The Biden administration supports an effort in Congress to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that was used for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“The administration supports the repeal of the 2002 AUMF, as the United States has no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF as a domestic legal basis, and repeal of the 2002 AUMF would likely have minimal impact on current military operations,” the White House said in a statement on Monday.
The House is expected to vote on a bill this week that would repeal the 2002 AUMF. There was a renewed push in Congress to rein in the president’s war powers after Biden bombed Syria back in February. But as the White House statement said, the 2002 AUMF is not currently being used for military operations, so repealing would essentially be symbolic.
The AUMF that has been the most abused is the 2001 measure that was used for the war in Afghanistan and kicked off the War on Terror. Today, it is being used to fight groups that didn’t even exist in 2001, like ISIS.
With that being said, the 2002 Iraq AUMF has been abused in recent years. The Trump administration cited it when justifying the January 2020 assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Slow, late, but some sort of progress….
“But as the White House statement said, the 2002 AUMF is not currently being used for military operations, so repealing would essentially be symbolic.”
That statement is scary. Carry on.
Symbolic but functionally useless, like Israel signing a peace treaty with the UAE last year or the year before.
Bring the troops home. We’ve done enough destabilizing in that region for the rest of the century.
There is a general Congressional consensus favoring almost any measures against Russia, China, Iran, N. Korea, Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela. He knows Congress is a wasted whore of the war industry; and, he would like they should fully share responsibility and maintain the farce of representative democracy.