WASHINGTON, DC — Describing as “reckless” the president’s plan to bomb Serbia into peace and threatening Kosovo with invasion unless they submit to a leader they abhor, US Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), is calling on congressional leaders to “reign in President Clinton’s war on common sense.”

Rep. Paul has introduced H.R. 647, legislation to stop the President from sending troops into Kosovo without an explicit Act of Congress. Already the legislation has garnered the support of two-dozen Members of Congress.

“Only Congress has the power to declare war, and I know of no other description for bombing a foreign country than a declaration of war,” said Rep. Paul. “When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it was clearly understood that they were declaring war on our nation. To think the serbian people, or the Kosovars will not be similarly enraged by this action is a dangerous gamble, and one only Congress is authorized to make.”

Rep. Paul said the president is “endangering the lives of the very troops to whom he and his administration have shown consistent disregard.”

“It is difficult to decide which is worse: a refusal to acknowledge the Constitution’s separation of powers, or a callous disregard for the life of our soldiers so as to be seen as an international king-maker.”

Rep. Paul said that while every president since World War II has subverted the Constitution in matters of war, this president has been the most willing to engage US troops in situations where there is “absolutely no relationship to our national security interests.”

“This has been an on-going problem of these last fifty years, this president is simply ratcheting up the level. It all must be stopped.”

If the “reckless policies” of this president go unchecked, Rep. Paul said, there is no end to where this policy may lead.

“We bomb Iraq without a second thought when the President feels the need to spill blood. Our troops are preparing for deployment into Kosovo to disarm a liberation army, while planes are being readied to bomb Serbia. What’s next? Will we bomb the ‘trouble-making’ Kurds in Turkey? Or go after the Turks? Why not next send troops into Ireland and bomb London? Or southern Mexico? The possibilities are as endless as they are frightening.”

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 1999 at 3:14 am and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.