Congresional Authorization of War With Iraq

On October 16, 2002, Congress formally enacted the Resolution to Authorize the use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq - in everyday language, the Iraq war vote (2002). As expressed by its title and wording, the resolution provided the Bush Administration with blanket authority to go to war against Iraq at its own discretion. The essay that follows will examine three essential questions about the objectives of this resolution. These questions concern not the Administration's underlying decision to go to war, but its decision to seek this form of Congressional authorization to do so. These question are first, what was the policy objective in specifically seeking this resolution, what political tools did the Administration wield to achieve that goal, and did the policy of seeking the resolution meet its objectives?

In a nutshell, the Congressional resolution was designed to strengthen public support for the broader policy of war against Iraq, and to lay groundwork for diplomatic support. In securing passage of the resolution, the Administration employed both policy and political instruments for garnering support. It succeed in its objectives, but -- as we shall see -- with significant later side effects.

I. Why a Resolution Vote? Administration Objectives:

The Constitution reserves to Congress the authority to declare war. However, the United States has fought numerous wars that were not formal

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uthorization for the possible use of force was an important component of overall Administration planning for possible war against Iraq. II. Securing the Resolution. However, the same factors that made a Congressional resolution so important also meant that obtaining one might pose a substantial political challenge. This had not been the case in Afghanistan, where the very close connection between the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda had ensured overwhelming public and Congressional support. Moreover, simply obtaining "any" resolution was not regarded as satisfactory. The Administration wanted a broadly worded resolution that imposed minimal constraints -- in particular, one that did not require returning to Congress for a final go-ahead for actual military action. Obtaining the desired broad-powers resolution from Congress involved both an "inside" and an "outside" game. The inside game consisted of mobilizing Senate and House supporters, keeping them in line, and minimizing opposition. The outside game consisted of mobilizing public support so as to put the maximum pressure on wavering members of Congress. The "inside" process might also be distinguished into policy and political components. The policy component consisted of
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2767
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)