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Syria: Obama does not need congressional approval to launch military intervention
Obama, leaning on a United Nations Security Council resolution, launched aerial strikes against Muammer Gaddhafi’s troops in Libya in March 2011. But according to the administration, the operation did not fall within the “hostilities” outlined in the 1973 law.
In the wake of the strikes, Congress was split between backers of a law mandating the president stop the intervention and those who wanted to formally authorize it.
In March 1999, lawmakers also didn’t have a say on the lengthy bombing campaign in Kosovo, launched by then-president Bill Clinton.
“They do not need an authorization but I hope they will come for one,” Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told broadcaster MSNBC of a possible Syria strike.
“They can start but hopefully as soon as we get back from recess, Congress will take up an authorization for this,” he added.
According to the senator, a response on Syria “is imminent” and U.S. military “assets are in place.”
Political debate on the topic remains animated and some lawmakers, including many with ties to the ultraconservative Tea Party, unsuccessfully tried in July to preventively block an attack on Syria without the approval of Congress.
For now, the calendar is on Obama’s side since Congress is on summer recess until September 9.
Copyright 2013 AFP
