Comment of Barbara Lee's speech

First of all, Lee's purpose while delivering this speech is not seemingly to stop the process of this resolution, because as she says : “I know that this use-of force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage war even without this resolution”. She obviously knows that her speech won't change anything.

We can assume that this resolution was logical for a majority of the American people, and the responsibility of being the one and only member of the Congress to voice against the president's decision requires courage. She knows that her stance will incur the wrath of the American people.  

I think that one of her main goal is to warn her audience of the possible consequences of passing the Use of Force Act which authorizes the American army to take military actions against those they think are responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

She reminds her audience of the past mistakes the US had made in a similar situation with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Indeed, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was what permitted to the US to enter war in Vietnam in 1964.  And she identify herself with the senator Wayne Morse, who at that time was one of the two dissent member of the resolution, in order to prove her point.

Also, the sentence “we all know that the President can wage war even without this resolution” refers to, I think, the power conferred to the president, also to the fact that in 1964, the president Johnson, with approval of the Congress, got engaged in the Vietnam war without a formal declaration of war. She reminds people that it is pretty much the same that is going to happen. She also condemn their rush to take military action without thinking about whether it is contitutionnal or not.

Furthermore, despite the sadness and the sorrow she feels, we can feel she speaks with wisdom and she appeal to common sense from the Congress and the American nation. Engaging into a war requires ressources, as much financial as human. She wants people to realise that behind weapons and guns, innocent lives will be taken in the conflict : “we run too great a risk that woman, children, and other non-combattant will be caught in the crossfire”. She wants people to realise the human cost.

Throughout my researches, I found out an article from the Huffington Post where Barbara Lee explains that according to the Constitution and as it sh0uld normally occur in a democratic country, the people should have a word to say in such important matters as engaging into a war as they called it later “the war against terror”. As we said it before, Lee tries to explain it when she quotes Wayne Morse when he said “we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution”.  And she also said in the same article I read, and I thought it was worth it to understant even more her speech : “How can we ask our brave men and women in uniform to fight a war that Congress lacks the courage to even debate?”