On August 29^th the British Parliament debated for hours on the subject of military intervention in Syria, a debate that may or may not end up as a footnote in the history books is surely seen as a shining example of democracy hard at work. The outcome of their vote, right or wrong can be further debated years from now by the historians of the time; for now, democracy has won in Britain. As for the United States… democracy has taken a vacation.

The US is on the brink of yet another entanglement with a nation in the Middle East and as the citizens of this country form their own opinions on the subject we can’t help but wonder where our leaders are at and when will they debate?

What is known as the War Power Clause, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, gives Congress the power to declare war, and although this hasn’t always been the case regarding some of America’s recent wars it should be the case. In fact, Congress hasn’t voted to go to war since World War II; military intervention in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq were all conducted without any formal declaration of war.

And then we have the Wars Power Resolution which has led us to military conflicts in Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo and Libya, again military intervention without the approval of Congress. This is the resolution that is being cited to justify the US intervention in Syria.

The US is already divided on every topic that arises in Washington, if the President uses military intervention without consulting Congress the political division in this County will unquestionably reach a breaking point. The decision to use our military to intervene in another nation’s maters must be decided by Congress, right or wrong, whatever the outcome will be, it must be put to a vote, the vote is the legitimacy of our actions, the debate is the justification of our vote, and the Constitution is the reason for the debate.  I beseech our Congress to debate, I beseech you to return to Washington and give us our democracy.