Congress Can End The War

Yes, Congress has the power to end the war in a variety of ways, despite the fact that liberal pundits keep on issuing laundry lists of ways in which Congress cannot*:

The most remakable thing about this sort of argument--and similar remarks from the likes of Senator Biden--is its source. Folks such as Noah, Sam and Jeff are hardly robust defenders of this President's military endeavors, and in other contexts some or all of them have written forcefully of the dangers of unchecked executive authority. But when it comes to a question of such fundamental importance as the basic contours of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, all of a sudden these thoughtful observers begin to wring their hands fretfully about how powerless the legislative branch is to do anything short of stopping the war altogether. And in the meantime, no other than John Yoo, also in the New York Times, has argued that "[n]ot only could Congress cut off money, it could require scheduled troop withdrawals, shrink or eliminate units, or freeze weapons supplies." (In Rosen's article today, Yoo is quoted as saying that Congress can use its power of the purse as "a scalpel as well as a baseball bat.” )

Indeed. When John Yoo is arguing for Congressional authority more forcefully than you are, you should re-consider your thinking on the matter. Any hesistation is a result of incorrect readings of both the Constitution and the way the winds are blowing politically.



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*For some reason this post is no longer up at Balkanization. I presume this to be a temporary glitch, and will update this post when the link is valid.