John Boehner threatens to cut of Libya war funding as the Congress presses Obama

  Barack Obama is coming under intensifying scrutiny for his decision to interfere in Libya’s civil war without the approval of the Congress. Siting the War Powers Act, Barack Obama stated that he need not seek the approval of the Congress. In my opinion this excuse does not hold water as the United States had no interest in Libya and our national security was not threatened. Barack Obama himself admitted, while trying to explain to the American people why the United States needed to become involved in this conflict, that it was our VALUES which were at stake in Libya, not out interests–there is a huge difference between these two terms, but that is what Barack Obama does; he tries to change the argument by using softer terms to describe the same events. But for the sake of argument I will concede to the president and grant him his explanation that he need not seek Congressional approval under the War Powers Act for operations lasting 60 days or less.

  The problem for the president now is the fact that the war against Libya has passed the limits placed upon the president by the War Powers Act and Barack Obama has decided not to seek Congressional approval even though he is now required to do so. Barack Obama claims that the involvement of the United States is now so limited that he doesn’t need to ask the Congress for approval.

  John Boehner and many Democrats disagree with this notion and have told the president that if he did not make the case for the United States’ involvement in Libya by today that he would be held in contempt of the War Powers Act. Barack Obama blinked and provided the Congress with a report which he claimed justified the actions he took.

  Again claiming the “move along, nothing to see here” defense that the United States’ involvement was so miniscule that the Congress should ignore it, he went on to claim that his actions were legitimized by the United Nations.

“U.S. forces are playing a constrained and supporting role in a multinational coalition, whose operations are both legitimated by and limited to the terms of a United Nations Security Council Resolution that authorizes the use of force solely to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under attack or threat of attack and to enforce a no-fly zone and an arms embargo

  When Barack Obama was sworn in did he take the oath to defend the Constitution of the United States or did he take the oath to defend the resolutions of the United Nations? We all know the answer to that question, don’t we? And yet Barack Obama seems to feel that it is appropriate for him to enter the United States into serfdom, beholden to the United Nations and that organization’s whims, giving away our nation’s sovereignty at the behest of the United Nations because, at heart, Barack Obama is a globalist who believes there is no need for individual nations where there is a power structure of weaker and more powerful nations.

 He believes in this global utopia where all nations are equally mediocre with a strong United Nations ruling the world. Because of this Barack Obama is willing to subjugate the United States to the will of the United Nations, and that is exactly what he did when the United Nations told him to enter into an alliance with these other nations whose national interests were actually at stake.

  John Boehner, for one, is not buying Barack Obama’s excuse that the role the United States is playing in the war on Libya is insignificant, and he ridiculed the president’s assertion that the United States is not at war with Libya, echoing comment that I have made right here an several occasions:

The White House says there are no hostilities taking place, yet we’ve got drone attacks under way, we’re spending $10 million a day, [and] part of the mission is to drop bombs on [Libyan dictator Moammar] Gadhafi’s compound,” Boehner said. “That doesn’t pass the straight-face test, in my view, that we’re not in the midst of hostilities

  John Boehner is not satisfied with Barack Obama’s explanation for the war in Libya and is threatening to vote on cutting off the funding for the war, and it appears as if he has bipartisan support–this may be the one issue that Barack Obama was able to get consensus on between Democrats and Republicans, the one time he has brought both parties together. The House controls the purse-strings–all appropriation bills must start in the House–and if the House votes to cut off funding for the war in Libya there is nothing the president can do about it–the war will be over.

  This leads to an interesting juxtaposition because for all the complaining by Democrats that President Bush illegally entered wars against Iraq and Afghanistan the fact is that he did go to the Congress and he did seek the approval of the Congress–even though many of those Democrats who voted to give President Bush the war powers have since denied that is what they voted on–that is exactly what they voted on. These Democrats could have easily taken the position which John Boehner has taken–they could have voted to cut off funding for the wars but they chose not to do so, because for all of their demagoguing their rhetoric was not matched by their actions and that leads one to believe that they all knew that President Bush was right all along.

  And during the debate on Libya, the position I just stated above was actually confirmed by none other than Dennis Kucinich, who gave President Bush credit for seeking Congressional approval while at the same time decrying Barack Obama total lack of respect for the law:

President Bush came to Congress … President Obama doesn’t feel like he needs to come to Congress

  That statement is both a vindication of President Bush and a repudiation of Barack Obama. You can say what you want about Dennis Kucinich–and believe me I have–this is one man who has remained consistent in his anti-war views.

  Barack Obama needs to step before the Congress and the American people and tell the truth about why we are engaged in regime change and nation building in Libya for these are two positions he campaigned against when he was running for president. The United Nations told Barack Obama what to do in regards to Libya and Barack Obama jumped into the fray without question because he feels as if the United Nations is a greater and more just power than is the United States.