Clearly, in the case of Fidel's communist regime at least, President Clinton is willing to reward a brutal dictatorship with improved relations for intensifying its repression and preventing its people from fleeing. Or, put more precisely, Mr. Clinton's credibility would be shot. In particular, the possibility that self-serving reasons might prompt a president impetuously to initiate hostilities were a factor in their decision to vest in Congress the authority to make war. When circumstances permit the orderly functioning of constitutional processes, it is clearly the legislative branch's responsibility to debate and give prior approval to such actions. Of course, even when circumstances do permit, congressional checks on dubious executive branch actions are not automatic.
Debates have to be held and votes taken.
Unless both Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill agree to act, the legislature will not have an opportunity to correct the errors of the President's ways . The Administration continues to pursue agreements with Russia and other successors to the Soviet Union that would effectively foreclose the remaining options to defend the United States, its troops overseas and its allies against missile attack. It is hard to imagine a more inane and irresponsible policy at the very moment that ballistic missiles are proliferating around the world. Like Saddam Hussein before him, Raoul Cedras doubtless wishes he had a missile that could threaten the United States with a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon. For if he did, he could probably deter an invasion since this country has no defense against such an attack and is, therefore, even more vulnerable to it than the White House is to airplanes violating restricted airspace.