George Will's questions for Condi

Excellent column yesterday by George Will posing questions for Condoleeza Rice. I found this one particularly interesting:

"Is the Constitution's war power clause (Article I, Section 8: 'The Congress shall have power to . . . declare war') an anachronism? If so, why? If not, to what sort of situation might it pertain? In January 1991 the Senate voted 52 to 47 to authorize President George H.W. Bush to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Would a formal declaration of war have been appropriate? If the Senate had defeated the authorizing resolution, and Bush had gone to war anyway, would that have been a legitimate exercise of an inherent power of the presidency? If so, return to the first question (re: anachronism)."

I'll share with you these excerpts from a recent research proposal I wrote as part of a fellowship application:

The continuing post-World War II migration of war powers from Congress to the President means the elected representatives closest to the will of the people face fewer political consequences when American troops go to war. All of this makes it easier to commit troops for questionable reasons, like political expediency or economic benefit. Combined with the strain being placed on our military men and women and their families, this is a potential recipe for resentment that could further alienate the military from civilian culture....

I would revisit the 1973 War Powers Act, which I believe grants too much power to the President and insulates Members of Congress from the political consequences of decisions about war and peace. I am interested in the idea of a 21st Century War Powers Act that would revive the constitutional requirement for Congress formally to declare war before American forces are committed to combat. Such a law should also create other kinds of formal declarations – a "declaration of intervention" for example – that would put non-emergency decisions about when and where to employ the U.S. military squarely on the shoulders of the elected leaders closest to the will of the people.