[hytem]

The legislative branch has been suckered twice now by Presidents into authorizing the use of the American military in major engagements without declaring war: Vietnam and Iraq. In each case, the justification turned out to be largely fabricated. It's surprising they repeated the mistake in Iraq, but 9/11 was probably a factor, along with a rubber stamp Republican Congress. The Republicans have paid for that, and will probably continue paying for awhile. You can't be too lock-step with the Executive.