Essay On Declaration Of War

According to an article in Fox News, the United States has been involved in over 100 foreign military conflicts, but has only officially declared war in five cases: The War of 1812, the Spanish-American and Mexican American Wars, and both World Wars. Any other foreign conflicts, such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, did not ever receive official declarations of war from Congress. These unofficial wars were waged because President decided to take matters into his own hands by declaring war without the consent of Congress. Today there is heated debate about whether or not the president really has the power to declare war, especially now that President Obama is considering entering the conflict in Syria. Senator Justin Amash, for example, argued that the Presidential authorization of military action in Syria is "unquestionably unconstitutional and illegal." The original framers of the Constitution used divisions of power known as "checks and balances" to prevent one branch of government from overpowering another. However, these divisions of power overlap when determining which branch of government has the final
I think obtaining Congressional permission first is best for the Country. If the President has the ability to declare war on behalf of the United States, it is possible that he or she may do so for the wrong reasons, as some believe occurred with President Bush’s declaration of war with Iraq in 2003. However, there may be a resolution to this conflict: the War Powers Act. Created in 1973, the War Powers Act allows the President to send troops into an opposing country for 90 days, after which time they must either obtain an official declaration of war from Congress or withdraw their troops. This gives the President the ability to send troops into a hostile country just long enough for Congress to decide whether or not to officially declare