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Originally Posted by Scootermuze
..... has determined that the president, as commander-in-chief of the military, does have the authority to recognize a "state of war" initiated against the United States and may in these circumstances unilaterally send U.S. troops into battle.
That's a far cry from saying he can just attack any country for any reason..
Further.. there was no state of war initiated against the U.S. by Iraq..
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This same discussion occured the other day.. The constitution states that only congress can declare "war"... but.. since the Korean War, presidents get around that by doing "police actions".. Thus congress passed the War Acts Resolution which says that if the presidet starts any military actions, he will notify them within 48 hours and then they have 2-3 months to approve of the action or not.. or something like that.. Presidents claim that the resolution is unconstitutional whereas others claim that any military action taken by the President without congressional approval is also unconstitutional. The supreme court hasn't ruled on any of it.
So basically, the President can use the military however he pleases as long as he doesn't declare war since he's not allowed to. However, it could be unconstitutional but no one has stepped up to the plate to force the issue. If it is unconstitutional, then I think every president since Truman would be thrown in jail and I don't see that happening.