The recent missile attack against Syria ordered by the President was clearly outside the scope of any congressional mandate and was reckless, irresponsible, and illegal.
The Foreign Policy Alliance calls on the U.S. Congress to begin an immediate investigation into the facts surrounding the recent U.S. missile attack against Syria in response to allegations of the use of chemical weapons. Further, we call on Congress to issue a joint resolution directing the President to suspend all military action in Syria until such actions are authorized after an open and thorough debate concludes that such actions are justified as being in the national interests of the United States. Additionally, we call for the U.S. representative to the United Nations to give full support to an impartial investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and call for a disengagement of forces from all parties to permit the OPCW to complete an unimpeded investigation to ascertain the relevant facts and present those findings to the UN Security Council for action.
President Donald Trump ordered a military attack against Syria without a resolution from the UN Security Council or authorization from the U.S. Congress for the use of military force. This order was in violation of the War Powers Act and the UN Charter.
The Constitution of the United States clearly establishes that the power to make war rests exclusively with Congress (Article 1, Section 8). Congress granted former President George W Bush authorization to use military force as a response to the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This congressional authorization was limited to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States and not intended to permit the involvement of U.S. forces in a civil war.
-FPA Board