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Originally posted by Radar
First off let's go to your "authorized by congress" claim. The Constitution says ONLY CONGRESS may declare war and even then only in the DEFENSE of America.
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The Constitution also defines our military solely for the defense of American soil and ships and for nothing else.
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The Constitution makes no mention of how congress must use their power to declare war. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 states with the utmost simplicity that the power rests with congress "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water"
The only place that it mentions usage is in terms of how Congress may use the Militia (Clause 15), which the framers differentiated from the Army and the Navy. This can be seen later, in Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 where the President is called the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States"
It states that the Militia is to be used to "execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions." Even if we grant that this clause is meant to be constrictive and exhaustive, it is directed only toward the use of the Militia, and not toward the Army and the Navy.
I'm more than willing to take up the other issues, but lets make sure that we're on the same page to start with - the Constitution does not limit how Congress may use the armed forces.
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I know you're not the brightest bulb on the tree, but read it a few times so you can keep up.
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Well, that's probably true. It would help me catch up if you could reference the specific parts of the Constitution that you're referring to when you make your arguments. That way we're talking about the same thing.