[terminalshort]

The war isn't illegal. The president has that power. I don't like it either, but since the Korean War this is simply a statement of fact.

[vrganj]

The president of the US does not have the power to start a war without getting it approved by the UN security council. You're arguing internal implementation details, but the legality is not determined by your courts.

[terminalshort]

I care less about what the UN says is legal than I do the local traffic cop

[vrganj]

International law is not about what you care about. It just is. If you break it by starting a war, then it is an illegal war, ad definitionem.

[jacquesm]

> The war isn't illegal.

You're going to have to specify a framework if you want to make statements about legality.

[terminalshort]

US law, which is the only relevant law to discuss the actions of the president of the US.

[vrganj]

The US constitution specifically calls out treaties signed by the US (such as the UN Charta) as supreme law of the land. Article VI, the "Supremacy Clause".

Thus, US law, too, defers to international law.

Please at least read the legal framework you're so confidently misdescribing.

[terminalshort]

It isn't obeyed or enforced and, therefore, is not the law. I won't read it as there is no point in doing so because it is not the law.

[vrganj]

By that incredibly circular definition, laws don't exist. All it takes is ignoring them and then they disappear!

That's obviously not how things work. If you don't obey the law, you are a criminal. That's the whole point of laws.

[hackinthebochs]

A law defines the nature of collective action in response to certain violations. Words on paper themselves are impotent. If there is no potential for enforcement, i.e. there is no counterfactual state of collective action, there is no law.

[terminalshort]

That's exactly correct. Laws are not a physical entity and therefore their existence is predicated entirely on collective agreement.

[jacquesm]

I already had you labeled as a climate denier and a troll, now I'll have to add one more item.

[terminalshort]

Add what you like. I can't possibly take anyone who uses the term "climate denier" seriously.

[bdangubic]

Under which "law" is President allowed legally to start a War - citation needed :)

[terminalshort]

It's been the established president since the Korean War when the US began ignoring the constitutional provision that gave congress the power to declare war. Additional examples are the Vietnam War, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq I & II, the Libyan regime change, and the current Iran conflict, and there are plenty more. The written law still states that the president does not have this power, but the actual unwritten law has been that he can. And that is the only law that matters.

[bdangubic]

> US began ignoring the constitutional provision

First, not US but Presidency and second, breaking Constitution is not very legal last time I checked but I could be wrong... /s

[terminalshort]

Yes, the US and not just the presidency. If it was just the presidency then he would have been impeached by congress for usurping their constitutional authority.

[_bohm]

The war is certainly illegal. Our systems are just so atrophied at this point that we treat congressional approval as a formality. This is a choice we make over and over again that we need to stop making.

[AnimalMuppet]

Not even a formality. A formality means that he would get it from Congress, without Congress judging the war on merit. We don't even have that.

[_bohm]

Speaking not just of this administration/war but also of past ones

[FpUser]

>"The war isn't illegal. The president has that power"

Well you can say the same about Putin then. All nice and dandy

[terminalshort]

Of course I can. He even uses the same trick of not calling it a "war"

[Detrytus]

US constitution says that starting a war must be authorized by Congress, president has no authority to do it on his own.

The problem is: over time the US grew so powerful, that the definition of "war" became blurry. "No, we are not at war, our soldiers are just dropping bombs on Iran for fun and profit".

EDIT: Another problem, of course, is that current member of Congress have no balls to stand up to Trump and reclaim their constitutional powers.

[terminalshort]

Congress made its mistake a long time ago. Power is very difficult to reclaim once it has been relinquished. And it didn't even take a Caesar crossing the Rubicon in our case.