-Caveat Lector- http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--anti-warlawsuit0224feb24,0,1612158.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
Judge rejects lawsuit seeking to bar president from launching war By JUSTIN POPE Associated Press Writer February 24, 2003, 5:21 PM EST BOSTON -- A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit challenging President Bush's authority to launch war against Iraq, declaring the matter a political question that shouldn't be played out in a courtroom. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by six Democratic congressmen and three unidentified service members and their parents, maintained that only Congress can constitutionally declare war. A resolution Congress approved in October supporting military action in Iraq did not specifically declare war, they maintained, and improperly ceded the decision to President Bush. But U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled the case could not go forward without "clear, resolute conflict" between the executive and legislative branches that would require a judge's intervention to resolve. While the October resolution may not have explicitly declared war, "it is clear the Congress has not acted to bind the president with respect to military conflict in Iraq," Tauro said. Tauro also didn't accept that the president was required to have congressional authority to order American forces into combat. "Case law makes clear that the Congress does not have the exclusive right to determine whether or not the United States engages in war," he said. Congress has not formally declared a war since World War II. The War Powers Act, passed in 1973 in response to the war in Vietnam and the actions of President Nixon, requires the president to seek congressional approval before or shortly after ordering military action abroad. It also requires the president to report to Congress. John Bonifaz, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling "simply wrong" and filed an appeal Monday afternoon. "The president is not a king," Bonifaz told reporters afterward, surrounded by a few dozen anti-war demonstrators who attended the hearing and marched outside the courthouse. "He does not have the power to wage war against another country without a declaration of war." Some outside the courtroom said they were bitterly disappointed. "We do not believe in an illegal and unconstitutional war and we don't want our kids to die in one," said Nancy Lessin of Boston, stepmother of a Marine serving in the Persian Gulf. Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a statement saying he was pleased with the judge's decision confirming that "the president has broad powers as commander in chief of the armed forces to determine when to use force to defend the national security of the United States." A similar lawsuit was filed against Bush's father before the Gulf War by 54 members of Congress but was rejected by a federal judge in 1990. Tauro himself dismissed a suit 30 years ago that challenged President Richard Nixon's authority to bomb Cambodia, also ruling in that case that the matter was "beyond the authority of a federal court to hear or determine." The six members of Congress, all Democrats, named as original plaintiffs were John Conyers of Michigan, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Jim McDermott of Washington; Jose Serrano of New York, and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. Six more Democrats signed on last week: Danny Davis of Illinois, Maurice Hinchey of New York, Carolyn Kilpatrick of Michgian; and Pete Stark, Diane Watson and Lynn Woolsey, all of California. "If the Administration intends to undertake the burden of launching a pre-emptive war against Iraq, they must week and receive a declaration of war from the United States Congress," Kucinich said in a statement. "Our Constitution requires nothing less." Text of complaint: http://www.mfso.org 1973 War Powers Act: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/laws/majorlaw/warpower.htm Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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