REPUBLICAN ARLEN SPECTER - READ YOUR CONSTITUTION

By Ken Taylor- Senior Writer
1/28/2007

Rhino Republican Arlen Specter former Chairman and current ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee stated in reference to the President being, as Bush put it, "the sole decider, " concerning military strategy and deployment wrongly asserted that " the decider is a shared and joint responsibility." Specter was claiming that according to the Constitution the President of the United States and the United States Congress share responsibility for deciding the use of, strategy and deployment of the military. For one who claims to be a Constitutional lawyer and considered by many to be a learn'ed man when addressing Constitutional matters, this supposed, "expert, " missed the mark by a long shot on this one.

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states, "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into actual Service of the United States." As Commander in Chief he is the sole officer of the government responsible for the use of the military in, "service of the United States." As Commander he is responsible for deployment orders, strategy, and the exercise thereof of all military service when defending this nation. He is the Constitutionally charged civilian authority over the military when the armed forces are called into service.

Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution states - each of the following are clauses of this section pertaining to the Congress and the military:

To declare war.....To Raise and support Armies.....To provide and maintain a Navy.....To make Rules for the Government and regulation of the land and naval Forces.....To provide forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union.....To provide for organization, arming, and disciplining, the Militia.

Each of the Congressional Constitutional responsibilities calls for either provision, discipline or regulation of the military and not assisting in command, deployment or the development of strategy.

The responsibility of a Commander whether Commander in Chief or a field Commander is the development and execution of military strategy and the decided use of both military personnel and equipment. The Founding Fathers assigned this responsibility to the President in order to prevent long and drawn out debate by the many members of Congress as to the use of and the Command and control of the military. Their decision to Constitutionally assign the responsibility of civilian command solely to the President was to allow quick action in defense of the nation and equally as quick decision making for strategy to protect this nation and the soldiers in the field rather than having them wait for the havoc that would ensue if every member of Congress were to debate military in field service.

For Arlen Specter to contend that Congress has equal responsibility in the service of the military is not only misreading the Constitution but an attempt to usurp the command authority of the President. Congress controls the military purse strings but the command and control of military activities and the deployment of forces when the military is in the service of the nation belongs solely to the President.