Source: RT‘Impeach Obama’ Bill: Use of military without Congress approval ‘high crime’
An American military attack on Syria could effectively lead to the
impeachment of President Barack Obama. Congressmen say that any war
without congressional authorization would be “unconstitutional”.
Republican Representative Walter B. Jones Jr. has come up with a
resolution demanding Obama’s impeachment in case his administration
starts another military action without the approval of Congress. This
came as a reaction to the American Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
announcing that in order to carry out the offensive, the US military
needs permission from the UN and NATO alone.
Jones’s resolution states that the prime authority to rule on the
attack is the US Congress, not international bodies, be it NATO or UN.
“Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military
force by a president without prior and clear authorization of an Act of
Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under
Article II, Section 4 of the constitution,” Jones’s resolution said.
In an exchange which occurred at a session of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that in
case the Obama administration decides to strike Syria, it would merely
“inform” Congress after the decision has been made.
“Our goal would be to seek international permission and we would come
to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach
this,” Panetta said. “Whether or not we would want to get permission
from the Congress, I think those are issues I think we would have to
discuss as we decide what to do here.”
Responding to Panetta, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions said he was “breathless” to hear the statement.
“I am all for having international support, but I am really baffled
by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal
basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat,” Sessions
said. “They can provide no legal authority. The only legal authority
that is required to deploy the United States military is of the Congress
and the president and the law and the constitution.”
The Obama administration has allegedly started a fresh discussion on a
possible military strike on Syria with its allies, the Washington Post
reports. American officials have yet to confirm the report, saying that
at this point they rule out military involvement in Syria’s internal
conflict.
There are reports that British and Qatari troops, as well as the CIA
and Mossad, are already covertly involved with the Syrian conflict.
