Constitution? What Constitution?
Caesar Obama moves troops from the 1st Armored Division to Jordan
- The U.S. is already arming and funding the Islamist Syrian rebels through American allies Islamist Turkey and Islamist Saudi Arabia. Now Caesar Obama is putting boots on the ground just miles from the Syrian border.
- Both Democrats and Republicans are stunningly silent about the Constitution and the role Congress must play in a declaration of war.
The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan, the vanguard of a potential U.S. military force of 20,000 or more that could be deployed if the Caesar Obama administration decides to intervene in Syria to secure chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the 2-year-old civil war from spilling into neighboring nations.
Troops from the 1st Armored Division will establish a small headquarters near Jordan's border with Syria to help deliver humanitarian supplies for a growing flood of refugees and to plan for possible military operations, including a rapid buildup of American forces if the White House decides intervention is necessary, senior U.S. officials said.
This news is nothing new those who follow THE FEDERALIST. See our recent article U.S. - Britain are arming the Islamist Syrian Rebels.
Although the Pentagon has sent Patriot missile batteries to Turkey and several dozen U.S. troops already are in Jordan to assist with aid flights and other operations, the move marks the first deployment that Pentagon officials explicitly described as a possible step toward direct military involvement in Syria reports the Los Angeles Times.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who disclosed the deployment Wednesday in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, made clear that both he and President Obama remained deeply wary of intervening in Syria just as U.S. forces are trying to withdraw from 12 years of war in Afghanistan.
But U.S. officials say they have stepped up preparations because the Syrian civil war shows few signs of abating, and a political settlement that includes the departure of President Bashar Assad appears increasingly unlikely.
"Military intervention is always an option, but it should be an option of last resort," Hagel said. He warned that a major deployment could "embroil the U.S. in a significant, lengthy and uncertain military commitment."
Forces loyal to Assad hold power in Damascus, the Syrian capital, and control large parts of other major cities. Rebel militias have made gains near the Turkish border in the north and in southern Dara province near Jordan.
This news is nothing new those who follow THE FEDERALIST. See our recent article U.S. - Britain are arming the Islamist Syrian Rebels.
Although the Pentagon has sent Patriot missile batteries to Turkey and several dozen U.S. troops already are in Jordan to assist with aid flights and other operations, the move marks the first deployment that Pentagon officials explicitly described as a possible step toward direct military involvement in Syria reports the Los Angeles Times.
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| The 1st Armored Division is going to Jordan. Call me "crazy" but isn't armor usually used for an invasion? Syria is not invading Jordan so one must conclude American armor would be used to invade Syria, perhaps to help the Islamist rebels. |
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who disclosed the deployment Wednesday in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, made clear that both he and President Obama remained deeply wary of intervening in Syria just as U.S. forces are trying to withdraw from 12 years of war in Afghanistan.
But U.S. officials say they have stepped up preparations because the Syrian civil war shows few signs of abating, and a political settlement that includes the departure of President Bashar Assad appears increasingly unlikely.
"Military intervention is always an option, but it should be an option of last resort," Hagel said. He warned that a major deployment could "embroil the U.S. in a significant, lengthy and uncertain military commitment."
Forces loyal to Assad hold power in Damascus, the Syrian capital, and control large parts of other major cities. Rebel militias have made gains near the Turkish border in the north and in southern Dara province near Jordan.
The willingness of Jordan's King Abdullah II to accept even a small number of U.S. troops reflects the growing concern about the spillover effects of the Syrian bloodletting.
Jordan is one of Washington's closest allies in the region, but it has no U.S. bases and has never allowed a sizable U.S. military presence, fearful it would spark domestic unrest.
Even during the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, which Jordan supported, the presence of U.S. special operations forces entering Iraq from Jordan was a closely held secret.
If the Assad regime collapses, the "civil affairs teams" might be sent into Syria to help restore services and security. But optimistic predictions that the U.S. could quickly restore order in Iraq after the 2003 invasion proved illusory, a lesson that many in the Pentagon have not forgotten.
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| The U.S. is backing Islamist rebels in Syria and opposing the secular pro-Russian Baathist Syrian government. |
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| "The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no
offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have
deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.". George Washington (1793) |
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| James Madison's 1812 Declaration of War . . "The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature." .James Madison |
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