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The U.S. At War

Army Goes Rolling Along

Constitutional Allocation Of The War Powers

Article I

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Clause 1

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; Clause 11

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; Clause 12

To provide and maintain a Navy; Clause 13

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; Clause 14

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; Clause 15

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; Clause 16

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. Clause 18

Article II

Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. Clause 1

Military Actions Without Declarations Of War

Throughout the history of the U.S.A. under the Federal Constitution, there have been hundreds of instances in which the nation's Armed Forces, operating solely on the basis of presidential orders and without the benefit of congressional declarations of war, were engaged in military conflict abroad. While most of these undeclared conflicts were short rather than protracted engagements, each beginning and ending so quickly that there was no opportunity for congressional consideration and approval of the President's action, Congress has not always declared war when the nation became involved in a longer, more drawn out conflict. In fact, Congress has declared war in only five of the thirteen major shooting wars in which the U.S.A. has been involved:

The War of 1812 against Great Britain [1812-1814]*; The Mexican-U.S.A. War [1846-1848]*; The Spanish-American War [1898]*; World War I [1917-1918]*; World War II [1941-1945]*. In each of the eight other major wars involving the U.S.A., Congress did not pass a declaration of war and the President did not recommend to Congress that it pass such a declaration. The eight undeclared major wars were: The U.S. naval war with France [1798-1800]*; The first war against the Barbary pirate states of North Africa [1801-1805]*; The second war against the Barbary states [1815]*; The Mexican-U.S.A. conflicts immediately preceeding American entrance into World War I [1914-1917]*; The Korean War [1950-1953]*; The Vietnam War [1961-1975]*; The Persian Gulf War [1991]*; The Kosovo-Yugoslav War [1999]*. *Dates of America's direct involvement in the war.

War Declarations in WW II
Sep 3, 1939	Great Britain on Germany
Sep 3, 1939	Australia and New Zealand on Germany
Sep 6, 1939	South Africa on Germany
Sep 10, 1939	Canada on Germany
Jun 10, 1940	Italy on France and England
Sep 17, 1940	San Marino on England
Jun 22, 1941	Germany and Italy on Russia
Dec 6, 1941	Britain on Finland, Hungary, and Rumania
Dec 7, 1941	Dutch government in exile on Japan
Dec 7, 1941	Canada and Costa Rica on Japan
Dec 8, 1941	United States on Japan
Dec 8, 1941	Britain on Japan
Dec 8, 1941	China on Germany, Italy, and Japan
Dec 8, 1941	Free French on Japan
Dec 8, 1941	Honduras, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and El Salvador on Japan
Dec 9, 1941	Cuba and Nicaragua on Japan
Dec 11, 1941	Germany and Italy on the United States
Dec 11, 1941	United States on Germany and Italy
Dec 11, 1941	Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Guatemala on Germany and Italy
Jun 1, 1942	Mexico on Germany, Italy, and Japan
Aug 22, 1942	Brazil on Germany and Italy
Sep 21, 1944	San Marino on Germany
Feb 23, 1945	Turkey on Germany and Japan
Feb 26, 1945	Egypt on Germany and Japan
Mar 27, 1945	Argentina on Germany and Japan
Jul 18, 1945	Italy on Japan
Aug 8, 1945	Russia on Japan

Other undeclared U.S. military actions
overseas included armed intervention into ...

A revolution in Hawaii [1893];

The Philippine Insurrection [1899-1902];

China during the Boxer Rebellion [1900];

The Moro Wars, suppressing a Muslim rebellion in the Philippines [1901-1913];

The Panamaian rebellion, assisting the rebels in their efforts to secede from Colombia [1903];

Cuba, to suppress a rebellion and restore order [1906- 1909];

Various rebellions and civil wars in Central America [1909-1933];

Cuba, to "defuse" an armed uprising [1912];

Haiti, making it a virtual protectorate of the U.S.A. [1915-1934];

The Dominican Republic, occupying the country until a constitutionally elected government was installed [1916-1924];

Cuba, to obtain the overthrow of a regime that had come to power via an armed revolt and coup d'etat [1917];

The Russian Civil War, siding with the opponents of the Bolshevik (Communist) regime [1919-1921];

Lebanon, to counter a Syrian-aided Muslim revolt and restore order [1958];

A civil war in the Dominican Republic [1965];

Cambodia, destroying supply centers and staging areas for North Vietnamese military operations in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War [1969-1970];

Cambodia in the Mayaguez affair, forcing surrender of a U.S. merchant ship and crew seized by Cambodian Communist military forces [1975];

Iran, in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the hostages taken by Irani militants when, in 1979, they seized the U.S. Embassy in Teheran [1980];

The armed struggle among political factions in Lebanon [1982-1984];

Grenada, overthrowing the Marxist-Leninist, pro-Cuban regime, expelling the Cuban agents and paramilitary personnel, and allowing a political coalition committed to democratic elections and favorably disposed toward American interests to assume governing power [1983];

Panama, overthrowing the regime of dictator and narcotics smuggler Manuel Noriega [1989];

Somalia, seeking to end the violence and disorder in that East African country [1992-1994];

Haiti, to restore order and reinstate Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected President of the country [1994];

The ethnic warfare in Bosnia, imposing a ceasefire and, in effect, establishing a U.N.-U.S.A. protec torate over Bosnia [1994-1995].

Undeclared U.S. military actions also included:

The naval war waged against German submarines and other Axis naval craft in the North Atlantic immediately prior to American entrance into World War II [1941];

The naval "quarantine" (i.e., blockade) maintained around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis [1962];

Aerial bombardment of Libya, striking a missile site on one occasion and, on another, bombing terrorist related targets in Tripoli and Benghazi [1986];

"Operation Desert Shield" President Bush's sending U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia, in the wake of the Iraqi occupation of and huge military buildup in Kuwait; [1990]

The continuing presence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and the maintenance of no-fly zones over Iraq, the latter, in effect, establishing protectorates over Kurdish and Shiite regions of that country; [1991-1999];

The U.S. missile attack on Iraq, launched on President Clinton's orders and aimed at the Iraqi government's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad [1993];

Missile strikes against Iraqi military installations in southern Iraq [1996];

Cruise missile attacks against terrorist-related targets in Afghanistan and Sudan [1998].

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