Lugar Speaks Out Against Obama's Open-Ended Military Intervention In Libya

It seems the U.S. Constitution has little continued viability in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to go to war with Libya without any congressional declaration of war or game plan for what he expects to achieve. Sen. Lugar's criticism of the Obama administration's open-ended military action is spot on. Here's a statement Lugar's office released today:

Senator Dick Lugar, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reiterated his call today for "full congressional debate on the objectives and costs" of President Obama's military actions in Libya, "and a declaration of war" to proceed.


"There needs to be a plan about what happens after Gadhafi,” Lugar said. “Who will be in charge then, and who pays for this all. President Obama, so far, has only expressed vague hopes.”

“Congress has been squabbling for months over a budget to run the federal government for a fiscal year that is almost half over,” Lugar said. “We argue over where to cut $100,000 million here and there from programs many people like. So here comes an open-ended military action with no-end game envisioned.

With the Arab League already having second thoughts, and Turkey nixing NATO taking over, today there are even more questions. We also have to debate how all this effects the Saudis, Bahrain and Yemen."

“The facts are that our budget is stretched too far and our troops are stretched too far,” Lugar said. “The American people require a full understanding and accounting, through a full and open debate in Congress.”

The silence from other members of Indiana's congressional delegation is deafening. It is beyond me how they can stand by and watch Obama commit billions of new spending on a military action that has received no congressional authorization and for which no explanation of why this action is necessary has satisfactorily been presented to the American people at a time our country is facing the worst budget deficit in its history. Have we learned nothing from our disastrous experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan? It's as if we hopped into a paddle boat to navigate the Niagra Falls. It's insane. Have all the adults with decision-making authority left the room in Washington?