JOSEPH MARGULIES

… presidents launch [military] campaigns with inadequate planning, and Congress feels no obligation to back them when things go awry. And because this takes place under the auspices of the non‐legal constitution, the judiciary cannot decide cases that set rules for the future, which allows the disasters to recur.

During the early Cold War, Truman concluded that inter‐branch deliberations over war and peace were luxuries the country could not afford. The constant threat of Soviet aggression meant that the nation was already at war, and to protect the country, the president had to have the unilateral power to act, with force if necessary, anywhere in the world. Every post‐war president has advanced some version of this claim to justify military action unauthorized by Congress.

It is easier to begin a war than to end one, which is why the decision to start a conflict should not be entrusted to the person who wages it. Post‐war presidents have abandoned this wisdom.

During the early Cold War, Truman concluded that inter‐branch deliberations over war and peace were luxuries the country could not afford. The constant threat of Soviet aggression meant that the nation was already at war, and to protect the country, the president had to have the unilateral power to act, with force if necessary, anywhere in the world. Every post‐war president has advanced some version of this claim to justify military action unauthorized by Congress.

… presidents launch [military] campaigns with inadequate planning, and Congress feels no obligation to back them when things go awry. And because this takes place under the auspices of the non‐legal constitution, the judiciary cannot decide cases that set rules for the future, which allows the disasters to recur.

It is easier to begin a war than to end one, which is why the decision to start a conflict should not be entrusted to the person who wages it. Post‐war presidents have abandoned this wisdom.