By Douglas V. Gibbs
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” – George Washington.
Today President Donald J. Trump has demonstrated what leadership is all about in the face of global evil. He operated with precision, iron resolve and cunning when he ordered the bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran – eliminating key facilities before the Iranian regime could complete the construction of a nuclear weapon. This was not an act of aggression – it was an act of necessity. It was an act of peace through strength. It was a move that no other recent President, nor any member of Congress, would have the guts to carry out.
Joe Biden was literally funding Iran’s nuclear program. A smart Commander in Chief must sometimes take action – using quick strikes to preserve the peace – because Islamic extremists were building a nuclear bomb…and it is all no longer a problem because of President Donald Trump.
And now the Democrats and a certain collection of week-kneed Republicans are wringing their hands, quoting Article I, Section 8, and proclaiming we are in the middle of some kind of constitutional crisis.
Let’s understand what the Constitution actually says. Yes, the Constitution in Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war. But that is not the same as waging war. The Founding Fathers – men who had just fought off the greatest military power on earth at the time – knew that distinction. They knew that while war must be declared by Congress, which is an official announcement to the world that a state of war exists, the execution of war – the tactical, operational, and rapid-fire decisions – must belong to one man: the Commander in Chief.
The Articles of Confederation failed because it shackled the general government, and the executive was just another bureaucrat in the Congress. Under that system, America was a sitting duck in a world full of empires – slow to respond, unable to defend herself, vulnerable to enemies who don’t wait for committee hearings, and unable to take any decisive action with an energetic figurehead. So, when the Constitution was drafted, they separated the war powers. In the Articles of Confederation they pointed out that there are two separate war powers: the power to wage war and the power to declare war – and they gave both of them to the legislature. With the Constitution, those two powers were separated with the power to declare war going to the Congress and the power to wage war landing squarely with the President of the United States.
“It will be said that we should make war only upon formal declaration, but [pirates and tyrants] don’t wait for formalities.” – Thomas Jefferson
President Thomas Jefferson didn’t need a Congressional war declaration to send American forces after the Barbary Pirates. James Madison in the Second Barbary War didn’t either. They understood that enemies who attack commerce and threaten American sovereignty do not deserve a legislative process before receiving American justice.
Iran, today’s largest global state sponsor of terrorism has been actively building nuclear weapons. They chant “Death to America” with religious fervor. They fund proxy armies from Gaza to Lebanon to Yemen. And while the Leftist Democrats in America obsess over pronouns and false claims of man-made climate change, Iran was preparing to put a nuclear-tipped ICBM in the air.
What did Trump do?
He acted, and he acted quickly, decisively, and surgically.
No boots on the ground. No occupation. No long-term entanglement. Just three strategic strikes with B-2 bombers under the cover of darkness (Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were struck at about 2:30 am Iran Time) – eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities in a matter of minutes. The element of surprise was critical. If President Trump had to go to Congress, it would’ve taken months, leaked to the press, debated in subcommittees, and telegraphed to Tehran before the first vote was cast.
By then, we’d be counting bodies in the millions.
Iran’s nuclear program wasn’t just a regional threat – it was/is a potential global nightmare. And President Trump, along with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, understands what the armchair critics in Washington D.C. do not: Evil must be stopped before it becomes unstoppable.
Never mind the hypocrisy.
Every military engagement since World War II – Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria – has been done without a formal declaration of war. But now, because it’s Trump, suddenly the Left wants to hug the Constitution like they haven’t spent the last 50 years using it for toilet paper?
Trump’s actions were not only legal – they were constitutional, moral, and necessary. And let me be clear: if Iran retaliates, President Trump has not only the authority, but the duty, to finish the job.
The Founders believed in limited government, but not in suicidal government. A Commander in Chief must be able to act in the interest of national defense – and that’s what Trump did.
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined…” – George Washington
Thanks to President Donald J. Trump the American people can sleep well tonight. Iran no longer has the means to build a nuclear bomb. That’s not thanks to a U.N. resolution, or a meaningless treaty or a deal with a people who lie, deceive and wish every last American to be dead. The world is a safer place and the bully of the Middle East is no longer a threat thanks to a President who doesn’t blink.
Donald J. Trump means business, and the enemies of America have just learned what happens when they bet against him. Guaranteed, Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia were paying close attention.
Sadly, “Mr Constitution” has sided with the neocons and NOT the Constitution here. Not a great first impression of someone who claims to revere the Constitution.
