Today's Top Opinion: Kaine is right on war powers

Dick Cheney’s spirit inhabits the Oval Office. Barack Obama — the imperial president — relies on the 2001 congressional authorization of the invasion of Iraq as approval for his military intervention against the Islamic State. The move ought to offend all who believe presidents lack unlimited power.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., continues to assert Congress’ role in the waging of war. The Iraq resolution has nothing to do with the present danger. The Islamic State may claim Iraq as part of its imagined realm, but the operations against it, which include strikes against targets in Syria, lie beyond the original authorization’s scope. As Kaine says, the campaign against the Islamic State implicitly accepts Cheney’s doctrine of pre-emptive action. Obama is setting a precedent for unlimited presidential prerogatives.

Kaine believes Obama needs to receive congressional concurrence. Although he and Obama belong to the same party and enjoy a friendship that transcends mere politics, Kaine applies to the Obama administration the same standards he would apply to a Republican White House.

The Times-Dispatch supports decisive aggression against the Islamic State and its related groups; we also believe Kaine is right in principle and in policy. His interpretation of constitutional implications reflects ours.

In 2012, The Times-Dispatch endorsed Republican George Allen for re-election to the Senate. We are not retroactively changing the endorsement, yet we gladly commend Kaine’s service. We long have argued that foreign policy and national security define the federal government’s principal obligations. Kaine serves on committees for foreign affairs and armed services. He stands tall; the electorate made a wise call.

###