Warren Christopher wasn’t a perfect secretary of state, but as an advocate of caution and restraint in foreign policy, his passing this weekend — on the eve of our new adventure in Libya — was more than a little ironic. Here’s a portion from The New York Times obituary:
Mr. Christopher, who as a diplomat came to embody a reluctance to use force, supported President Truman’s use of atomic bombs on Japan but later expressed doubt as to whether all alternatives had been fully explored. […]
He occasionally spoke out on international issues, urging in an op-ed article in late 2002 that President Bush should rethink “his fixation on attacking Iraq” […]
It’s worth noting that Christopher recently — along with James A. Baker III — oversaw a commission to study and revise the 1973 War Powers Act. Among their recommendations: a proposal to require congressional consultation for combat expected to last longer than a week. It doesn’t sound like much, but in light of the administration’s unilateral decision to intervene, it would have been welcome.
