Gunny
01-24-2024, 05:50 PM
Good history article. The following is just the summation.
Which leads us back to today. Contrary to the assertions of progressives like Jayapal and conservatives like Greene, presidents since the founding have affirmed their authority and responsibility to deploy military forces defensively without congressional approval.
To date, Biden has unilaterally ordered targeted strikes against Houthi military targets to diminish the terrorists’ ability to persist in their piracy. He hasn’t ordered a ground invasion of Yemen, a wider offensive against civil and governmental assets or an initiative to depose the Houthi government. He has followed closely in Jefferson’s footsteps, even if 250 years of evolution in technology and warfare make a direct comparison complicated.
Of course, Congress isn’t toothless. Jayapal and Greene could always legislate and either convince their colleagues to authorize force or pass a resolution disapproving it (though it’s not clear this would be binding). That, however, would require an almost evenly divided Congress to do its job, and as anyone following American politics in 2024 surely knows, the suggestion is itself risible.
Luckily, President Biden has history on his side.
full article: What History Says About Biden’s Power to Strike the Houthis - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/24/biden-power-houthis-history-00137185)
Which leads us back to today. Contrary to the assertions of progressives like Jayapal and conservatives like Greene, presidents since the founding have affirmed their authority and responsibility to deploy military forces defensively without congressional approval.
To date, Biden has unilaterally ordered targeted strikes against Houthi military targets to diminish the terrorists’ ability to persist in their piracy. He hasn’t ordered a ground invasion of Yemen, a wider offensive against civil and governmental assets or an initiative to depose the Houthi government. He has followed closely in Jefferson’s footsteps, even if 250 years of evolution in technology and warfare make a direct comparison complicated.
Of course, Congress isn’t toothless. Jayapal and Greene could always legislate and either convince their colleagues to authorize force or pass a resolution disapproving it (though it’s not clear this would be binding). That, however, would require an almost evenly divided Congress to do its job, and as anyone following American politics in 2024 surely knows, the suggestion is itself risible.
Luckily, President Biden has history on his side.
full article: What History Says About Biden’s Power to Strike the Houthis - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/24/biden-power-houthis-history-00137185)