War Powers Resolution In Libyan Case - Research Paper Example

The Congress also has the power to affect the public opinion. Still, practice is different from theory. In practice, the US Congress has little power to influence the president’s decisions. Moreover, despite President Obama’s statements, the US actions in Libya constituted a war. Whether the US went to war against Libya is still a much contested issue. The administration never made any formal declaration. According to the Independent Civil Society Report (2011, p.19), the US engaged in an international armed conflict against Libya, together with other NATO member countries.

Though divided on this topic, many members of Congress and experts viewed the US intervention in Libya as constituting a war. However, most experts still agreed that the US engagement in Libya did not fall under the War Powers Resolution and the Constitution. They referred to previous practice of interventions on behalf of the US presidents. The President did not act against the power and authority of the Congress. Most experts agreed that hostilities were present in Libya, but that the President’s actions were neither unconstitutional, nor in violation of the War Powers Resolution.

The President circumvented Congress. Congress, on the other hand, was left quite powerless since the intervention was funded independently of the Congressional decisions. Thus, this paper will also depict how the President circumvented the War Powers Resolution. Statements by experts such as Ackerman, Hathaway and Fisher will be consulted to show how theoretically, President Obama violated the resolution. Spiro and Koh will be used, together with the Office of Legal Counsel to depict how practice has made President’s actions legal.

Background of the Libyan Conflict Five years after a brutal crackdown on a public protest in Benghazi, the Libyan authorities witnessed their own demise. Every year since then, on 12 February Libyans commemorated the ‘Day of Rage’ (Amnesty International 2011, p.7). Fearing the spillover effects of neighboring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, activists and writers were arrested prior to the demonstration. However, instead of preventing the disaster, the authorities infuriated the general population.

Academics, commoners and businessmen all joined in their outcry for justice and end to an abusive, forty – year – old rule by Colonel al-Gaddafi (Amnesty International 2011, p.7). Protests spread from eastern Libya to the rest of the country and became violent. By the end of February, eastern Libya and parts of the Nafusa Mountain and Misratah were under the control of the opposition (Amnesty International 2011, p.7). By 19 or 20 February, armed conflict spread across the country (Independent Civil Society 2012, p.11). Shelling of the opposition – held cities and disappearances of journalists and intellectuals intensified