The topic of next week’s Show is whether a declaration of war is necessary, under the Constitution, to commit United States military forces to combat.

   Too often the U.S. has sent troops to faraway places for reasons difficult to discern. Prior to World War II, Indochina was a possession of France. The people living in Indochina had not invited the French to come and occupy their lands. The French conquered the lands. In turn, Japan swept through the area and took it from the French. After the War, the French came back to reinstall their colonial rule. They brought with them, to lead the people, persons who had been born in Indochina but raised and educated (and in very nice, wealthy households) in France. The leaders chosen by the French to govern a population that consisted largely of Buddhts were Roman Catholics. In short, the persons the French chose to bring to Indochina to rule its people had in common with those people only physical traits. Otherwise, the leaders chosen by the French were French. The United States supplied over 90 percent of the French war materiel and investment for the fight. Ultimately, the French were unsuccessful and lost in a final battle atf Dien Bien Phu, in which a few thousand of their military were surrounded by the Viet Minh (later North Vietnamese) army. The U.S. initially sent military advisers to what then was called the Republic of Vietnam, or South Vietnam. Our support of the regime nominally was for freedom and democracy. Unfortunately, the regime in the South was as democratic and free as that in the North. The real reason for our involvement was economic. Corporations make money from the mere fact of fighting a war. Oil is used (for jet and ship fuel; manufacture of plastics and other materials).     

   The most obvious exception to commitment of U.S. troops would be in response to an outright attack upon the United States. That occurred on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor. World War II was the last war the United States fought. We declared war the day following the attack. Because Japan had signed a treaty with Germany and Italy requiring such actions, the latter two countries declared war on us.

   The commitment of United States troops is a matter of the utmost seriousness. Democrats and Republicans alike have been willing to put our military in conflicts without formal declarations of war. A formal declaration of war makes such a commitment a matter far more serious than a simple vote based on flimsy allegations (the Gulf of Tonkin (1964) Resolution was based on the report of an incident that did not occur; the invasion of Iraq (2003) never discovered weapons of mass destruction).

   Join us—"live" because that’s how we are able to stream—next Saturday at 11 a.m. for what should be a spirited discussion.