Ben Lewis, Ohio TAC: "With these words Madison stated what the founding generation knew: that military might is more often used for the aggrandizement of power of the few than the protection of liberties of the many. For this reason the writers of the Constitution placed the ability to declare war, in Madison’s words, “fully and exclusively…in the legislature.” This was a departure from the British system in which, as Alexander Hamilton noted, the king had the authority of “the declaring of war and the raising and the regulating of fleets and armies.” Hamilton wrote that, under the Constitution, these responsibilities would “appertain to the legislature.” In divesting the executive of the power to declare war, the framers were saying that giving this power to one person would be irresponsible and likely to result in oppression. Madison said as much in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in which he wrote, “the History of all Governments demonstrates that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. (The Constitution) has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war in the Legislature.” Despite the wisdom and warnings of the founders, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a precipitous decline in this principle, a trend that has only escalated in the 21st century. A prime example of this is the recent revelation that the “War on Terror” will likely continue for “at least another 10-20 years” according to Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Sheehan. He made this statement in front of the Senate Armed Forces committee recently, apparently unable to grasp the irony of dictating the terms of military conflict to members of the branch that is constitutionally-tasked with determining the parameters of war." - tenthamendmentcenter/2013/06/19/constitutional-war-powers-a-guard-against-tyranny/#.UcenlJwkxUZ
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 02:03:24 +0000
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