Before this country goes through another traumatic conflict about the war-making power, the President and Secretary Baker should think more carefully about their real interest.
The French Government said peacekeeping forces at the enclave must be given war-making powers to protect the people there against Bosnian Serb attacks.
An argument that Presidents have violated constitutional limits on war-making power ever since the Korean War.
Congress, having already yielded the war-making power to the President, now seems ready to give up another prerogative.
The role of the Commander in Chief is peculiarly ambiguous, but this does not mean the President lacks or illegitimately wields war-making powers.
The indefatigable Bill Moyers takes time from his other exertions to explore the continuing tension between the executive and the legislative branches over the war-making power.
He also argued that the power of Congress to declare war limited the war-making power of the President as Commander in Chief.
The main source of the President's war-making power is the Commander in Chief clause.
Beyond that, Congress rebelled against executive dominance and reasserted itself on issues like the budget, war-making power and regulation of campaign spending.
The vote to authorize Mr. Bush to attack Iraq reasserted the Congressional authority over the war-making power that had languished since the 1950's.