Dates G8 Summit

The Root: A Vote With A Side Of Freedom Fries

To put the hypocrisy of Republicans into context when it comes to Libya, it's worth pointing out that two of the congressmen joining Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich's suit to stop President Barack Obama's prosecution of the ongoing NATO action in Libya's civil war — North Carolina Reps. Walter Jones and Howard Coble — both backed the 2002 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

At the time, you'll recall, Jones even frivolously coined the term " freedom fries " to embarrass the French for their refusal — now clearly prudent — to participate in America's Iraq expedition.

That a once-interventionist GOP caucus has become divided on the proper role of the military is encouraging in the long run — echoing the national mood that the cost in blood and treasure of three Middle East wars is unsustainable. But it also represents the abandonment of a president who — had he chosen two years ago to rapidly withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan — would have been attacked by those same Republicans as a "dithering" commander in chief who'd "cut and run" instead of defending America from the threat of terror.

But the congressional flip-flop still isn't a good-enough excuse for Obama to disregard the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says that " within sixty calendar days " of entering a military engagement, Congress gets a chance to weigh in.

So far, on Libya, the president has been ducking the legislative body.

On June 14, House Speaker John Boehner warned that Obama risked violating the law unless he " asks for and receives authorization from Congress or withdraws all U.S. troops and resources from the mission ." But rather than submit further Libya action to a vote, the White House overruled Pentagon lawyers with squishy legalese, saying that the " operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve U.S. ground troops ," and therefore — they say — the ongoing Libya campaign technically isn't a war.

Too bad, because the issue, as the Atlantic's James Fallows writes, isn't just a theoretical debate over the definition of "war" or the president's Article II powers. It's about us once again " going to war essentially on one person's say-so ." Whether or not you support U.S. involvement in Libya, it's pretty tough to say that Congress — and its Article I powers — should just be ignored.

Even if it was more imperative to get U.N. and Arab League backing at the outset, how can it still be a good idea to shrug off Congress now? It's another example — like Guantánamo Bay and the "ground zero mosque" — of the administration's poor instincts when it comes to sorting out which congressional fights it should take on and which ones it should leave alone.

Digest – After the G8 summit, what is the agenda for 2011 for the ...

Date: 30 May 2011

The IMF after the Strauss-Kahn scandal in the US

French Finance minister Christine Lagarde, though absent from Deauville, has secured the backing of the G8. There is consequently a very good chance to see her elected soon to replace M. Strauss-Kahn, soon to be on trial in the US for alleged sexual assault. Nevertheless, Christine Lagarde’s position will be quite different from her predecessor.

She will be under much more pressure from emerging countries to negotiate tough conditions for Europe’s financial rescue plans. She will also be challenged politically, especially on the European front, as M. Strauss-Kahn, a fluent German speaker, was a key factor in the negotiations between Paris and Berlin.

The euro-zone and the economic challenges ahead

Nicolas Sarkozy, host of the Deauville summit, has reaffirmed strongly the willingness of all euro zone leaders to defend the European single currency and therefore to avoid a Greek debt restructuring.

We believe a Greek default is therefore excluded for the time being. Europe, consequently, will have to put its acts together and probably re-negotiate a new rescue plan for Athens, which is on its way to becoming insolvent.

Libya and the ‘Arab spring’

The G8 has made one of its strongest financial commitments ever, promising €40 billion of aid to the Arab countries in transition. The call to remember, nevertheless, was the one from Tunisian and Egyptian Prime Ministers who were invited to meet with G8 leaders. Both of them urged the international community to quickly put its act together, so that the economic momentum could be seized and their population could see the changes at work.

Questions? Post a comment below, or e-mail Richard Werly at richard.werly@letemps.