Does the UK need a ‘War Powers Act’?
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By Andrew Noakes
In the wake of Chilcot, questions have been raised about the democratic accountability of the process involved in taking this country to war.
In the middle of a stormy night on 4 August, 1964, a US Navy warship patrolling the coast of North Vietnam detected radar and sonar signals in the Gulf of Tonkin that suggested it was about to come under attack. The USS Maddox spent several hours feverishly manoeuvring over rough seas and firing shells into the darkness. In the morning no evidence could be found of the enemy, but policy-makers in Washington nonetheless decided it meant war.
President Johnson immediately sought and gained permission from the US Congress to use “all necessary measures” against North Vietnam, which resulted in almost a decade of conflict. But by 1973, Congress was not happy. Many of its members claimed that, despite the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’ they had passed, their permission for a wider war had never been sought. They passed the War Powers ...
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