“Because I say so” doesn’t prove Trump’s actions are constitutional.
Citing past unconstitutional wars does not prove his actions are Constitutional.
And certainly, MISREPRESENTING Jefferson’s and Madison’s actions regarding the Barbary Pirates does not prove his actions are Constitutional. If only Trump HAD acted as Jefferson did, seeking Congressional guidance, approval, and funding every step of the way!
Thomas Woods destroys the above claims about Jefferson and Madison:
Another incident frequently cited on behalf of a general presidential power to deploy American forces and commence hostilities involves Jefferson’s policy toward the Barbary states, which demanded protection money from governments whose ships sailed the Mediterranean. Congressional naval legislation had provided that, among other things, six frigates “shall be officered and manned as the President of the United States may direct.” (Final authorization for the funding of the last three of these ships was approved only in late 1798, so the frigates in question were ready for action immediately prior to Jefferson’s accession to office.) It was to this instruction and authority that Jefferson appealed when he ordered American ships to the Mediterranean. In the event of a declaration of war on the United States by the Barbary powers, these ships were to “protect our commerce & chastise their insolence – by sinking, burning or destroying their ships & Vessels wherever you shall find them.”
In late 1801, the pasha of Tripoli did declare war on the U.S. Jefferson sent a small force to the area to protect American ships and citizens against potential aggression, but insisted that he was “unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense”; Congress alone could authorize “measures of offense also.” Thus Jefferson told Congress: “I communicate [to you] all material information on this subject, that in the exercise of this important function confided by the Constitution to the Legislature exclusively their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight.”
Jefferson consistently deferred to Congress in his dealings with the Barbary pirates. “Recent studies by the Justice Department and statements made during congressional debate,” Louis Fisher writes, “imply that Jefferson took military measures against the Barbary powers without seeking the approval or authority of Congress. In fact, in at least ten statutes, Congress explicitly authorized military action by Presidents Jefferson and Madison. Congress passed legislation in 1802 to authorize the President to equip armed vessels to protect commerce and seamen in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and adjoining seas. The statute authorized American ships to seize vessels belonging to the Bey of Tripoli, with the captured property distributed to those who brought the vessels into port. Additional legislation in 1804 gave explicit support for ‘warlike operations against the regency of Tripoli, or any other of the Barbary powers.’”
Consider also Jefferson’s statement to Congress in late 1805 regarding a boundary dispute with Spain over Louisiana and Florida. According to Jefferson, Spain appeared to have an “intention to advance on our possessions until they shall be repressed by an opposing force. Considering that Congress alone is constitutionally invested with the power of changing our condition from peace to war, I have thought it my duty to await their authority for using force…. But the course to be pursued will require the command of means which it belongs to Congress exclusively to yield or to deny. To them I communicate every fact material for their information and the documents necessary to enable them to judge for themselves. To their wisdom, then, I look for the course I am to pursue, and will pursue with sincere zeal that which they shall approve.”
https://libertyclassroom.com/warpowers/
If Mr. Gibbs is intellectually honest, I’d suggest he take some time to study this subject more in depth, and then publish a retraction.
I appreciate your response, and as I indicated Jefferson did receive funding – but the point was that a declaration of war was not required. He did not require their permission to carry out the military actions he put in place. The argument by the Left is that in order to wage war there must be a declaration of war – that the power to declare war means that the President is required to seek Congress’s permission in order to wage war, and that is just not true…indicated not only by the writings I reference but by the fact that the Barbary Wars (as examples) were non-declared wars. Of course, Jefferson discussed his actions with Congress. So did Trump, despite the argument to the contrary. The neocon quip was especially rich. Do you believe then that anytime a military action is used by a “Republican” it automatically makes them a neocon? I agree that we don’t want boots on the ground, endless wars and military operations that defy the idea that Washington discussed in his farewell address about foreign entanglements – but the answer to that is not to go to the other extreme and never use military force to secure our national security and accuse anyone that does of being a neocon. If this action in Iran had not happened, or if the President spent the next few weeks or months trying to convince Congress of carrying it out, Iran would have achieved a nuclear warhead and sent it into the United States if not by ICBM, into the country through a number of channels that they’ve been using and may still be available despite President Trump’s momentous efforts to secure the border. This is why the Founding Fathers used the term Commander in Chief. That title provides the President with the power to wage war, and he is constitutionally authorized to do so when he believes it to be necessary; and as I stated, if Congress has a problem with it, when it requires additional funding they have every constitutional authority to deny the funding.