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4A | JULY 15, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 damien Sherwood, editor | 541-942-3325 | dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS#133880 Presidential prerogatives lied personnel in Iraq. The United States is not at war with Syria or Iran, and Congress had not authorized the strikes. The president ordered them nonetheless, based on his independent authority, un- der Article II of the Consti- Once upon a time, By Mel Gurtov tution, “to conduct United Professor Emeritus of Political Science at American leaders only Portland State University States foreign relations and went to war when, in ac- as Commander in Chief and cordance with the Con- Chief Executive.” Narrow- stitution, Congress declared it. That practice has long since been Authorizations amount to blank ing the 2001 and 2002 [AUMFs] checks, and have been freely would leave this presidential abandoned. In recent times Congress ei- exploited by Democratic and power untouched. ther votes to “authorize” a war Republican presidents alike to The Need for already underway or is only ca- attack terrorists and unfriendly Fundamental Change states, support allies, and sustain sually consulted if at all. But the problem goes much very large forces in the region. Though the 1973 War Pow- The authorizations are so ex- deeper than presidential hubris. ers Resolution was meant to re- strain an imperial president who pansive that they could be used Congress may often be behind had led the country to defeat in to go to war with Iran, attack the the curve when it comes to na- Vietnam, no president since has Syrian regime’s chemical weap- tional security, but it is still part faithfully followed that law’s re- ons depots, protect Israel, or re- of the problem rather than the quirements. Thus, whereas in introduce forces in and around solution. Bipartisanship has much to do with the expansion authoritarian systems the great Afghanistan. of presidential power in national Biden says he would like to re- leader simply orders troops into action, in democracies like ours, voke the 2002 AUMF, which was security matters. A majority almost always re- going to war is sneakier, in two directed at Iraq, and he appar- jects efforts to limit the com- ently has support in both houses ways. mander-in-chief ’s authority, as First, in justifications, as when of Congress to do that. shown, for example, during the But that still leaves the much the President dispatches troops Bill Clinton intervention in the broader 2001 AUMF, which gives on the basis of his role as com- mander-in-chief, invoking “na- the president the power to “pre- Balkan wars of the 1990s and the tional security,” the “national vent any future acts of interna- post-9/11 start of endless wars in interest,” “regional stability,” tional terrorism against the Unit- Iraq and Afghanistan. Republi- “humanitarian intervention,” ed States.” His capacity to deploy cans and Democrats then reject- “restoring order,” and other forces and use other assets in the ed efforts to restrain a president wide-open categories that most Middle East and Africa will not by recourse to the War Powers Bill. Congress-members are loath to be all that constrained. In fact, if that bill were up for Remember Ronald Reagan’s challenge. Second, in methods, by using war making in Central Amer- a vote today — and two sena- indirect warfare, such as drones, ica, which culminated in the tors plan on doing just that — it special forces, economic and cy- Iran-Contra affair? That secret probably wouldn’t pass, whereas ber warfare, and sabotage; and operation, though eventually if continued direct US involve- unofficial (and deniable) assets exposed, demonstrated how a ment in Afghanistan — or send- such as the CIA, private compa- president determined to defeat ing troops to Haiti in order to ny mercenaries, and third-coun- a particular enemy (Nicaragua) “help restore order” — were put could go around Congress and, to a vote, those actions probably try partners. No one understands the game with the help of dogmatic ad- would pass. The reality, of course, is that better than Joe Biden, who as a visers and secret channels, erect senator had a consistent record a sophisticated network of state a president wouldn’t put any of of opposing the use of force and private entities to fund war those decisions to a vote by Con- gress. without Congressional approval. fighting. I conclude that no significant The Democratic opposition in He says he wants to end the inroads in presidential power in Congress fought a rearguard ac- “forever wars” in the Middle East. foreign affairs are possible with- tion as it struggled for legislative As Afghanistan shows, however, “ending” does not actually mean language that would tie Reagan’s out redefining US national secu- terminating. With the Taliban hands. The lesson of Iran-Contra rity. Foreign policy needs to be now intent on overthrowing the is that presidents have enormous humanized and demilitarized; US-supported government, and resources at their disposal for Congress must resist authorizing many in Congress already crit- conducting wars. A skeptical or poorly defined military action ical of Biden’s troop withdraw- hostile Congress is often playing in advance; the bloated military budget, three times the size of al, US policy will actually entail catch-up. China’s and 10 times Russia’s, Two scholars who have served reducing US involvement, using a different mix and level of in- in government have this to say must be deeply cut; the use of tervention—what he calls “over- about the current state of affairs force must be proportional and with respect to restricting presi- seldom used; and diplomacy the-horizon capabilities.” must be reenergized, with an ac- The “forever wars” will go on, dential authority to make war: cent on engaging adversaries as To understand the limited sig- justified by an understanding of presidential power that leaves nificance of [Biden’s] approach well as friends. Pres. Biden is correct to say enormous room for military ac- [on AUMFs] to ending the for- that foreign policy begins at ever wars, you need look no tion even when troops are with- further than Mr. Biden’s Feb. 25 home. But he must avoid the trap drawn. airstrikes in eastern Syria against presidents typically fall into — the Iran-backed militias respon- the temptation of undemocratic Without Constraint In the Middle East since the sible for assaults on U.S. and al- warmaking. (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis- sions on this and other topics do not necessarily reflect editorial staff opin- ions, but are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspec- tives.) George W. Bush administration, the legal basis for U.S. military involvement has been Congres- sional Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). Guest Viewpoint LETTERS an opinion on Bohemia Mining Days I was told that the Proud Boys want to be in the Bohemia Mining Days parade and then my friend added: “We want to say ‘No,’ but we are afraid they will say ‘You are ex- cluding us!’” Finally, my friend asked me “Should we exclude them?” My answer is a firm “Yes! You should exclude the Proud Boys from the Bohemia Mining Days Parade.” My thinking goes this way: 1. Cottage Grove is a conserva- tive town with a high value on fam- ily values. 2. The Bohemia Mining Days parade is a celebration bringing the folks of Cottage Grove together. 3. That is a purpose with inclu- siveness at its center. 4. The Proud Boys is an organi- zation with exclusion at its center. One example: On December 12, 2020, members of the Proud Boys targeted Asbury United Method- ist Church, the oldest historically black church in Washington, D.C., after pro-Trump protests earlier that day. They flashed white suprema- cist hand signs and tore down and burned a Black Lives Matter sign that had been raised by the church. [from the wiki: en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Proud_Boys] White supremacy and anti-lib- eralism may be your opinion but it is not an opinion that belongs on banners seen at the Bohemia Min- ing Days parade. —Leo Rivers Cottage Grove Copyright 2021 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. 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Send letters to: dsherwood@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.floydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Oregon federal representatives Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 • Heather Buch Lane County Commissioner - District 5 Email: Heather.Buch@lane countyorg.gov 125 E. 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