Activists across the U.S. will be gathering this Saturday, August 31, to hold “No War With Syria” protest demonstrations. See the following video for recent background information on the potential hostilities upon Syria, as well as how to find a protest taking place near you:

Last year, Carolina Liberty PAC participated in the “Conservatives Against Unconstitutional Wars Rally” in Charlotte, NC, in order to bring about a discussion on this very issue. It seems only fitting to re-post the article that we posted at the time, in the context of where we stand today:

Why a Charlotte Rally Against UNconstitutional Wars?
the following content was originally posted on July 16, 2012

We must bring the accountability back when it comes to our money and our lives. U.S. taxpayers have not had a say in our tax dollars being delegated toward aggressive acts since the last war declaration was made in 1942. Our representation lies in congressional approval. Currently, debt is being saddled upon our children and grandchildren at the rate of 19.3 MILLION dollars per HOUR, for war acts which have no congressional approval and which we, the people, do not consent.

U.S. military involvement in aggressions upon Libya, controlled by the authority of the United Nations and eventually ended under the authority of the UN, has been the subject of scrutiny from U.S. citizens yearning for a return to a government restrained by the confines of the U.S. Constitution.

Last month, after pentagon officials began to finalize plans for yet another uncongressionally-declared act of aggression, escalating plans to launch an attack on Syria, Congressman Ron Paul addressed the question, from where is the authority for violence in the name of the U.S. taxpayers to come? Paul stated, “Since World War II, the proper authority to go to war has been ignored. It has been replaced by international entities like the United Nations and NATO, or the President himself, while ignoring the Congress.”

The idea that the executive administration believes itself untethered by such inconveniences as having to obtain congressional authority is no exaggeration. In March of this year, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged, before a hearing of the armed services committee, that UN approval indeed holds greater precedence on U.S. military decisions than would the approval or disapproval of our own congress. In response to being questioned as to whether or not the president would be able to act without congressional approval to initiate a no-fly zone in Syria, Panetta replied, “Our goal would be to seek international permission and we would come to the congress to inform you … whether or not we would want to get permission from congress, I think those are issues we would have to discuss as we decide what to do.”

When further asked by Senator Jeff Sessions whether or not the president would perform acts of U.S. interest if the UN did not agree, Panetta responded, “we would like to have some kind of legal basis in which to do it, as we did in Libya.”

What “legal basis” does Mr. Panetta believe the president had for the U.S. military engaging in acts of war against Libya, when the only authority to do so came from a UN security council resolution? As Senator Sessions put it, “I’m really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat. I don’t believe that’s close to being correct. They provide NO legal authority. The only legal authority … to deploy the United States military is the congress and the president and the law and the constitution.”

It is time to remind the executive administration that the United States is a sovereign entity. On July 21, we’re taking it to the streets and hope that everyone who agrees that we should not be sending our troops to die in war without so much as a congressional declaration of war, everyone who agrees that we shouldn’t be forced to engage in labor to provide for “nation building” in other countries or for drones to spy on us here at home, everyone who agrees that the U.S. needs to get out of the UN and the UN needs to get out of the U.S., will come out with your picnic blankets, chairs, flags, signs, and families, to rally with the Charlotte liberty crew, Gary Johnson, Richard Rivette, Dean Sisco, TMOT, Vince Coakley, and many more phenomenal guests.