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The US Attacked my country... (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/actually_infuriating@lemmy.world
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I don't care about Maduro, as far as I'm concerned, they can shoot him if they want. What matters to me is walking through the streets of my city and seeing the faces of fear on my neighbors. The military patrolling to prevent looting due to panic. It's a collective hangover, a horrible one.

It's 2016 all over again. It's seeing despair entering the circulatory system of all Venezuelans, only now it's more sudden, and we are painfully aware of it.

This is far from improving, and we know it.

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[–] 31 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Congress has not wanted the responsibility to declare war that the Constitution gave them in Article 1 Section 8.

Ever since the civil war, Congress has handed more and more military power over to the Executive branch.

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    No country actually declares war anymore. From Wikipedia:

    Declarations of war have been exceedingly rare since the end of World War II.[3][4] Scholars have debated the causes of the decline, with some arguing that states are trying to evade the restrictions of international humanitarian law (which governs conduct in war)[4] while others argue that war declarations have come to be perceived as markers of aggression and maximalist aims.

    That part of the US Constitution is irrelevant nowadays and should long have been updated to require any foreign (or domestic) military operations to be first approved by Congress, not just declaring war. Doesn't make your point of Congress granting ever more rights to the President irrelevant though.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    Yeah, declaring war is only more than just words insofar as there are laws that require a declaration before certain activities or uses of powers.

    Congress has allowed the president and executive branch agencies to strike other countries, kill non combatants and soldiers, occupy countries, kill Americans, and operate torture sites without needing a formal declaration of war. There are several relevant acts of Congress, but the clearest example is the Authorized Use of Military Force. We're still using it 25 years later and Congress keeps reauthorizing it and allowing more and more broad interpretations.

    We invaded Afghanistan, Iraq, and bombed several more countries in retaliation for 9/11

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