In article ,
(B2431) writes:
From: (Peter Stickney)



Howard, that's nonsense. There is no such thing as a formal
Declaration of War. There never has been.

Better read the Constitution where it says only Congress has the authority to
declare war. They have done this exactly six times: Revolution, 1812, Mexican,
Civil, Spanish-American, WW1 and WW2.

Uhm, nobody has said that they aren't the authority. But people miss
teh point on just what a Declaration of War is. The short version is
this. If Congress passes a law stating that the President (Executive)
has the authority to use force on somebody, that's a Declaration of
War. If they vote money to support these operations, that's a
declaration that a State of War exists. If somebody else declares war
on us, in whatever colorful way their culture or personality dictates,
then a State of War exists. You don't have to say "This is a
Declaration of War", and file it with the Hague. You state that
there's a perceived need to use force on somebody, and that it's
O.K. with you.

And, uhm, I'd brush up on some history, too - Y'see, the United States
Congress, with the powers it has, didn't exist until the 1790s. The
Revolution had been over for about 10 years. The Continental Congress
didn't do any War Declaring - the Revolution had been brewing since
the end of teh French & Indian War (7 Years War for the Euros), and
ignited in either late 1774 (The taking of Fort Willian & Mary in
Portsmouth Harbor, where the colonials not only captured to Fort, but
took the artillery and munitions.) or early 1775. (When the Brits got
a tip that said munitions were being held at Concord, Massachusetts,
and went to go get them.)
You also seem to ahve missed the Barbary Coast War, as well, when we
de3cided that since we couldn't affort to bribe the
Pirates/Governments in what is now Libya, we'd whack them, instead.
(As in the Shores of Tripoli).

As for formal declarations nations/states have been doing just that for a few
millenia.

Usually my marching/sailing/flying over the borders of somebody's
country, and whacking the crap out of it.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster