Source: Hurriyet Daily News
Obama faces pressure over Libya war, Afghan pullout
President Barack Obama is under mounting pressure from lawmakers both over Libya war and to announce a significant drawdown in Afghanistan
Amid continuing NATO bombardment in Libya and confirmed talks between the U.S. and the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. President Barack Obama is facing mounting pressure from lawmakers over both war in Libya and troop withdrawal in Afghanistan.
Lawmakers have accused Obama of steamrolling Congress by joining the NATO air war in Libya and are threatening to cut off funding for U.S. operations there. He is also under pressure to announce a significant drawdown in Afghanistan after last month’s killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and amid domestic economic woes and a mounting U.S. death toll.
The dispute on Libya touches on the separation of powers, a bedrock principle of U.S. democracy, and has grown more heated following a report that Obama overruled top Defense and Justice Department lawyers in choosing to bypass Congress.
Reports on Afghan withdrawal, meanwhile, come as the U.S. holds talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the first official confirmed contact between the U.S. and the Taliban after nearly 10 years of war.
Drone strikes and covert operations have weakened Afghanistan’s al-Qaeda network - most dramatically the raid that killed Osama bin Laden - and could justify a White House decision to withdraw troops quicker than planned, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Citing high-ranking officials, the newspaper reported that 20 of al-Qaeda’s 30 prominent leaders in the region had been killed in the past year.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed the talks on Saturday, which highlight the increasing focus on finding a political solution in Afghanistan as foreign combat troops prepare to pull out by 2014.
U.S. President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 extra forces to Afghanistan in December 2009 in an attempt to thwart an emboldened Taliban’s momentum, bringing the total deployed to 100,000. He said he would begin withdrawing forces in July 2011.
The U.S. military however is asking Obama to maintain its troop surge in Afghanistan until the fall of 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The Times reported Friday that Obama had rejected the opinions of the government lawyers who said the United States was engaged in “hostilities” in Libya that required congressional approval.
The White House has argued that because U.S. forces are playing a supporting role in the NATO air campaign, and because no U.S. ground troops are involved, it does not need legislative backing under the War Powers Resolution.
The 1973 law seeks to limit the executive branch’s power to use military force abroad, and says that, after 60 days, the president must seek approval from Congress or else withdraw troops within 30 days.
The United States and Western allies launched the U.N.-backed bombing campaign against Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi’s regime on March 19 to protect civilians from his brutal crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.
Obama faces his toughest critics in the House of Representatives, where Republican House Speaker John Boehner has threatened to cut off funding for the three-month-old bombing campaign. “The War Powers Resolution is the law of the land and cannot simply be ignored. The White House’s suggestion that there are no ‘hostilities’ taking place in Libya defies rational thought,” Boehner said in a statement Friday. “Over the coming week, our members will review all options available to hold the administration to account.”
Boehner was more explicit the day before, saying: “Congress has the power of the purse. And certainly that is an option as well.” The House has already passed an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that prohibits the funds from being used for operations that violate the War Powers Resolution.
Antiwar Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich - a staunch opponent of the intervention who has filed a lawsuit against Obama over the Libya war – has warned of a “constitutional crisis.”
The administration has denied contravening the War Powers Resolution and the Times said Obama’s legal position was supported by the White House and State Department’s legal advisers.
Top U.S. senators from both parties have meanwhile sought a way out of the impasse, proposing a resolution that would authorize the war but require a more detailed justification and a promise that no ground troops will be used.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=obama-faces-pressure-over-libya-war-afghan-pullout-2011-06-19
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