A. "an entire body of constitutional scholarship" -- there are no court cases, so you must mean academic or punditry, which is not dispositive, merely suggestions -- so which scholars are you on the side of? Greenwald makes a convincing case you are quite wrong on this issue. If you appeal to authority, you might tell us what authority you mean.
B. Obama has not informed Congress under the War Powers Act (and is unlikely to do so, as no president has acknowledged the legitimacy of the war powers act).
"And the President, as chief executive, must determine that."
This is not obvious at all. Article I clearly gives Congress the power to declare war and this constitutional prerogative is not changed by a treaty. A treaty is not a constitutional amendment which changes Congress as the branch which determines when the US will go to war.
Article II only gives the president the power of commander in chief. When war is declared by Congress, then, under Article II, the president runs the war. Treaties don't change that. If the UN asks the US to engage in a war this is a request that the US declare war -- a question to be answered by Congress, not the executive.
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re: Baskell
Both points are incorrect.
A. "an entire body of constitutional scholarship" -- there are no court cases, so you must mean academic or punditry, which is not dispositive, merely suggestions -- so which scholars are you on the side of? Greenwald makes a convincing case you are quite wrong on this issue. If you appeal to authority, you might tell us what authority you mean.
B. Obama has not informed Congress under the War Powers Act (and is unlikely to do so, as no president has acknowledged the legitimacy of the war powers act).
"And the President, as chief executive, must determine that."
This is not obvious at all. Article I clearly gives Congress the power to declare war and this constitutional prerogative is not changed by a treaty. A treaty is not a constitutional amendment which changes Congress as the branch which determines when the US will go to war.
Article II only gives the president the power of commander in chief. When war is declared by Congress, then, under Article II, the president runs the war. Treaties don't change that. If the UN asks the US to engage in a war this is a request that the US declare war -- a question to be answered by Congress, not the executive.
the article you link to re heavy artillery doesn't sound like heavy artillery if you read the article (just gun on APC)