ƒc Glenn Greenwald provides evidence that the Repubs had plenty of authority to stop Clinton in Somalia and force the withdrawal of troops.   They ammended the AUMF (Authorization to Use Military Force) to set a timetable to force that withdrawal.   Must have slipped McCain's mind along with several other powerful Repubs that did not mince words about their power to stop Clinton.   How easily they forget when it is their War Criminal Hero in the White House...

Unclaimed Territory

Republicans and Congress' war powers -- then and now

Back in September, when Chris Wallace falsely accused Bill Clinton of emboldening the Terrorists by prematurely cutting-and-running from Somalia (a favorite right-wing meme), it was documented here (as Clinton himself pointed out to Wallace) that it was actually Republican Senators who forced Clinton to withdraw troops by imposing troop withdrawal deadlines on him and threatening further restrictions on his ability to keep troops there. But if one goes back and reviews that debate, it is quite striking that Republicans back then certainly did not seem to believe that Congress lacked the ability to restrict the President's power to deploy troops. They argued exactly the opposite - that they had that power -- and they used it to force Clinton out of Somalia (all excerpts are available here, by searching "Somalia):

Sen. John McCain - October 19,1993

Dates certain, Mr. President, are not the criteria here. What is the criteria and what should be the criteria is our immediate, orderly withdrawal from Somalia. And if we do not do that and other Americans die, other Americans are wounded, other Americans are captured because we stay too long--longer than necessary--then I would say that the responsibilities for that lie with the Congress of the United States who did not exercise their authority under the Constitution of the United States and mandate that they be brought home quickly and safely as possible. . . .

 ±  Click To Expand    More Quotes From The Republicans in 1993...

Sen Strom Thurmond (R-SC) - October 5, 1993

It is past time for the Congress to come to grips with this sorry spectacle and force the administration to find a way out of the quagmire

Sen. Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID), October 5

It is time for the Senate of the United States to get on with the debate, to get on with the vote, and to get the American troops home.

Sen. Jesse Helms - October 6, 1993 (R-NC)

Mr. President, the United States has no constitutional authority, as I see it, to sacrifice U.S. soldiers ...

The sole constitutional authority to declare war rests, according to our Founding Fathers, right here in the Congress of the United States, and not on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) - October 6

What I cannot continue to support is the continuing endangerment of Americans in the service of a policy that remains absolutely mysterious and totally muddled.

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Tags ::  Politics • Islamic Republic Of Iraq • Somalia • Troop Withdrawal • Congressional War Powers • Bush