“You’re Not a Dictator”: Lawmakers and Experts Inform Trump He Can’t Declare War via Tweet 

“You’re Not a Dictator”: Lawmakers and Experts Inform Trump He Can’t Declare War via Tweet

“The Constitution doesn’t allow presidents to declare war over social media.”

By Eoin Higgins

Democratic lawmakers, anti-war advocates, and legal experts rebuked President Donald Trump after he announced on Twitter that he would be using the social media platform as the medium by which he would inform Congress of hypothetical, future military strikes against Iran.

“The Constitution doesn’t allow presidents to declare war over social media,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Caif.).

Khanna, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Senate, introduced a bill Friday to block funding for the president’s effort to continue the conflict with Iran which exploded on January 2 when Trump ordered a drone strike in Baghdad which killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. 

“Congress must reassert its constitutional responsibility over war,” said Sanders. “The Senate and House must vote to immediately defund unauthorized military action against Iran.”

Trump announced Sunday that he would be making wartime declarations to Capitol Hill through Twitter.

“These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner,” the president tweeted. “Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!”

Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who left the Republican Party last year over the president’s conduct, referred Trump to the constitutional limits of the presidency’s powers.

“Such legal notice was provided in 1789 but is given here again nevertheless,” tweeted Amash.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee also hit back against the president Sunday afternoon. “This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution,” the committee’s official account tweeted. “And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you’re not a dictator.”Yale Law School professor Oona Hathaway pointed out that Trump’s declaration “threatens to break several laws” by not notifying Congress in a correct way, refusing to consult with lawmakers before taking military action, and claiming there is no requirement for notification. “That any of this has to be said suggests just how insane this situation has become,” said Hathaway.

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Source: “You’re Not a Dictator”: Lawmakers and Experts Inform Trump He Can’t Declare War via Tweet | Common Dreams News

Iraqi Parliament Votes to Expel All American Troops and Submit UN Complaint Against US for Violation of Sovereignty 

Iraqi Parliament Votes to Expel All American Troops and Submit UN Complaint Against US for Violation of Sovereignty

“What happened was a political assassination. Iraq cannot accept this.”

By Jake Johnson

Update:

Iraq’s parliament voted in an extraordinary session Sunday to expel all American troops from the country and file a United Nations complaint against the U.S. for violating Iraq’s sovereignty with its assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Ahead of the vote, chants of “No, no, America” rang out inside the hall.

“Iraq called on the U.N. Security Council to condemn the bombing and assassinations,” Iraq’s foreign ministry said in a statement following the vote.

As The National reported, the Iraqi parliament approved “a five-point action plan that would require the Iraqi government to end the presence of foreign troops in the country, and withdraw its request for assistance from the anti-ISIS global coalition.”

“Parliament also called on the government to ban the use of Iraqi airspace by any foreign power,” according to The National. The resolution still requires the approval of the Iraqi government.

The U.S. currently has around 5,000 troops stationed in Iraq.

Earlier:

Speaking before an extraordinary session of parliament Sunday, Iraq’s outgoing Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi recommended that the nation’s lawmakers approve a measure to end U.S. troop presence in “immediately” following the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

The prime minister’s remarks came before Iraqi lawmakers are set to vote on a resolution to end permission for American troops to remain in Iraq.

Washington Post reporter Mustafa Salim summarized Mahdi’s recommendations:

The U.S. assassination Soleimani on Iraqi soil was met with fierce condemnation from Iraq’s foreign ministry and the prime minister, who called the drone strike a violation of the nation’s sovereignty.

“What happened was a political assassination,” Mahdi said. “Iraq cannot accept this.”

In a previously undisclosed detail one observer described as “stunning,” Mahdi said Soleimani was in Baghdad to meet with him about a Saudi request for dialogue to relieve tensions in the region—not, as the U.S. has claimed, to plan attacks against American forces.

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Source: Iraqi Parliament Votes to Expel All American Troops and Submit UN Complaint Against US for Violation of Sovereignty | Common Dreams News

Chelsea Manning Says She Is ‘Never Backing Down’ in Face of US Detention Meant to Break Her 

Chelsea Manning Says She Is ‘Never Backing Down’ in Face of US Detention Meant to Break Her

“My long-standing objection to the immoral practice of throwing people in jail without charge or trial, for the sole purpose of forcing them to testify before a secret, government-run investigative panel, remains strong.”

By Eoin Higgins

Two days after the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer published a letter he sent to the U.S. government urging her release from federal prison, whistleblower Chelsea Manning issued a response welcoming the support and promising to stay resolute in the face of her prolonged detention. 

“My long-standing objection to the immoral practice of throwing people in jail without charge or trial, for the sole purpose of forcing them to testify before a secret, government-run investigative panel, remains strong,” said Manning

Manning was imprisoned on March 8, 2019 for refusing to take part in a grand jury investigation on WikiLeaks and the group’s founder, Julian Assange. Manning and her supporters have alleged that the real purpose of her testimony would be to set perjury traps that could eventually land the former Army private in prison. 

As Common Dreams reported, Melzer’s letter expressed the rapporteur’s “serious concern at the reported use of coercive measures against Ms. Manning, particularly given the history of her previous conviction and ill-treatment in detention” and requested more information on Manning’s detention.

“I recommend that Ms. Manning’s current deprivation of liberty be promptly reviewed in light of the United States’ international human rights obligations,” Melzer wrote. “Should my assessment regarding its purely coercive purpose be accurate, I recommend that Ms. Manning be released without further delay, and that any fines disproportionate to the gravity of any offense she may have committed be cancelled or reimbursed.”

Manning’s attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen in a statement said that Melzer’s letter made clear that Manning’s detention is in violation of international norms and for the sole purpose of torturing the whistleblower.

“Special Rapporteur Melzer has issued a legally rigorous condemnation of the practice of coercive confinement, and of Ms. Manning’s confinement in particular,” said Meltzer-Cohen. “While the United States has so far failed to live up to its human rights obligations, I remain hopeful that the government will reconsider its policies in light of the U.N.’s admonition.”

“In any case,” Meltzer-Cohen added, “there can be no further doubt that Ms. Manning has the courage of her convictions, and will never agree to testify before a grand jury, even at great personal cost.”

Manning echoed that sentiment in her statement.

“Even knowing I am very likely to stay in jail for an even longer time,” said Manning, “I’m never backing down.”

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Source: Chelsea Manning Says She Is ‘Never Backing Down’ in Face of US Detention Meant to Break Her | Common Dreams News