We're Being Asked To Buy A War - Let's Get It Right By Gary Starkweather The direction that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are taking us is dead wrong and extremely dangerous. In the near future Congress will be asked to give the President powers of war that exceed those passed after the Tonkin Gulf incident in 1964. That resolution (H.J. RES 1145) gave Johnson power "to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force" in southeast Asia, but it included the phrase "Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations". Congress retained the right to revoke those powers in the expiration section of the resolution. The Bush administration's world view does not include the UN or the Constitution. Their doctrine (the one Rumsfeld and Cheney have been promoting for more than 30 years) is that the Executive branch of the government has the power to identify threats to American interests and investments worldwide and to take immediate military action against them. In other words, the President can order the invasion of any country at any time, for reasons that may or may not be known. There is no constitutional framework that supports this scheme, in fact the Constitution expressly forbids it which is why Johnson had to trump up a fake incident to get Congress to give him war powers. There is no moral basis for the plan either. It abandons a 300 year old body of international law establishing the nation state system. In 1684 the Treaty of Westphalia established the sovereign character of the nation state and a prohibition against interference in a state's internal affairs by outside forces. This agreement has been upheld (mostly) and is the foundation for political stability worldwide. The universality of the agreement is the reason countries make up attacks or atrocities to justify crossing a national border with military force. Without this understanding there is no reason why, for instance, Iraq would be prohibited from annexing one of its neighbors. The Bush administration vision does not include that understanding. The Rumsfeld Cheney plan envisions an America bristling with formidable weapons, ready to pounce in any direction at any time and at any cost. The rest of the world, in this view, is grateful that they have the American military over their heads and surrounding them so they don't have to worry. The Rumsfeld Cheny plan has no room for the UN and no time for treaties. In fact Rumsfeld and Cheney are pretty much against treaties in general. They figure we should do whatever we think best in any arena while preventing any other country from attaining a level of power that would deny us the ability to do so. This world view is an abomination. The only difference between the US in this scenario and a megalomaniac dictator intent on dominating his region with his armies is one of scope. This is a world domination scheme and the Rumsfeld Cheney crowd have been trying to implement it since the Nixon years. Our children and those of future generations should live in a world where no country has the to invade another. They deserve a world where an international body operating under the Charter of the UN responds to the inevitable problems that will occur, not some self-appointed guardian of the peace. Bush (and the increasingly coporate controlled media) are telling us this is necessary for the security of the American people. They are wrong. Dead wrong. Call, fax, and write your elected representatives and tell them an imperial presidency is un-American. Tell them to stand up Fight for the Right. Tell them to deny the Bush administration's power grab. By all means, vote on November 5th and ask your friends and relatives to as well. It is no coincidence that this resolution is proposed several weeks before a critical election. Gary Starkweather For What It's Worth Home