House to Vote This Week on Ending Libya War

Fresh Off Narrow Afghan Vote, Obama Faces Another Rebuke

It is now confirmed that the House of Representatives intends to vote on a new resolution by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D – OH) that demands the immediate end of the war in Libya. The vote is expected to take place later this week.

The resolution exercises authority Congress has under the War Powers Act of 1973. Failure to approve the resolution will not, however, be the same as authorization of the war by Congress, and there is still no indication that the House intends to pass such an authorization.

Kucinich argues that the vote is necessary because “Congress is not satisfied with the blank check that this administration has written for itself to conduct the Libyan war.”

Which is the real issue here, as May 20 was the deadline for Obama to obtain such authorization and he is already legally obligated to end the war, right now, even without the resolution. The resolution would simply be a further rebuke, just a week after the House banned any ground troops from Libya.

And while experts expect that President Obama has enough Congressional support to prevent the resolution from passing, last week’s shockingly close vote on the Afghan War suggests that support is being dramatically overestimated.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.