CDZ Has it ever been that people want things that aren't in their best interests to want?

[JimBowie1958]

Congressional authorization for military engagement may seem like a declaration of war, but they are much more constrained in the actions that they authorize and the duration of them as well.

The Vietnam War certainly is an example of people wanting something that wasn't in their or the nation's best interest. The Iraq War II is another, albeit for entirely different reasons.

I think those limitations placed on Commanders in Chief in the prosecution of military actions abroad are just absurd, although with the prospect of a Trump Presidency, I may minimally have to rethink my stance in that regard. That said, no matter the nature and extent of power a CoC should or does have, I nonetheless think that Congress should either declare the war or get over the matter that's ticking off the nation, or at least its political leaders. I just don't cotton to that namby-pamby approach that presumes suited men in the Capitol, and who are generally unwilling to send their own children to fight in the conflict but who will send yours, can accurately judge what generals should or should not be permitted to do in the theater of hostilities and based on that presumption pass laws that impose any limitations on how the Executive Branch leaders prosecute the war.

That "limited warfare" concept is largely why we lost the Vietnam War, which too was not really a war as we didn't declare war, yet the website for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial explicitly refers to it as the Vietnam War.

...And I got distracted in the midst of responding to your post and no longer know what the hell be the point I was going to develop with the remarks above....sorry...maybe they'll trigger something useful, so I'll go ahead and post them....

I agree and just want to emphasize that handing the President War time powers is a very serious consideration.


But you are right; we should either fight a war or not fight a war and take no half-ass measures.