The Bush administration's domestic and foreign policies

¶ … powers of the President as they pertained to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The War Powers Act, the powers of congress and presidential powers are all included. There were two sources used to complete this paper.

Few Americans will ever forget the events of 9-11 and the ensuing declaration by President George W. Bush that the war on terrorism had begun. When he came to the American public however to announce his desire to invade Iraq he was met with concern and detractors. Even given the American public's hesitance to invade he went ahead and did so. Three years later his popularity as a president has nosedived and 68% of the American public is unhappy with his performance. The question becomes, how did he manage to pull off the invasion when so many constituents were against it?

THE FACTS

The American government is set up in a manner that requires the approval of congress to declare war or conduct an invasion of another country. The War Powers Act limits the ability of any president to engage in war without the approval of congress however, Bush insisted that Congress gave him the approval to do so.

The War Powers Act was designed and adopted in 1973 to limit the presidential ability to declare war without the approval of congress.

The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces (War powers act (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/statecraft/warpow.html)."

The act mandates that the president will consult with Congress before declaring war or other hostile intent in every possible circumstance. In addition it calls for a reconvening of a discussion with Congress any time troops are removed from hostilities in which former support by congress was given and the president wants to re-introduce the troops back to the same situation.

If the president choose sot utilize troops without the prior approval of congress and does so with the claim that it was immediately necessary for the safety and welfare of the American people, those troops must be withdrawn if Congress does not support the effort and declare a war within a 60 day period (War powers act (http://www.cs.indiana.edu/statecraft/warpow.html).

While the president has the power to veto proposed bills and laws he does not have the right to declare war against the wishes of Congress. He has continued to assert however that Congress gave him permission to invade Iraq through other means including the bills about the war on terrorism (the URI to TrackBack this entry is:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005 / 12 / 20 / did-not-expand / trackback/).

In the case of the invasion of Iraq the president was met with staunch opposition. In fact a federal lawsuit was filed in Boston stating the president did so without the approval of congress.

The constitution of the United States is worded in a way that prevents presidents from declaring war without the express approval and support of congress (13 February 2003 Suit questions Bush's war powers by David D. Haskell

United Press International (http://cndyorks.gn.apc.org/caab/articles/federallawsuit.htm)

Bush claims that the resolution about Iraq in 2003 gave him permission to declare war however, those who opposed him say it didn't it only provided a framework in case it became necessary at a later date.

The invasion violated Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution which says that "Congress will have the power to declare war (13 February 2003 Suit questions Bush's war powers by David D. Haskell