https://thehill.com/policy/defense/541512-biden-reignites-war-powers-fight-with-syria-strike?rl=1
President Biden’s strike in Syria is reviving a dormant fight over war powers as Congress looks to claw back some of its authority. At least 22 Iraqi militants allied with Iran were killed and three ammunition trucks were destroyed in the attack, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Biden said the airstrikes were a warning to the Islamic Republic to be cautious as its proxies challenge American allies in the Mideast.
The military action sparked grumbling from Democrats who say they weren’t adequately consulted on the strikes and questioned where Biden drew the authority, which the White House says falls under his powers as commander in chief. The war powers debate will have repercussions beyond just Syria, but senators say it underscores that while the administration has changed since the last time the issue was in the spotlight, the need for action from Congress hasn’t. Attempts to rein in a president’s war authorities frequently divide the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and are a landmine of competing and conflicting interests: Presidents are reluctant to give up power, with Republicans often wary of military restrictions in general, while Congress has increasingly given away its powers in recent decades.
What the United States needs to do is repeal the war powers act, and let Congress do its job. If any president wants to attack any country then have him/her ask Congress for permission. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, stood before Congress and asked for a declaration of war. The Bush-era policy of claiming the right to attack countries we are not at war with was always a bad one. It is time to bury “the war on terror” and recognize that sending our troops into other people’s countries is always risky and works against us. We shouldn’t be in Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan at this point. We have no real public support for our presence in any of those countries. Bush’s worst mistake was ignoring the lessons of the Vietnam war.
The other thing that should be considering is the consequence of other countries adopting our policies, particularly China and Iran. Do we really want to see “targeted assassinations” being carried out as a policy by other countries? The world benefits from some degree of stability and restraint. You can’t expect to have nuclear nonproliferation if you insist on engaging in unprovoked military attacks on countries that have given up their nuclear programs as Iraq and Libya did. That just encourages the belief that the only protection against an attack by the United States is a nuclear arsenal.