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newthinking

(3,982 posts)
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 07:34 AM Dec 2015

Endless War, Undeclared and Undebated

Endless War, Undeclared and Undebated

The Obama administration is waging war all over the world — without congressional authorization.

Foreign Policy in Focus

http://fpif.org/endless-war-undeclared-undebated/

The death of six US soldiers in Afghanistan on December 21 at the hands of a Taliban suicide bomber brings to 21 the number of US combat deaths there in 2015. Once again we must confront the question of national purpose in waging war without debate or declaration. Like all other battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Obama administration rationalizes these latest as being part of “training, advising, and assisting,” not combat. But those are merely code words for direct interventions that Congress has not authorized since 2002, in clear violation of restrictions the War Powers Resolution of 1973 places on presidential power.

There will be plenty more casualties in the Middle East for years to come, and not just because of the seemingly permanent US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Consider two recent news items. According to a plan not yet formally approved, the Pentagon wants to create a worldwide string of “hubs” as staging areas for Special Operations forces to strike quickly against terrorists. Second, most members of Congress are unwilling to introduce and debate a bill authorizing the Obama administration’s use of force in the Middle East and beyond. Thus, there is no end in sight to the US at war, both because the Pentagon has found the perfect enemy and because no one in Congress is willing to stand up to it.

The Pentagon’s plan is to have a forward presence that, in the words of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, “will enable unilateral crisis response, counterterror operations, or strikes on high-value targets.” Not long ago the Pentagon’s mantra was “places, not bases,” so as to avoid all the political problems, as well as the monetary costs, associated with a permanent military presence on foreign soil. Now “places” evidently have been modified to “hubs” and “spokes,” Pentagon-speak for small-scale leased bases of the sort already in place all over Africa. Northern Iraq and southern Europe are being considered as additional hub sites.

Beltway Resistance

Not everyone is reportedly on board with the Pentagon’s plan. The State Department correctly sees it as a power grab that may actually harm US foreign policy. The plan works at cross-purposes with diplomacy, substituting the deployment and use of force for potential opportunities to engage governments and rival groups. More US military facilities, no matter their size, invite criticism in the host countries, may become targets of terror groups, and feed the hostile propaganda of militants. In our terrorism era, however, State has no chance to win this battle.


Continued:
http://fpif.org/endless-war-undeclared-undebated/
15 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Endless War, Undeclared and Undebated (Original Post) newthinking Dec 2015 OP
Hillary will continue our endless wars and probably escalate them. tecelote Dec 2015 #1
+1 daleanime Dec 2015 #4
You mean like NAFTA, CAFTA and daybranch Jan 2016 #13
Regime change IS our priority it would seem. SammyWinstonJack Dec 2015 #6
Not the change I'd hoped for. Scuba Dec 2015 #2
Someone needs to learn to read. Indydem Dec 2015 #3
Whew! Thank god, a technicality!! The_Commonist Dec 2015 #5
... SammyWinstonJack Dec 2015 #7
We Need Change. Real Change. gordyfl Dec 2015 #8
this endless war bullshit needs to end Fast Walker 52 Dec 2015 #9
We need a president who will shut down the pentagon mountain grammy Dec 2015 #10
perhaps the war is not intended to be won. zeemike Dec 2015 #11
0rwell had it exactly right. Mr_Jefferson_24 Jan 2016 #14
The president's showing his true ultra liberal self since the midterm, just like the BOG promised Doctor_J Dec 2015 #12
It's so naive to think this is new... Sancho Jan 2016 #15

tecelote

(5,122 posts)
1. Hillary will continue our endless wars and probably escalate them.
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 07:57 AM
Dec 2015

Time to reinstate Democracy in America before we bring it to other countries who have not asked for it.

We can not afford Healthcare for all but we can afford regime change for Syria? How about getting our priorities staright?

It's within our power to change directions by voting for and electing Bernie.

All we have to do is vote and encourage as many others as possible to vote. A large voter turn out and Bernie will win.

daybranch

(1,309 posts)
13. You mean like NAFTA, CAFTA and
Fri Jan 1, 2016, 08:27 AM
Jan 2016

who actually trusts here not to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
Hillary is a negotiator helping the oligarchy maintain the status quo, where they rule and the vast majority suffers.
Or her mischaracterizations of situations such as how she said Glass- Steagull would not have prevented the banking disaster because he real problem was shadow banking knowing full wel that the bills reinastituting Glass-Steagull address and the shadow banking problem as well. Of course her plan is better than anyone's and you just have to trust me, no one tells me what to do. They do not have to, she gives a lot of speeches explaining how she can help the banks, rhe international corporations and Wall Street to avoid regulation as much as possible. Hillary is a valued advisor and advocate for Wall Street, the banks, large corporations and the bilionaires. In this way she is no different than Mitch McConnell or republican financial advisors on major policy. But having power to attract democrats in the battle for public opinion and possibly be elected president gives them increased influence and they are willing to use their money , their control over many congressmen and women, their think tanks, and their control of main stream media, and the democratic establishment dependent on their donations ( investment) to keep Bernie from winning the primary by any means possible.
So a vote for Bernie is a vote against theoligarchy and a vote for reppresentative democracy. No way in Hell can we realistically expect the same from Hillary!
Go Bernie!

SammyWinstonJack

(44,129 posts)
6. Regime change IS our priority it would seem.
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 09:47 AM
Dec 2015

This country sucks, now and going forward, unless something drastically and dramatically changes.

 

Indydem

(2,642 posts)
3. Someone needs to learn to read.
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 08:12 AM
Dec 2015

Obama is not in violation of the War Powers Resolution.

There was an authorization for the use of force.

The WPR does not sunset any authorization.

Period. Full stop.

The author is simply ignorant.

The_Commonist

(2,518 posts)
5. Whew! Thank god, a technicality!!
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 09:28 AM
Dec 2015

So glad you found a way to justify endless war by finding that loophole!
YAY WAR!!!

mountain grammy

(26,571 posts)
10. We need a president who will shut down the pentagon
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 10:38 AM
Dec 2015

and the American war machine without getting assassinated.

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
11. perhaps the war is not intended to be won.
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 10:38 AM
Dec 2015

The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no dirffereent past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.

George Orwell
 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
12. The president's showing his true ultra liberal self since the midterm, just like the BOG promised
Thu Dec 31, 2015, 03:53 PM
Dec 2015

TPP, more war, a comic climate change agreement in France. No more conservatives for me, ever.

Sancho

(9,065 posts)
15. It's so naive to think this is new...
Sat Jan 2, 2016, 08:04 AM
Jan 2016

First, the Afghanistan/Iraq wars were pretty minor in terms of casualties in my lifetime:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

Korean War; about 40,000
Vietnam War; about 60,000
Afghanistan; about 2,000
Iraq; about 5,000

Some of us took over public buildings and burned draft cards - not to mentioned picked our candidates to vote for - many years ago. We managed to force a withdrawal from Vietnam. After that, there was very little protest when the first Bush put an army in Kuwait which was the real beginning of our current involvement. The MIC has been putting bases around the world and starting wars for 60 years at this point in the "modern era".

Electing Bernie or any other President won't change the current dynamics. It will take a complete change of Congress; which isn't going to happen with half the country glorifying the military. Even Bernie bought in with Lockheed Martin, the F35, and numerous other votes to continue paying for the MIC. It's simply illogical to think that there is any significant difference between any current Presidential candidates except that Hillary is much more informed of the international players; and Rand Paul is crazy, but likely an isolationist. No current President will get anything past the current Congress. Obama has tried and done what he can.

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