Lew Rockwell Quotes
The presidency is seemingly bound by law, but in practice it can do just about anything it pleases. It can order up troops anywhere in the world
Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Lew Rockwell, President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Down With the Presidency, October 6, 1996
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Alberto Gonzalez, White House Counsel and later Attorney General who was forced to resign and David S. Addington, Counsel to the Vice President, had come up with a novel view of the powers of the presidency. They argued that since the President is the Commander in Chief, in a war situation or intelligence gathering thereto, has the Constitutional responsibility for that function, he need not obey any laws of Congress as in the conduct of the war Congress would be impinging on the Constitutional separation of powers which itself was prohibited by the Constitution. The argument did not find any significant legal support but for a while the George W. Bush White House behaved as if this were the law, despite the fact that even in the American Revolution and the War of 1812 Congress passed laws regulating the conduct of the armed forces as is provided for in other parts of the Constitution. Yet even Goldsmith would allow the President some powers that many think are unconstitutional and/or belong to Congress. See {32436}.
The president did not act purely on his own. The operation in Libya was a NATO operation, not a U. S. operation. All NATO countries unanimously approved the enforcement of the No Fly zone and it was approved by the Security Council of the United Nations, Technically the operation was not war. NATO and the United States was asked to support the no fly zone by the Government of Libya which we and the other countries all recognized at the time. However, since the later part of the 19th century, America has debated exactly who and under what conditions can commit U. S. Troops to hostilities. The prerogatives of Congress in the war powers debate have eroded to the Presidency in the last 2 centuries and some, like Paul feel that the older balance should be restored.
Bybee, then and Assistant Attorney General, took the legal position that the President could order the torture of enemy combatants regardless of Congressional laws prohibiting torture. Two years later the memo’s recipient, Alberto Gonzalez, in his confirmation hearings as Attorney General, repudiated the memo, then stating that the President was not above the law and had to obey the laws of Congress that apply to the military.
Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant. A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit promoting the Austrian School of economics.
