How Dems will end the war

Charles Krauthammer reports on the Democrat efforts to end the war in Iraq the wrong way. (No Way To End A War - washingtonpost.com). After voting to authorize "use of force" at the beginning of this war, Krauthammer writes . . .

"Now, more than four years later, the Democrats want out of the resulting war. Most, such as Rep. John Murtha, want to do so for a simple reason: They think the war is lost. If you believe that, then getting out is the most reasonable and honorable and patriotic policy.

Congress has the power to do that by cutting off the funds. But Democrats will not, because it is politically dangerous. Instead, they are seeking other ways, clever ways. The House is pursuing a method, developed by Murtha and deemed 'ingenious' by antiwar activist Tom Andrews of Win Without War, to impose a conditional cutoff of funds, ostensibly in the name of protecting the troops. Unless the troops are given the precise equipment, training and amount of rest Murtha stipulates -- no funds."

What seems missed by Krauthammer is the fact that this goes beyond "micromanaging" the war . . . it is "managing" the war . . . indeed, such an action is "pretending to be Commander-in-Chief of" the war. That's not acceptable in my book, and I don't think that is the way the system is designed to operate. Either allow the Executive to fight the war or declare "peace."

While I concede that Congress (the House, particularly) can refuse to supply funds needed to pay for this war (it "controls the purse strings"), I don't agree that such a power/authority can cut off an Executive's ability to wage a war.

It seems to me, kind of like if a physician's homemaker wife "controlled the purse strings" in the family and the physician wanted to buy a car without her authority, said physician could find a car dealer willing to enter into a agreement that would have him "riding off the lot today" in a new car. Of course, buying things on credit or "agreements" would eventually require actual transfer of funds, but depending on the situation, that time period could be pretty generous.