By Ed Randazzo
The NATO (pronounced US) “kinetic military action” in Libya turned 60 days old on Friday, 5/20/2011. Mindful of this milestone, six US Senators have sent a letter to President Obama asking if he will comply with the War Powers Act, which says Congress must authorize action that lasts more than 60 days.
“Friday is the final day of the statutory sixty-day period for you to terminate the use of the United States Armed Forces in Libya under the War Powers Resolution. Last week some in your Administration indicated use of the United States Armed Forces will continue indefinitely, while others said you would act in a manner consistent with the War Powers Resolution. Therefore, we are writing to ask whether you intend to comply with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution. We await your response,” wrote the GOP senators Wednesday.
The letter was signed by Senators Rand Paul, R-KY, John Cornyn, R-TX, Tom Coburn, R-OK, Jim DeMint, R-SC, Ron Johnson, R-WI and Mike Lee, R-UT.
The GOP senators said they believe the president already violated part of the War Powers Act – which says the president’s constitutional powers allow him to only deploy troops into “hostilities” with a declaration of war, specific authorization from Congress or a national emergency caused by an attack on the United States. Clearly, none of the above applies here.
Enter Senator John Kerry, D-MA, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. He said on Tuesday that he is “talking to the administration” about 
what exactly Congress and the White House might do to abide by that looming 60-day deadline Friday with regard to Libya.
“We want to make sure we’re not stretching anything inappropriate. So we’re looking at some language,” Kerry said as he entered a weekly policy lunch in the Capitol with Democratic senators. “We’re really looking at it very seriously to keep everyone on the same page.” (Translation: How can we spin this and ignore the law?)
Equally repulsive is Senator John McCain, R-AZ and RINO supreme, who doesn’t believe the War Powers Act is constitutional. Well Senator, I wasn’t aware of your judicial authority. Why don’t we just leave it to SCOTUS to make that call.
On Friday, President Obama invited Congress to approve U.S. intervention in Libya. Let’s respectfully decline and allow a full debate on Obama’s Libyan quagmire.
