CONSTITUTION PARTY: NO MORE MEDDLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST 23 October 2013 Military intervention in Syrian civil war is unconstitutional and unwise The Constitution Party platform opposes interventionism, and even saber rattling, unless the vital interests of the nation are at risk—and the House of Representatives authorizes military action. Our plank on foreign policy demands that Congress, “refuse to fund unconstitutional, undeclared wars pursuant to presidential whim or international obligations under which American sovereignty has been transferred to multi-national agencies.”

Whether it is full scale military invasion of Iraq in 1990 or what the Pentagon now calls “limited stand-off strikes” in Syria, the Constitution Party takes seriously John Quincy Adams’ observation: “America abstain(s) from interference in the concerns of others, even when the conflict has been for principles to which she clings … She goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” The Constitution Party opposes war by Executive Order as well. The U.S. Constitution is clear: only Congress has the power to “define and punish … offenses against the Law of Nations” (Art. 1, § 8, cl.10). Congress cannot transfer to the president its exclusive power to declare war any more than it can transfer its exclusive power to levy taxes. Such a transfer is illegal.

Intervention in the tragic Syrian civil war is not only unconstitutional, it is a risky strategy. A May 5 Reuters News Service story proves the point: “U.N. investigator: testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas.” Dropping American bombs into this complex, confusing, and far away fight will only fortify terrorist rallying cries and further erode the historic U.S. foreign policy based on fairness, justice, and guided by a moral compass. The American people understand this and are resisting the machinations of the military-industrial complex. Polls consistently show 65-75 percent opposition to meddling in the Middle East. The Constitution Party urges voters to reject U.S. jingoism and heed Thomas Jefferson’s sage foreign policy advice: “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”