President Obama announced yesterday that he wants Congress to end the authorization to wage the War on Terror. Obama says that all wars have to end and this one must too. Let's ignore for the moment the fact that our opponent in the war, all those nasty terrorists, have not agreed that the war is over. No, for the moment, let's just look at the consequences of what Obama wants.
First, let's start with Obama's favorite open/shut/open/shut prison, Guantanamo in Cuba. If the war is over, then all these guys being held at Guantanamo have to be released. There is no justification to hold prisoners of war once the war ends. These enemy combatants will not need to find a country willing to take them. They ought to be able to just walk out the front gates at Gitmo. Since Obama says the war is over, there should be no problem with taking 150 or so dangerous terrorists and releasing them. After all, what could they do now that the war is over?
Second, let's move on to our troops in Afghanistan. Forget for the moment whether or not they are coming home right away. Let's focus instead on what they can do if they find a large group of Taliban fighters moving towards one of their bases. If the war is over, these troops have no legal justification to fire on this threatening group of Taliban. Sure, they can fire back in self defense, but it would be a criminal act to attack a Taliban unit moving into position for a possible attack. Our troops cannot just fire on the Taliban; those guys might just be there for the local folk dancing convention.
Third, there are the drones. Those pesky mosquitoes have been made the front line in the war on terror by Obama. In his view, it was more humanitarian (okay more politically palatable) to kill people suddenly with death from the skies than to capture those people and hold them to be questioned. With the end of the war, however, America has no justification to launch these sorts of attacks any more. To do so would be a "war crime" in international law.
If Congress complies with Obama's request and ends the war authorization, just imagine what the future will bring. If the terrorists from Guantanamo launch a major attack, Obama will say that it was Congress that made that possible. If drone attacks bring on a war crimes investigation, Obama will say he knew nothing about the attack and just learned of it from the news media. If troops in Afghanistan get in trouble, Obama will tell the rest of our forces to stand down. Then, in all likelihood, he will blame Fox News for manufacturing the crisis.
First, let's start with Obama's favorite open/shut/open/shut prison, Guantanamo in Cuba. If the war is over, then all these guys being held at Guantanamo have to be released. There is no justification to hold prisoners of war once the war ends. These enemy combatants will not need to find a country willing to take them. They ought to be able to just walk out the front gates at Gitmo. Since Obama says the war is over, there should be no problem with taking 150 or so dangerous terrorists and releasing them. After all, what could they do now that the war is over?
Second, let's move on to our troops in Afghanistan. Forget for the moment whether or not they are coming home right away. Let's focus instead on what they can do if they find a large group of Taliban fighters moving towards one of their bases. If the war is over, these troops have no legal justification to fire on this threatening group of Taliban. Sure, they can fire back in self defense, but it would be a criminal act to attack a Taliban unit moving into position for a possible attack. Our troops cannot just fire on the Taliban; those guys might just be there for the local folk dancing convention.
Third, there are the drones. Those pesky mosquitoes have been made the front line in the war on terror by Obama. In his view, it was more humanitarian (okay more politically palatable) to kill people suddenly with death from the skies than to capture those people and hold them to be questioned. With the end of the war, however, America has no justification to launch these sorts of attacks any more. To do so would be a "war crime" in international law.
If Congress complies with Obama's request and ends the war authorization, just imagine what the future will bring. If the terrorists from Guantanamo launch a major attack, Obama will say that it was Congress that made that possible. If drone attacks bring on a war crimes investigation, Obama will say he knew nothing about the attack and just learned of it from the news media. If troops in Afghanistan get in trouble, Obama will tell the rest of our forces to stand down. Then, in all likelihood, he will blame Fox News for manufacturing the crisis.
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