Natelson says Trump’s Drone Attack may have been ‘Act of War’
Following the drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump last week that killed Iranian general Soleimani, Constitutional scholar Rob Natelson said the attack could be construed as an 'act of war'.
“He is, as you say, Commander in Chief,” began Natelson, who appeared on Monday’s KGVO Talk Back show. “However, that doesn’t give him the power to do anything he wants to in foreign policy. The last time I was on (Talk Back) I talked about the fact that the Presidency was created as an office with broad foreign policy powers, however, he does not have unlimited foreign policy powers.”
Natelson said the drone strike could be construed as an ‘act of war’ against Iran.
“As to the issue of whether he has the authority to do what he did, in my reading of the Constitution I think that’s an act of war, and I think that’s probably something that Congress should authorize in advance, although some would argue that the law passed in the wake of 9-11 was effectively a declaration of war and gave him that power.”
Natelson pointed out the glaring political bias on both sides of the issue.
“It is interesting, though, to hear people complaining on the one side that he was withdrawing troops from Syria and how he was being insufficiently resolute in foreign affairs, but those same people are now complaining that he is too resolute in foreign affairs. I think that is a reflection of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ rather than any principled political or Constitutional analysis”
Natelson is the author of ‘The Original Constitution; What it Actually Said and Meant’, and contracts with the Independence Institute, heads their Constitutional Studies Center and its Article V Information Center.