DEFINE WAR

All in, or All out

When America declares war,

AMERICA WINS

AMERICA HAS NOT DECLARED WAR SINCE WORLD WAR II

The problem isn’t our military’s ability to execute. The problem is political will. Over the last 70 years, from Korea to Afghanistan, our political leaders have enmeshed us in full blown conflicts without declaring war, sending men and women to fight and die in military actions characterized by indeterminate goals, indeterminate timelines, and indeterminate levels of commitment.

Most damning, our political leaders have refused to learn from their mistakes and now, forty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, they have left another country in chaos after spending our blood and treasure there.

The War Powers Act was supposed to rein in this sort of thing after Vietnam. It Failed.

A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IS NEEDED

ONE WITH CONSEQUENCES FOR VIOLATING ITS PRECEPTS.

Such an amendment should include the following:

Require that the President request a declaration of war from Congress within seven days of the commencement of an armed conflict. If the President fails to do so, he or she shall be deemed to have resigned.
Require that Congress vote on a declaration of war within seven days of the President’s request. If they fail to do so, they shall be deemed to have resigned, with replacement elections to be held by the States within thirty days.
Insist that within any given declaration of war that the end goals of the war are clearly described.
Mandate that if a request for a declaration of war is denied by Congress, the President shall withdraw troops from the theater of conflict within seven days. Failure to do so will result in the President to be deemed to have resigned.

Such an amendment would imply a definition of war as a military action that lasts longer than seven days. Though this is an arbitrary number, it seems reasonable. We do not want to hamstring our military or limit our ability to defend ourselves.

However, we must find a way to change the course we have been on for the last 70 years. From Korea to Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, our national political leaders have enmeshed our military in one indecisive conflict after another. It will require a Convention of States to accomplish what We the People want, away from a Congress that has historically shown itself to be inept at making hard decisions.