European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday september 16, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 Anthony Lewis Haiti poses Many difficult questions for president Clinton. None is More prickly a or More important to the integrity of his presidency a than whether to ask Congress for authority to launch an invasion. / a Clinton told a news conference last month that he did not have to ask. A like my predecessors of both parties a he said a i Nave not agreed that i was constitutionally mandated to have congressional approval. It is easy to. Understand Why this president like others would prefer to act on his own. Going to Congress would Lead to a trying debate with the outcome a unilateral presidential decision to invade would offend the Constitution in a most profound a a a sense. It would deprive the military operation of essential Public legitimacy. The framers of the Constitution Well knew that giving Congress Power Over the decision to make War would produce Messy debates. But they feared the danger of leaving so grave a decision to one person. As in other aspects of the Constitution they thought efficiency was less important than safety. Even Alexander Hamilton the most executive minded of the framers agreed to the provision assigning to Congress the Power to declare War. So did other leading figures at the constitutional convention such As James Madison and Janies Wilson. Wilson said of making War a it will not be in the Power of a single Man or a single body of men to involve us in such distress for the important Power of declaring War is vested in the legislature at Large a the delegates left it open to the president to use the armed forces to As they put it repel sudden attacks on the United states. But a deliberate Choice of War was to be for Congress. A dramatic recent example of a deliberate Choice of War was the persian Gulf conflict. Over a period of months president Bush sent hundreds of thousands of troops to saudi Arabia. The . Security Council authorized an attack on Iraq. There could be no presidential claim of a need for secrecy or Surprise As a reason to bypass Congress. Ress Over Bush nevertheless maintained that a i have the constitutional authority Many attorneys having so advised i could never find out who those supposed lawyers were in the end he did ask Congress for authority. But by then having it All those troops on the ground he lad so framed the question that it was lard to say no. Congress narrowly approved the War. Haiti similarly presents a deliberate Choice. Clinton administration officials Are calling an invasion almost inevitable. There can be no claim of a need for Surprise. And again the administration has sought and obtained a . Security Council Resolution authorizing military action. Before the persian Gulf War began 54 members of Congress brought a lawsuit to make Bush seek congressional authority for it. In a notable opinion . District judge Harold h. Greene while find ing the Issue not Ripe for decision rejected the administrations claim that it was beyond Legal scrutiny. Quot the court a he said a is not prepared to read out of the Constitution the Clarise granting to the Congress and to it alone the authority a to declare War a a leading professors of constitutional Law and foreign relations Law filed a Brief in that Case asking the court to reject presidential claims of Broad unilateral Power to make War. Last month the professors wrote to Clinton urging him a was a former professor of constitutional Law to respect the important constitutional principles of meaningful consultation and prior congressional approval before engaging in some congressional democrats afraid to decide the Haiti question have told Clinton not to ask Congress. They Are no better than Dick Cheney who As Secretary of defense in 1990 forgot his years in Congress and claimed that Bush could act alone. Secretary of state Warren Christopher a Fine lawyer who of All people should know better said the president has a Quot constitutional prerogative to act. That doctrine of presidential ism was rejected by the supreme court in the great steel seizure Case in 1952. There arc partisan reasons to favor or oppose an invasion. There arc conflicting arguments of substance the cruelty of the haitian regime on the one hand the unhappy record of past . Interventions on the other. But none of those considerations should be allowed to override the obligations of our constitutional system. The Constitution is for All sea sons. A. C new York times. Is a yes Man if Bill Clinton came out foursquare in favor of god and country i believe sen no r-kan., would be. In opposition to both. His thirst for political Power is insatiable and he a demonstrating it again by taking the Lead in opposing military action against Haiti. He was not so vociferous when Ronald Reagan sent thousands of . Service members to become embroiled a arid hundreds of them murdered a in Lebanon a civil War. More american service members were killed in their sleep in Beirut than probably would be lost in an invasion of Haiti. Today sen. No and Many other detractors insist that an invasion of Haiti is not in the National interest a As if military actions in Lebanon Grenada and Panama All initiated by Republican presidents a really were in the National interest. George Bush a operation desert storm a buoy our patriotism feel Good gambit was More in the interest of the big Oil companies and Bush a popularity ratings than it was for the people of the United states. Perhaps sen. No would feel different if All his constituents in Kansas suddenly were Tele ported to Florida where the haitian crisis affects Day to Day living where haitian bodies Wash ashore where haitian exiles mount protests against the Cedras regime where haitian refugees Are warehoused in a detention Center where stories of murder on the streets of port a Prince Are treated As local news where schools and hospitals Are deluged by indigent haitians who have fled the horror of their country. Maybe pitching out Haiti a murderous rulers Isnit in the National interest maybe its just in Florida s interest. Perhaps the Florida National guard should do the invading. Or the Miami dolphins. Of its All so political sen. No Isnit going to support anything that president Clinton initiates. And he a not going to keep silent either. He desperately wants the gop to gain control of the Senate in the november elections so that he can have control of that body in route to his presidential when was National interest the Only criterion by which we judged our need to intervene our Well intended but disastrous presence in Somalia was based on humane considerations. People were starving. Haiti is a similar Case but dissimilar in that it is close to the United states and thus More Likely to affect us. What we have in Haiti is political thuggery where elected officials Are deposed where military rulers take Over and intimidate the population murder the opposition and ignore the mandate of not just the United states but the United nations As Well. Americans history contains deplorable chapters in Howard Kleinberg which we not Only looked the other Way As dictatorships took hold in Central and South America and in the West indies hut also even supported those dictators have we not Learned the lessons of the Somoza and Batistas when we alienated ourselves from the general population of latin american countries by tolerating their oppressors in Haiti today a brutal regime is silencing its opposition through murder. Surely even sen no has read the stories and seen the photos of politicians journalists priests and common citizens lying dead in the streets because they spoke out on behalf of the legally elected government that was overthrown in september 1991. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere its life expectancy ranks lowest As Well. But the latter statistic was based on disease and natural death a not the murder of the population that dominates the country a life expectancy statistics today. The people of Haiti need to be unchained and the hoodlums in control need to be tossed out a if not for our a National interest then for world interest for humanitarian reasons. Sen. No the political hypocrite who approves and disapproves of military intervention based on what party is in the White House needs to realize that. A c Cox nows service a a
