AMERICA - Historical View of the War Powers Act in Context of Syria

"Can Past U.S. Military Engagements Shed Light on the Syria Conundrum?" PBS Newshour 9/6/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As Congress prepares to take up the difficult debate over how and whether to punish Syria's Assad regime for the use of chemical weapons, Gwen Ifill talks to presidential historian Michael Beschloss and Richard Norton Smith of George Mason University about the history of American war and what past conflicts can teach us.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  As we have heard, the president will make his case about Syria to the nation next week.

Gwen Ifill gets some historical perspective on the War Powers Act and a commander in chief's ability to sway public opinion.

GWEN IFILL (Newshour):  As the White House and Congress debate how the U.S. should handle the situation in Syria, what can past military engagements teach us about what we face today?

For that, we turn to presidential historians and NewsHour regulars Michael Beschloss and Richard Norton Smith.