Kennedy noted that the previous authorization of force was predicated on allegations of Hussein’s government violating UN resolutions, the alleged Iraqi possession of “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” and alleged links with Al Qaeda. The latter points being conditions now widely acknowledged not to have existed (although the Senator did not acknowledge that directly).
The Senator’s view that the lack of these conditions requires more congressional oversight of the war partly echoes the opinion of legal scholar Francis Boyle, who believes that the addition of inexcess of 20,000 troops to the approximately 140,000 alrady in Iraq constitutes substantially enlarging the force.
Boyle says this triggers the War Powers Act and quotes it: “In the absence of a declaration of war [which we do not have for Iraq], in any case in which United States Armed Forces are introduced … (3) in numbers which substantially enlarge United States Armed Forces equipped for combat already located in a foreign nation….”
Boyle goes further to assert that continuing the escalation beyond a 60 day limit without an authorization from Congress would be an impeachable offense. Kennedy’s view does not seem to go this far, as the Senator has not spoken of impeachment and introduced a new bill to require authorization, which the War Powers Act already seems to do.
After his comments, Senator Kennedy was asked by Sam Husseini (video of just this) on the latest developments of proposed Iraqi oil legislation, which seems to nominally keep control in the hands of the US-supported Iraqi government, but makes large profitable concessions to U.S. oil companies. In response, Kennedy asserted that “the objective for the oil distribution is … to be fair to different regions of the country,” and did not speak to the point about the role of US corporations.
Transcript
Senator Kennedy: I think next Tuesday night we’ll hear the President of the United States describe a different Iraq than what i think most Americans understand and recognize. Today Iraq is a country in crisis, is a country involved in a civil war. This Administration is going for an escalation, a surge, of American troops that’ll be placed in the midst of a civil war and it seems to me that the American people are entitled to require the president to come to Congress to get an authorization for the use of those troops and the resources that are going to expended.
When—the last time the Congress authorized Americans to go to war was for Weapons of Mass Destruction, and because Saddam Hussein had violated United Nations resolutions resolutions and because of Saddam Hussein’s operational association with Al Qaeda. None of those conditions exist today and the American people are entitled to accountability — accountability by the president, accountability by their elected representatives. The people in America said that they wanted a change in policy last November; the generals that have appeared before the Armed Services Committee have opposed a surge, feeling that will only delay the time that Iraqis will assume responsibility for their own future; Republicans are indicating their reservations about a surge — this President ought to come to congress and explain it and I would hope that he would speak to that issue on the State of the Union on Tuesday night.
Reporter: There’s been a big increase this weekend in violence in Iraq, do you think that has anything to do with [inaudible] because of the US?
Senator Kennedy:Well, the loss of some twenty American live sin the last day, third highest loss in the whole struggle with Iraq, just reaffirms—confirms—that Americans are fighting and dieing in a civil war. I don’t think that the American people would vote for sending Americans into a civil war in Iraq. That is what the issue is that the present time and the President is—as a go-it-alone strategy he’s taken generals that have differed with him, that opposed to the surge, and he’s shut them out from and separated himself from them. This is the wrong policy at the wrong time and the President ought to come to the congress to get the justification for it.
We’ll get one more—
Sam Husseini: Many are concerned about the pending Iraq oil law. An Iraqi academic writing in the British Press said that the US, the IMF and their allies are using fear to pursue their agenda of privatizing and selling Iraq’s oil resources. Isn’t it unseemly of the US to be pushing an oil law that might benefit US oil companies in the midst of all this and the—
Senator Kennedy: Well, I think the objective for the oil distribution is so that it was going to be a distribution that is going to be fair to different regions of the country, I think that is the objective to it. And I think that there is some, obviously some reasons for that. I think that’s what was contemplated. Thanks.
Posted by Matthew Bradley
[originally published on Washington Stakeout on Jan. 21, 2007; posted on posthaven Nov. 13, 2015]