There have been plenty of arguments circulating the marketplace of ideas for and against the impending war on Iraq. However, little has been said about the actual process the United States government is lawfully bound to take in order to undertake the act of war.

The prevailing opinion of the masses is war with Iraq will be just dandy, but only if the United Nations sanctions it. The thought process is, if the whole world is behind it (at least the 15 countries that sit on the Security Council) then any action it undertakes will have moral sanction. Thus we have subverted our own constitution which plainly delegates the awesome responsibility of declaring war to the United States Congress.

It is true, the Executive branch has a long history of subverting the Constitution when it comes to war. However, the past cannot serve as an excuse for the present. The United Nations cannot serve as a substitute to the United States Constitution. Talk about a loophole! If this administration wants a war with Iraq, they must make the case to our elected representatives. Let me make this clear. It is wholly unlawful and subversive to declare that a state of war exists without first seeking and receiving that authority from the Congress of the United States of America.

In ancient Rome, the senate bestowed upon Emperor Tiberius gifts and titles. They decreed to him that they would act on his implicit wishes, not his explicit requests. Reacting to this, Tiberius often left the Senate exclaiming in Greek, “How ready these men are to be slaves.”

The more things change…