What were once peaceful protests turned into deadly riots after soldiers fired on demonstrators which consisted of women and children which caused a nationwide uproar. This single action would bring the world to the brink of a third world war. August 21, 2013 civilians of Syria were gassed and innocent men, women, and children died. President Assad violated international laws by using gas chemical because it was a weapon that couldn’t decipher between soldier and civilian. Because of remarks made by President
Obama, stating that we were drawing a “Red Line”, meaning we would take action if it was crossed America was included in further conflict. But a question arose if we should we be involved in foreign conflict and should the president have power alone to declare war. The problem is that there is no clear interpretation in the constitution of the that authority.
Congressional members have even signed a one hundred letter petition stating Obama needs the votes of congress to declare war. The War Power act was one argument used to justify
Obama’s action. The act states “The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C. 1541-1548)[1] is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a
United States Congress joint resolution; this provides that the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by declaration of war by Congress, "statutory authorization," or in case of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." The problem with using this is that there is no immediate threat to American soil but the is