{"id":2928,"date":"2011-07-10T23:31:18","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T07:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/?p=2928"},"modified":"2019-04-15T20:55:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T04:55:29","slug":"libya-and-us-debt-another-treasury-draining-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/2928\/libya-and-us-debt-another-treasury-draining-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya and US Debt: Another Treasury-Draining War"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ralph E. Stone<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

July 11, 2011<\/p>\n

The United States national debt exceeds $14.2 trillion and climbing. About 14 million Americans are unemployed. \u00a0Public health, education, social services, and police and fire departments are facing cutbacks. \u00a0Yet, the bill for U.S. participation in the NATO-led Libya mission is projected to reach at least $844 million by September with the U.S. funding about three quarters of the military spending by all NATO countries. \u00a0This expenditure is on top of $1.2 trillion and counting, we are spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.<\/p>\n

Clearly, we cannot continue these enormous war expenditures\u00a0ad infinitum<\/em>, especially with our faltering economy. \u00a0This money could be better spent elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the important events in the NATO-led Libya mission:<\/p>\n

* On February 16, 2011, Libyan police clashed with thousands of anti-government protestors in the coastal city of Benghazi, calling the demonstration “a day of rage.” \u00a0These protestors joined a smaller demonstration in support of arrested human rights activist and lawyer Fathi Tarbel, who represents the families of over 1,000 prisoners massacred at Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison in 1996.(Tarbel was subsequently released). Benghazi is a hot bed of anti-government sentiment. \u00a0There were also demonstrations in\u00a0Baida, Misurata, and Zentan, as well as pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Benghazi, Tripoli and elsewhere. \u00a0Reportedly, as many as 200 anti-government protestors\u00a0killed. \u00a0Regime opponents called for a nationwide strike.<\/p>\n

Gaddafi tried to allay unrest by proposing the doubling of government employees’ salaries and releasing 110 Islamic militants who oppose him. In addition,\u00a0Gaddafi had lately met groups of students, journalists, lawyers and others to hear their complaints. \u00a0This was not enough for protestors.\u00a0 The demonstrations escalated and Gaddafi\u2019s response was swift and brutal.<\/p>\n

The Libyan grievances are similar to those in Tunisia and Egypt: \u00a0high youth unemployment and the harsh suppression of all political activity under an autocratic rule which has lasted decades in this oil rich country of 6.5 million.<\/p>\n

* On March 17, 2011, the UN Security Council resolution 1703<\/a> authorized a “no fly” zone over Libya. \u00a0Secretary of State Hillary Clinton interpreted the no-fly zone over Libya to require “certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots, including bombing targets like the Libyan defense systems.” \u00a0 Since the resolution, the no fly zone has expanded to assisting Libyan rebels by bombing and strafing Libya forces.<\/p>\n

* On February 26, 2011, The UN Security Council referred the Libyan situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). \u00a0The ICC is a treaty-based court governed by the Rome Stature. \u00a0It is independent of the UN. \u00a0The ICC is joined by 114 nations. \u00a0The U.S. did not join. \u00a0Parties to the treaty are obligated to cooperate with the ICC.<\/p>\n

On June 27,\u00a0The ICC issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi,\u00a0his son\u00a0Saif al-Islam,\u00a0and his spy chief, citing evidence of crimes against humanity committed against\u00a0political opponents. The African Union refused to recognize the arrest warrant issued for Gaddafi as they believe it will\u00a0\u201cseriously impede\u201d\u00a0all efforts aimed at a peace settlement to the Libyan conflict. \u00a0The African Union may be right as\u00a0Aisha Gaddafi,\u00a0the Libyan leader’s daughter, disclosed that there had been\u00a0direct and indirect negotiations\u00a0with rebels before the ICC action.<\/p>\n

* Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution states that only Congress has the power “to declare war.”<\/p>\n

* The\u00a0War Powers Resolution of 1973\u00a0(50 U.S.C.\u00a01541-1548)\u00a0is a federal law intended to check the power of the President in committing the U.S. to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. \u00a0The Resolution\u00a0requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60\u00a0days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a\u00a0declaration of war.<\/p>\n

Section 1542 of the War Powers Resolution states: \u00a0\u201dThe President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

