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From: tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: American Foreign Policy
Message-ID: <1541@ihlpg.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-Jan-86 15:49:41 EST
Article-I.D.: ihlpg.1541
Posted: Tue Jan  7 15:49:41 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Jan-86 19:54:01 EST
References: <38@ubc-vision.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 21

> [Farzin Mokhtarian]
>    Why is America a democracy only inside? Somehow the democratic process
>    ceases to exist when we get to foreign policy matters. Decisions are
>    made by the president and a few advisors around him. This seems peculiar
>    when so many things are done in the name of "national security". I
>    think we are bound to see more abuses of power as long as so much of it
>    is concentrated in the hands of the few. As long as things are the way
>    they are, doesn't the term "American democracy" need to be qualified? 
> Reference:  End of Empire  by Brian Lapping, Granada Publishing 1985.
----
   No, it doesn't.  The president is elected by the people.  The president
is also commander and chief of the armed forces.  Democracy does not mean
that the people make the decisions directly.
  The U. S. constitution does give Congress the sole power to declare war.
It can be legitimately argued that undeclared wars such as Korea and Vietnam
are unconstitutional.  This has no bearing on whether the U. S. is a democracy.
If Reagan unilaterally decided to push the button tomorrow, we will all be
dead, and Reagan will have become the greatest mass murderer in history, but
the U. S.  will still have been a democracy.
-- 
Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL  ihnp4!ihlpg!tan