This week, twenty years ago, Congress voted to authorize the U. S. invasion of Iraq. Like many things from 20 years ago (landlines, non-public music players, and dial-up Internet), Iraq’s 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Forces (AUMF) is now obsolete. But as long as it remains in the law, it is insignificant.
In the two decades since that vote, 3 presidents have been successful, and a fourth is now in office. An entire generation of Americans has come of age. The global has dramatically replaced. But the law that legalized the Iraq war remains on the books, a living relic of America’s eternal wars. It is time for Congress to repeal this authority and turn the page on the era of endless wars.
Even after the end of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our country has the legacy of the everlasting wars fought after the attacks of September the 11th. Save him unchecked military action and keep Americans out of harm’s way.
The founders of our country understood that the executive branch is the most prone to war. With “careful care,” they have given Congress, the branch most accountable to other Americans, the exclusive force to make a decision about when and where our country. Move to war. Unfortunately, in recent decades, Congress has largely abdicated this responsibility, and successive administrations have worked on the scene to expand the president’s war forces far beyond what was envisioned by the founders or never approved by Congress.
It should be remembered that the 2002 Iraqi AUMF was founded on the lie that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. When members of Congress legalized military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, they approved blank checks that presidents could abuse decades later. to release the action of the independent army.
By repealing Iraq’s 2002 AUMF, Congress can also push forward the long-awaited broader warpower reform procedure. This also includes the 2001 AUMF dominance, the post-September 11 authorization that has been used to justify the army’s movements in the list of countries, adding Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines and Niger, among s. .
While Congress did not foresee to expect those damaging results in 2002, there is now broad bipartisan help to repeal Iraq’s 2002 AUMF among lawmakers and the American people. Relations Committee with dozens of Republican votes. Biden’s leadership has also signaled its support, issuing an administrative policy in favor of repeal and noting that the AUMF “has lost its usefulness and deserves to be repealed. “Meanwhile, more than 8 in 10 Americans say the president’s war functions want to be tightened and Congress wants to have the final say on whether the U. S. enters the war.
Over the years, critics have argued that authorization is mandatory to allow presidents to respond to threats to U. S. troops stationed in hostile regions. Do we need to continue to allow presidents to devote troops indefinitely to an unknown number of countries to combat dubious adversaries?
When the Senate returns from recess, it will have to stick to House leadership and repeal Iraq’s 2002 war authorization as part of the annual defense policy bill. Members of Congress will have to honor the oath they took when they took office: to respect and protect the Constitution. Key to this duty is to reclaim its important constitutional role as the sole branch of the legal government to make the difficult resolution of whether or not to send U. S. troops to war.
Twenty years ago, Congress made one of the most vital foreign policy decisions of our lifetimes when it voted to approve the invasion of Iraq. After years of bloody fighting, the death of Saddam Hussein and the loss of countless U. S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians, President Barack Obama declared an end to the war in 2011. Now is the time for Congress to close the book on this war once and for all and take ambitious steps to save the next eternal war.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress who voted against the AUMF in 2001 and 2002 to approve the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rep. Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She is Co-Chair of the Steering and Policy Committee, as well as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairman Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Caucus of Choices.
The perspectives expressed in this article are those of the author.
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