* The key word in Section 1542 is “hostilities.” \u00a0President Obama argued that the U.S. is just\u00a0enforcing the UN Security Council mandate to protect the Libyan people from\u00a0Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. \u00a0He further argued that the NATO-led mission is not the kind of “hostilities” envisioned by the War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n

Reportedly, Obama overruled Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel, who had told the White House that they believed that the U.S. military\u2019s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to \u201chostilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

* House Speaker John Boehner said Obama’s justifications for the Libyan mission\u00a0doesn’t meet the “straight-face test.” \u00a0Or in legalese, it didn’t pass the laugh test.<\/p>\n

* Remember back in December 2007, the Boston Globe asked 12 presidential candidates about military action aimed at stopping Iran from building nuclear weapons. \u201cIn what circumstances, if any,\u201d the Globe asked, \u201cwould the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress?\u201d \u00a0Barack Obama responded: \u201cThe president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remarked that Libya’s civil conflict was not a vital interest to the U.S.<\/p>\n

* On July 7, the U.S. House of Representatives voted not to bar funds for U.S. involvement in the NATO-led Libya mission, but did vote to bar military aid to Libyan rebels. \u00a0President Obama has authorized $25 million in nonlethal assistance to the rebels, including ready-to-eat meals. \u00a0And the U.S. has supplied $53 million in humanitarian aid to the rebels. \u00a0Neither is effected by the legislation. \u00a0The House rejected a measure that would have prohibited funds for the U.S. military to continue its limited role.<\/p>\n

* The U.S Senate has postponed voting on a resolution sponsored by Senators John Kerry and John McCain that would authorize military action in Libya for up to a year. \u00a0 The resolution\u00a0specifies that no U.S. ground forces will be deployed, and that the U.S. will not bear reconstruction costs in a post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya.\u00a0\u00a0The resolution need 60 votes to pass, but seems to have broad support.<\/p>\n

* Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich and nine other members of Congress have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop U.S. involvement in the NATO-led Libya campaign. If the court follows precedent, the lawsuit will likely be dismissed because individual Congressmen do not have standing to sue the President when the Congress as a whole has not acted. \u00a0The exercise of war powers is a political question for the President and Congress, not the courts. \u00a0And here, the House has acted to fund the Libya campaign and the Senate is likely to follow suit.<\/p>\n

* Most military experts agree that air power alone rarely, if ever, wins a conflict. \u00a0The combined use of air power and ground forces–whose potency has been multiplied by precision weapons–remains the most effective way for a country to win major wars. \u00a0 Before the Libya conflict, NATO was probably counting on the Libyan rebels to be the ground forces. \u00a0But the rebels are untrained and outgunned by Gaddafi’s military. \u00a0In this regard,\u00a0 in June, the France announced that\u00a0\u00a0it was providing direct military aid to Libyan rebels\u00a0including guns and rocket-propelled grenades, in the Nafusa Mountains in western Libya . \u00a0Britain said it is providing body armor, police uniforms and communications equipment. These actions provoked\u00a0critics who claim NATO is overstepping the boundaries of the U.N. Security Council mandate that authorized the intervention.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

What next, NATO military advisers on the ground to assist the rebels as we did in Vietnam?<\/p>\n

Clearly the reason now for the NATO-led Libya mission, if it was not implicit in the UN Security Council mandate 1973, is a regime change, that is a regime without Gaddafi.\u00a0 But is a regime change of vital civil interest to the U.S., and if not, why is the U.S. participating, especially\u00a0when are economy is faltering?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet, the bill for U.S. participation in the NATO-led Libya mission is projected to reach at least $844 million by September with the U.S. funding about three quarters of the military spending by all NATO countries. This expenditure is on top of $1.2 trillion and counting, we are spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Clearly, we cannot continue these enormous war expenditures ad infinitum, especially with our faltering economy. This money could be better spent elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1230,"featured_media":2929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nLibya and US Debt: Another Treasury-Draining War - Fog City Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/2928\/libya-and-us-debt-another-treasury-draining-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Libya and US Debt: Another Treasury-Draining War - Fog City Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yet, the bill for U.S. participation in the NATO-led Libya mission is projected to reach at least $844 million by September with the U.S. funding about three quarters of the military spending by all NATO countries. 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