{"id":27540,"date":"2018-02-18T16:49:12","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T16:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/18\/middle-east-military-force-act-now-beg-forgiveness-later\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:11:16","slug":"middle-east-military-force-act-now-beg-forgiveness-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/18\/middle-east-military-force-act-now-beg-forgiveness-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East military force: Act now, beg forgiveness later?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUNICH \u2014 A debate that permeated a congressional panel at Munich Security Conference is the same question that often permeates Washington: whether an administration should seek congressional authorization for military acts of deterrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One attendee addressing the panel at the conference said he winced at the thought of U.S. failed actions in Syria <span class=\"js-paste-start-4CDFXLCZANDNZOKU6WO44CKT4U\">\u2014 <span class=\"js-paste-end-4CDFXLCZANDNZOKU6WO44CKT4U\">seeing \u201cthat operation unravel, micromanaged, looked over\u2026 And then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/17\/mattis-unclear-if-russia-directed-attack-against-us-allies-in-syria\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Russians stepped in<\/a> and the rest is contemporary history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was referring to the effort by President Obama in 2013 to garner congressional support for strikes against Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack. It ultimately failed. No other authorizations to attack the Islamic State ever happened \u2014 and some argue that lack of action in the region became a mark on the Obama presidency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been a governor, I\u2019ve been an executive, I understand there\u2019s certain circumstances where the executive needs to act,\u201d said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., adding that she voted to take action in Syria. But while she advocated for congressional approval then, she noted on the panel that the president never should have sought authorization in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat should\u2019ve happened so fast that Congress couldn\u2019t step in,\u201d she said. \u201cWe drew a red line then couldn\u2019t enforce it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Click here for full coverage of the Munich Security Conference<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Shaheen and other members on the panel stopped short of advocating unfettered clearance for military acts of deterrence by the executive branch, arguing that there have been examples where such acts did not end well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a threshold, said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces. And to him, a regime change is one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLibya is a good example,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there had been a vote, the outcome might have been different. There was no post-Gadhafi strategy. If you have the debate, you can sometimes change the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the current state of matters, military authorization is still on the table and an alternative that the administration might pursue <span class=\"js-paste-start-VHBGO2QANFEEXFBRHUFLPRVF34\">\u2014 <span class=\"js-paste-end-VHBGO2QANFEEXFBRHUFLPRVF34\">particularly amid<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/mideast-africa\/2018\/01\/15\/russia-and-us-engage-in-military-base-race-in-syria\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\"> conflicts in Syria<\/a> and areas of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from people in the military, Secretary Mattis and others, that it would be helpful to have a real debate about a new authorization for use of military force,\u201d Shaheen said. \u201cIt would be good to know where the country is and have the public debate. So far there hasn\u2019t been the political will.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A debate that permeated a congressional panel at Munich Security Conference is the same question that often permeates Washington: whether an administration should seek congressional authorization for military acts of deterrence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":120,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[8,162,11,47,36,30,120],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2572],"class_list":["post-27540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-digital-show-daily","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters","category-smr","category-munich-security-forum"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TIJ5FNURBJHQBOLA36VUGXIC3M","arc_canonical_url":"\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/18\/middle-east-military-force-act-now-beg-forgiveness-later\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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