[Source.](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/war-by-design/) > *Another effort to restore congressional war powers has failed.* > There is an old IBM presentation slide occasionally passed around social media, allegedly from 1979. It reads, “A COMPUTER CAN NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE … THEREFORE A COMPUTER MUST NEVER MAKE A MANAGEMENT DECISION.” It was a wise sentiment then, which—as our ability to violate the maxim has only grown with our digital technology—appears even wiser now. And if we drop “computer” from the phrase, we find a principle that may apply equally to all times and all places: Persons or things that can never be held accountable must never make a management decision. > Can a treaty declare war? Congress seems to think so. Of course, Congress has been happy to let presidents go to war without its declaration for a long time now, so maybe no one should be surprised. Usually, when leaving management decisions to others, not being accountable is the point. > You might, like me, have missed Sen. Rand Paul’s proposed Amendment 222 to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 a couple weeks ago. It was short-lived. Joining Kentucky’s Paul in support were only fifteen senators, all Republicans, including Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Utah’s Mike Lee. The body of the amendment read as follows: “To express the sense of Congress that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty does not supersede the constitutional requirement that Congress declare war before the United States engages in war.” Apparently eighty-three U.S. senators think that it is only a matter of semantics whether a president fulfilling American treaty obligations means the country is at war or not—or that it’s just up to him.