Topic: Iraq, Past wars
By Jalexson
The Constitution assigns the President the exclusive power of being Commander in Chief of the nation's military forces. The President has the sole authority to determine whether to commit troops to battle, how to conduct the battle and when to withdraw troops. Congress may have the authority to declare war or appropriate money to fight a war, but only the President can decide if troops will fight the war.
If Congress attempts to take away President George Bush's power to determine how troops are used in a combat zone, President Bush should recognize the action as a coup that removes him from office and submit his resignation as President. Vice President Dick Cheney should then follow his example and allow the person Congress has chosen as Bush's replacement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to become President.
Then if Congress' decision to retreat from Iraq resulted in a disaster, American voters would hold Pelosi and her fellow Democrats responsible for the disaster. Democrats want a situation in which they can claim credit for getting troops out of Iraq and they can blame George W. Bush if the action results in disaster. If Bush resigned, Democrats wouldn't be able to blame anyone else for their mistake.
We may or may not have made a mistake by electing and reelecting George W. Bush to be president, but until the next election he is the President. Congress should let him do the job in the way he sees fit until we have a chance to elect his successor. Congress should not attempt to take away our ability to choose our Commander in Chief.
Members of Congress are elected to serve local constituencies and local interests. Only the President is elected to serve the national constituency and national interests.
