The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

by Samantha Power

Over the past several decades, presidents have argued that the limited nature and scope of their military operations meant they were not “at war” as such, allowing them to use military force without congressional approval. However, the 1973 War Powers Resolution stipulated that, when Congress has not authorized a military operation, the President must report the action to Congress within forty-eight hours and remove US armed forces from “hostilities” within sixty days. Presidents have generally gotten around the sixty-day requirement by arguing that US hostilities were not continuous, allowing the “clock” to stop and then reset again. Indeed, during his first term, Obama himself had contended that he was in compliance with the War Powers Resolution during the 222-day military campaign in Libya because US involvement was sufficiently limited as to not constitute “hostilities” or require the automatic sixty-day pullout.

This is fucked up. No easy solution given where we are at politically.