The debate, as always, hinges on what is meant by “national emergency” and “the U.S. is under imminent attack.”

Hawks would have you believe that any violence against any American asset anywhere in the world is a “national emergency” that authorizes the President to commit unlimited resources and perpetrate unlimited violence without regard for the will of Congress and the American people.

For hawks, the recognized ability of specific military assets to defend themselves if attacked is not good enough: the full power of the American state must immediately be committed to war of undefined scope in the event of any “provocation”. We’ve lost the concepts of local response, of local diplomacy, and limited use of power. We’re acting like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, swinging around our wand of power with no discipline and no strategy.

This is not sustainable, materially or diplomatically. If everything is an “emergency,” then nothing is an emergency. A permanent state of emergency is a permanent police state. And it is simply impossible for any country to impose a permanent police state on the world forever.