President Barack Obama meets with members of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House, January 29, 2010. The President’s chair is marked with a plaque engraved with the date of his inauguration. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Syria Intervention Would Reaffirm Obama’s Biggest Flip-Flop -- Alex Altman and Zeke Miller, Time
He was explicit in 2007 that presidents don't have the authority to act unilaterally except to stop 'an actual or imminent threat'
In 2007, Barack Obama was asked when presidents have the authority to launch a military strike without congressional authorization. He had a precise answer at the ready.
“The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat,” Obama told the Boston Globe.
Back then, the target in question was Iran, and Obama was a first-term senator running for president against the excesses of George W. Bush’s foreign policy. But the statement stands in stark opposition to Obama’s view now. The Obama administration is on the cusp of intervening in a Syrian civil war that by all accounts does not pose an imminent domestic threat to the United States. And Obama appears set to unilaterally authorize punitive strikes against Bashar Assad’s regime.
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My Comment: President Obama issued his "red line" .... and according to the Secretary of State and others the Syrians have crossed it. As a result President Obama has to maintain his credibility .... he knows that the world is watching, and the consequences of doing nothing will only embolden nations like Syria, Iran, North Korea, etc. to test these limits even further. As to this being "Obama's Biggest Flip-Flop" .... at this moment in time I say "who cares".
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