Matt Gunterman March 7th, 2007

This evening, Think Progress notes Mitch McConnell’s convenient new-found ignorance on the powers of Congress to place limits on presidential war powers.

Mitch’s lead role in restricting President Clinton’s use of force in the Balkans eight years ago is highlighted in a new report from the Center for American Progress.

In short, whereas today Mitch claims Congress’s powers are today limited to the purse, back in the days of President Clinton, Kentucky’s senior senator was happy to play armchair general. While authorizing Clinton’s use of airstrikes in the conflict, McConnell decided to play armchair general with the taxpayers’ billions. As the report states,

Sen. McConnell noted he was not satisfied with President Clinton’s war strategy. As a result, he sought to fund the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, while also asserting his opposition to the deployment of any U.S. troops on the ground.

It’s odd that McConnell would second guess Clinton so, but then again, Clinton had never served in the military, unlike Mitch himself and Bush 43, right?

• Iraq War , Kosovo War (1999) , Mitch McConnell , U.S. Senate
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