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Lawmaker: U.S. military intervention in Libya unconstitutional

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A liberal Democrat on Thursday assailed the U.S. mission in Libya during a speech on the floor of the House of the Representatives, calling the adventure unconstitutional as the president usurps the exclusive right of Congress to declare war.

Representative Dennis Kucinich went on the House floor to deliver the 40-minute speech, saying the country is "in a constitutional crisis because our chief executive has assumed for himself powers to wage war."

"The president has no right to wrest that fundamental power from Congress - and we have no right to cede it to him," said the Congressman.

He noted the executive branch can only go to war when the country faces "imminent danger," which Pentagon Chief Robert Gates have admitted didn't exist before the bombing of Libya started.

He also accused the U.S. government of going beyond what was authorized by the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which established a no-fly zone over Libya. He said the air campaign seemed to have provided Libyan rebels with air cover.

"What is humanitarian about providing to one side of a conflict the ability to wage war against the other side of a conflict, which will inevitably trigger a civil war, turning Libya into a graveyard?" he asked.

Kucinich closed by reminding lawmakers that only Congress can declare war after it has "deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure."

Kucinich has opposed both the military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he is also the cosponsor of a House bill calling for an end to the Libyan intervention unless Congress provides its stamp of approval.