George Kennan has a brief letter in the Washington Post today:

I am extremely concerned about the shameful, almost total passivity of Congress during the period of preparations for our military attack on Iraq. (I recognize as exceptions Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s noble statement in the Senate [In Brief, March 20] and the belated but vigorous statements of Sen. Thomas A. Daschle [news story, March 18].)

Congress’s inaction is a dangerous precedent in executive-legislative relations. In light of this precedent, future presidents will be tempted to seize virtually dictatorial powers under the title of commander in chief, and nothing in our history rules out the possibility of their yielding to that temptation. This seems to be the meaning of the recent crisis.

GEORGE KENNAN Princeton, N.J.

As I am sure most of this blog’s readers know, Kennan is, amongst other things, one of the twentieth century’s most important diplomats. He formulated the idea of “containment” which defined U.S. policy towards the U.S.S.R during the Cold War. I believe he is almost a hundred years old.