The Cost of 'Empty Words': A Comment on the Justice Department’s Libya Opinion

Harvard National Security Journal Forum, April 2010

19 Pages Posted: 17 Apr 2011

See all articles by Michael J. Glennon

Michael J. Glennon

Tufts University - The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Date Written: April 14, 2011

Abstract

The April 1, 2011 opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) presents three main arguments in seeking to justify the constitutionality of the U.S. use of force against Libya. (1) The President has a “broad constitutional power” to order the use of force without congressional approval, OLC claims, particularly when the given use of force isn’t really a war. (2) The existence of a United Nations Security Council resolution expands that power because the President has a responsibility to preserve the Council’s credibility and to ensure that its edicts do not turn out to be “empty words.” (3) In any event, Congress has allowed the President to undertake this action through the War Powers Resolution, which permits him to use force for us to 60 days without specific, advance approval. I suggest in this paper that none of these claims is convincing, and I conclude with some thoughts about OLC’s concern about empty words.

Suggested Citation

Glennon, Michael J., The Cost of 'Empty Words': A Comment on the Justice Department’s Libya Opinion (April 14, 2011). Harvard National Security Journal Forum, April 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1810922

Michael J. Glennon (Contact Author)

Tufts University - The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy ( email )

Medford, MA 02155
United States

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