The Congress puts pressure on Barack Obama to seek approval for the Libyan war effort–will hold him in violation of the War Powers Act on Friday

  Whether Barack Obama is willing to admit it or not, the United States is at war with Libya. We may only be playing a supporting role in this war, but the fact remains that the United States is providing support for countries which are bombing Libya and because of this we are helping to accelerate a war effort in which the end game appears to be regime change, and in helping other countries to wage war on Libya we are engaged in the war also. This appears to be a nation building war effort, and while I will not be saddened to see Ghadaffi removed from power, Barack Obama ran against this type of action when he was campaigning for president.

  The president tried to explain the reason for U.S. involvement in Libya by claiming that United States’ values were under attack in Libya, but is that not the case in Syria, Yemen, Ivory Coast, and was that not the case in Iran during the protests there as well? Why then did Barack Obama chose to enter the United States in this war? There is more to our involvement there and the American people deserve to know why we are there. We know that France petitioned the United Nations to approve military action in Libya, and we know that France was concerned about their oil supply, we also know that the United Nations supported this effort and that Barack Obama followed the advice of the United Nations when he committed to engage Libya. But we still do not know what justification Barack Obama used, other than being a pawn of the United Nations, for agreeing to this military action.

  Today the Congress of the United States took two actions in an attempt to hold Barack Obama’s feet to the fire in regards to his war effort in Libya.

  First, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 248-163, voted to defund the Libyan war effort. While the Democrats in the Congress attacked President Bush for the war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and campaigned on the promise of ending the wars they held in their hands the power of the purse strings–they could have defunded the wars which they claimed were being fought under false pretences–but they chose not to defund, and that was the right thing to do because this would have put the troops fighting in the region in more danger than they already were. But this is different because we have no troops on the frontline and no troops would be put in grave danger by this move, so it seems like a good way to make Barack Obama step before the Congress and explain to them and to the American people what we are doing there in the first place.

  However, in my opinion this is just a symbolic vote and has no teeth because the measure would still have to go before the Democrat controlled Senate which would more than likely reinstate the monies to fight this war in order to save the president the embarrassment of having his own party “censure” him in this way. But it is the second event of the day which may finally force the president to address the Congress and explain the reasoning behind his actions.

  John Boehner has sent a letter to the president giving him an ultimatum; Barack Obama has until Friday to seek authorization for the war effort in Libya or be held in violation of the War Powers Act. Under the War Powers Act, the president has the right to authorize military actions when he feels that it is important to the interest of the United States for up to sixty days; once sixty days has passed he needs to seek the approval of the Congress to continue the action. However, this Friday will mark ninety days of military action and the president–claiming that the United States’ role is now so small in Libya that it isn’t even worth mentioning any more (move along, nothing to see here!)–has refused to meet with the Congress to gain their permission to continue the war.

  It seems as if this would have more potential to “coerce” the president to seek Congressional approval because the Democrats have been just as vocal in their opposition to the president’s actions in Libya–maybe even more so–than the Republicans have been. The House has already passed a non-binding resolution urging the president to make his case for the war effort, but he has refused so now it is time to take the next step, and if John Boehner and the Congress remain resolute and committed to seeking an explanation from Barack Obama this is the way to go about it.

  It is time for Barack Obama to explain himself for there is more to this story than meets the eye–we have gone to war with Libya under false pretenses–and the American people deserve to know why we are interfering in the Libyan civil war when we have ignored the atrocities being committed in other nations–and other civil wars–in the region.