Latest in War Powers Resolution
Project Democracy has filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the President's legal justification for his administration's strikes against a Syrian airbase.
A few weeks ago, AFRICOM quietly brought to an end a five-year-old combat-equipped deployment that for a time had raised some very interesting War Powers Resolution questions.
With six hours to spare before the 48-hour deadline in section 4 of the War Powers Resolution, the White House has sent the President's report to Congress on Thursday evening's missile attacks on Syria.
The text is here:
THE WHITE HOUSE
The government has just filed its brief responding to Captain Smith’s challenge to the president’s unilateral war against ISIS.
These kinds of advocacy lawsuits against the President in the national security arena often have perverse effects on the resulting law. The intent is generally to force constraints onto the executive branch, but the further along this lawsuit gets, the greater the risk it will result in less, rather than more, accountability and constraint on the Executive’s power.
An outline of the key points in the complaint submitted by Captain Nathan Smith challenging the legality of President Obama's war against the Islamic State.
President Obama has sent 39 letters to Congress “consistent with” the War Powers Resolution requirements. The letters are a fascinating read and provide a 30,000-foot view of the Administration’s use of military force abroad.
Just a quick note to draw attention to an interesting debate under way between Charlie Savage of the New York Times (and author of Power Wars) and Steve Griffin of Tulane (and author of
[UPDATE: The Pentagon has released the transcript of a press briefing today, addressing the SOF deployment to Syria among other things. The DOD official explained that, for now, these operators will not accompany the units they assist when those units go into the field, in contrast to current policy for at least some circumstances in Iraq.
A primer on the U.S. basis for its drone bases in Africa and the surrounding areas.