Defending Rights & Dissent Raises Troubling Issues with William Barr’s Views on War Powers
As the letter explains, Barr’s views on the first Gulf War are particularly troubling. After George H.W. Bush sent half a million US soldiers to Saudi Arabia, there was significant national debate about whether Bush would need Congressional authorization to attack Iraq. Many within the Bush administration believed a resolution to authorize military force would fail in Congress and thus Bush should attack without seeking one.
Barr, then Deputy Attorney General, was a leading advocate for the view that Bush could launch a large scale, military offensive against Iraq without Congressional approval. While Barr claimed an inherent Article II authority made such a move legal, he also developed a backup “bootstrap” theory. This theory cynically exploited concerns about Iraqi chemical and biological weapons to justify a pre-emptive strike against Iraq. Ultimately, Barr advised Bush to seek a Congressional resolution, but he stated that such a resolution would not be law.
Congress has become increasingly concerned with the President’s blank check for war. There have been efforts to repeal the overly abused post-9/11 AUMF. And the Senate recently involved the War Powers Act as an attempt to end illegal US war in Yemen. As this was in spite of Pentagon claims that Congress lacked the legal authority to do so, it seems likely that the President and Congress may soon butt heads over war powers. This makes Barr’s views on war powers especially pertinent.