On Monday, Time ran an explanation by Mark Thompson why President Obama could “strike Syria unilaterally.” “For better or worse, there’s also very little doubt that President Obama – should he choose to do so – can retaliate against Syrian targets for their use without approval from the American people, or their elected representatives in Congress,” Thompson helpfully reported. “Just like he did in Libya two years ago.”
Thompson continued:
For Americans brought up to believe only Congress can declare–and pay for–war, it’s worth noting that such legal niceties have loopholes big enough to fly cruise missiles through. And that is apparently what the U.S. military has in mind, as it beefs up its fleet of Tomahawk-cruise-missile-carrying warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, a chip shot from dozens of military and government targets scattered across Syria.