BUNCH of good airframes and engines from somebody...and put your own and best of class avionics and weapons systems aboard?

Thing is, you have to dial in on a basic configuration at SOME point and India doesn't seem to have found their groove yet.

If you want to be a power, you have to be able to put at least 2,000 fighters in the air and have a substantial number survive.

[spokeshave]

"He’s evil, he hates us, and he wants to eliminate anything that stands between him and total power."

Moochelle getting ready to bury the great US Constitution:

Since our "Dear Reader" is too busy on the golf links.

[unkus]

He can do whatever he wants. He knows the Republicans in the House don’t have the guts to impeach two democrat presidents in a row.

---

I think it goes way beyond that. I beleive the Republicans, some Democrats, many in the Judiciary, Law enforcement, Intelligence and Military have been given “Offers they can’t refuse”. Their families have been targeted and they’d better not cross the line.

[jy8z]

They’re doing everything they can to take us down.

Before anyone takes me down, I'll be knee deep in brass. That's all.

[unkus]

Libya is a straw, he’s establishing a predicate for something else far more dangerous.

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.....against Israel.