U. S. revokes Iraq War Authorization 20 years later
2023.03.08 15:11
U. S. revokes Iraq War Authorization 20 years later
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the last American invasion of Iraq, and legislation to repeal two authorizations for those wars was supported by a committee of the U.S. Senate. This opens the door to a possible vote in the full Senate before then.
A bill to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, against Iraq was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 13-8. This was the latest attempt to reaffirm Congress’s role in deciding to send troops into combat.
The legislation could be put to a vote by the entire Senate, according to Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate. That would fall on the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.
Senator Tim Kaine, who has led efforts to get rid of previous AUMFs out of place, stated that it makes no sense to keep the authorizations in place.
In a telephone interview, he told Reuters, “Iraq was an enemy in 2002.” They are becoming a more important security partner. We continue to protect against terrorist activity and collaborate with Iraq to defeat ISIS.
By passing and then failing to repeal broad, open-ended war authorizations that presidents have used for years to justify military action around the world, lawmakers have argued for years that Congress has ceded too much authority to the president over whether troops should be sent into combat.
For instance, Republican Donald Trump, who was president at the time, claimed that the AUMF of 2002 provided legal authority for the assassination of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020 in Iraq.
Congress, not the president, has the authority to declare war under the Constitution.
It was unclear how likely it was for the measure to become law. There is significant opposition, despite support from members of both parties in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Before removing the current AUMFs, Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, demanded that a replacement be written in consultation with military commanders.
McCaul made the following statement: “Piecemeal repeal of those Iraq authorities is not a serious contribution to war powers reform.”
