# Why hasn't Congress declared War?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 21, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706 "2001-10-21T17:31:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/1 "2001-10-21T17:31:20Z")
Okay, I don’t mean this as a debate-which is why I’m putting it here-is there a reason no war has been “declared?” I mean, we’re pretty much at war, for all intents and purposes. So does Congress intend to declare it on the Taliban? Or are they waiting?
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/2 "2001-10-21T17:58:35Z")
I’m guessing that the reason is that war is declared on governments recognized as legitimate (e.g., the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire) and not on organizations that are not recognized as legitimate governments regardless of the functions they serve in their native country.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/3 "2001-10-21T18:00:35Z")
Well, the problem is, there’s nobody to declare war on. We don’t consider the Taliban the legal gov’t of Afghanistan, so we can’t really declare war on Afghanistan. We can’t declare war on Bin Laden, because you can’t declare war on a person.
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/4 "2001-10-21T18:01:21Z")
Since we (the U.S.) don’t recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, there isn’t a sovereign entity to declare war against.
As many other threads have discussed, formal declarations of war have gone out of style and we haven’t seen one since the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in 1945.
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/5 "2001-10-21T18:40:09Z")
Congress already passed what is likely to be the closest thing to a formal declaration of war you will get, the [Authorization for Use of Military Force](http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:sj23cps.txt), which was [signed into law by the President on September 18](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010918-10.html).
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> Whereas on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens;
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> Whereas such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad;
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> Whereas in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence;
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> Whereas such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and
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> Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States;
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> Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled…
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> …That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/6 "2001-10-21T19:57:31Z")
What I really hate about this situation is those anal-retentive people who claim that we’re not at war because Congress hasn’t formally _declared_ war. Hmmm… we’ve got planes bombing the country, ground troops conducting raids… looks like a war to me. And yet we’ve got a whole slew of morons saying “But it’s not really a war because they’re not calling it one.”
A rose by any other name… :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/7 "2001-10-21T20:17:26Z")
because of the war powers act , that the US president can deploy troops and forces for up to 60 days without an official declaration of war
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/8 "2001-10-21T20:34:27Z")
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> \*Originally posted by geepee \*
> \*\*because of the war powers act , that the US president can deploy troops and forces for up to 60 days without an official declaration of war \*\*
The \*Authorization for the Use of Military Force \* Act passed by Congress and signed by the President doesn’t have a time limit.
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### Author:  [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/9 "2001-10-21T20:39:27Z")
oh yeah damn , forgot congress agreed just didn’t say i declare war on you etc
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/10 "2001-10-22T00:07:34Z")
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> The \*Authorization for the Use of Military Force \* Act passed by Congress and signed by the President doesn’t have a time limit.
The Authorization does say:
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> (1) Specific statutory authorization.–Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.
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> (2) Applicability of other requirements.–Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.
Somebody else is going to have to wade through the War Powers Act to figure out exactly what that means, though.
I know various Congresses and various Presidents (somewhat independent of party affiliation, I believe) have never really seen eye-to-eye on the whole WPR thing, but unless something goes drastically wrong, I doubt this is the time when anybody of either branch of government or party would be inclined to press the issue.
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### Author:  [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/11 "2001-10-22T00:23:01Z")
Declaring war is quite passe nowadays. I remember reading an article by a Queen’s Counsel (a very senior barrister) which said that the Gulf War was not a war or alternatively an illegal war because there had been no declaration of war.
Silly man. International law is made by convention. the convention since WW2 is not to formally declare war anymore.
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### Author:  [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/12 "2001-10-22T05:30:01Z")
You don’t have to declare war on a country or government thereof.
We declared war, for example, on the Barbary Coast Pirates (from the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Triploli…as my fellow Marines will recall)…
The precedent is there. Let’s stop arguing about it and exterminate the vermin.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2001, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/13 "2001-10-22T05:41:35Z")
> [@](#):
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> Somebody else is going to have to wade through the War Powers Act to figure out exactly what that means, though.
Since when do presidents pay attention to the [War Powers Act](http://www.milnet.com/milnet/war-powers-act.htm)?
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-congress-declared-war/88706/14 "2001-10-22T05:55:24Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Neurodoc \*
> \*\*You don’t have to declare war on a country or government thereof.
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> We declared war, for example, on the Barbary Coast Pirates (from the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Triploli…as my fellow Marines will recall)…
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> The precedent is there. Let’s stop arguing about it and exterminate the vermin. \*\*
Actually, the U.S. never declared war on the Barbary Pirates. However, the nations that sponsored the pirates: Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers at the time had declared war on the U.S.
The U.S. Navy and Marines fought a series of fairly small-scale battles in an attempt to keep the Barbary Countries from asking for an extremely high amount of tribute (aka ransom) from the U.S. to prevent the pirates from capturing American sailors.
And if you wish to draw a parallel between that conflict and today’s, let’s just hope that it ends much more quickly. The troubles with the Barbary pirates started in 1785 and didn’t end until 1815 when a treaty with Algiers was signed. And there were still problems until the French occupied Algiers in 1830.
Of course that started a whole new set of problems …