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*Trump’s War Pledge* *Editorial of The New York Sun | July 16, 2016* The idea that France has to learn to live with terror reminds us of the old joke: “Why are there so many trees beside the roads in France?” The answer, according to the jibe: “Because the Nazis like to march in the shade.” It’s a crude, even offensive libel of the often-heroic French (who did so much to help us in our own revolution). What else, though, is one to say when the prime minister of the Fifth Republic is suggesting, in the wake of the attack at Nice, that “the times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism”? *Quelle connerie.* Click Image to Enlarge[image: http://www.nysun.com/pics/10101_large.jpg] <http://www.nysun.com/pics/10101.jpg> *our documents.gov <http://documents.gov>* SHORT AND VICTORIOUS: America has never lost a war it declared, a point to keep in mind in the wake of Donald Trump's pledge, in the wake of the latest attack on France, to seek a proper declaration against Islamist terror. America's declaration in World War I was fewer than 175; for a successful outcome, "all the resources of the country are hereby pledged," Congress declared. This is the context in which to mark Donald Trump’s pledge to seek a proper declaration of war against Islamic terrorists. The thing to remember is that President Obama, too, wants Congress to take some action in respect of authority to fight the Islamic State. It’s a different thing, though, than what Mr. Trump is talking about. Mr. Obama’s measure, an authorization to use military force, appears calculated less to unleash a greater American offensive than to limit troop commitments and curtail to three years authorities that are, at the moment, open-ended. A war declaration is something different. Congress has used them against 11 countries in five wars. One of the statistics we like to mark about these instruments is that America has never lost a war it declared. The reason is that they are typically short and to the point. In World War One, America declared against Germany in fewer than 175 words, ending with the famous sentence: “to bring the conflict to a successful termination all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.” We quoted that language a year and a half ago in an editorial endorsing a war declaration <http://www.nysun.com/editorials/declaring-against-isis/89044/>. “It’s not just a question of authorizing the president to do what he needs to do,” we noted. “It’s also a matter of binding the Congress, so there is no voting against supplying our GIs after voting for to send them off to war the way, say, John Forbes Kerry did when he was still in the Senate.” Mr. Obama’s wording on a draft authorization, we warned, would invite an anti-war movement “before Jane Fonda and Michael Moore can get down to breakfast.” We haven’t talked with Mr. Trump’s camarilla about his pledge for a war declaration, but it marks another example (Brexit is our favorite) in which he is showing a superior grasp of foreign affairs than the Democrats. Speaker Gingrich did Mr. Trump no favor in piping up with a call for a separate, unconstitutional loyalty test for adherents to Sharia law. Better to mark that America asked millions, of all backgrounds, for secular pledges of loyalty during the wars that we declared. The very act of declaring a war puts the idea of loyalty at a premium — for everyone. Neither America nor France has to learn to live with terror. Nor does anyone have to accommodate it. This was one of the points that Ariel Sharon used to make in the years leading up to — and during — his passage as prime minister of Israel. “Fight terror,” was his mantra. He said it to us and thousands of others at every turn. All Americans are with France, and all Americans know that our country is every bit as much of a target as the land that gave us Lafayette. It’s not a fight from which any country can shrink. ------------------------------ [image: Avast logo] <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcGwycjNyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0Njg2ODc3ODE-> [image: Yahoo! 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