The Senate on Wednesday voted down an amendment introduced by Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks to invade Afghanistan and is still used to justify wars today.
The bill didn’t come close to passing and failed in a vote of 9-86, with only four Republicans, four Democrats, and one Independent supporting the legislation. The vote came ahead of the Senate voting on a repeal of the 1991 and 2002 Iraq AUMFs, which is a symbolic move as the authorizations are not used to wage war today.
“Today, I offered the US Senate a chance to repeal the 9/11 2001 Authorization for War to reclaim our constitutional power and send a message to the world that we are a nation of peace,” Paul said in a statement after the 2001 AUMF vote.
“Today, we should have risen above symbolism and repealed the 9/11 authorization for war and shown our respect for the Constitution, our fealty to the rule of law, and our sincere desire that peace, not perpetual war, be our legacy,” Paul added.
The 2001 AUMF is used today to justify the US occupation of Syria, US operations in Iraq, the war against al-Shabaab in Somalia, and other special operations across Africa. Most of the groups the US is fighting using the 2001 AUMF didn’t exist when the authorization became law.
Repealing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs will not have any impact on US operations in the Middle East and Africa, as hawks in Congress have argued. President Biden has previously claimed Article II of the US Constitution as his authority to justify airstrikes against Shia militias in Iraq and Syria. During a debate in the Senate, Sen. Time Kaine (D-VA) said the president “has Article II power to defend against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and is doing it every day.”
Spot on Senator Paul, spot on. Unfortunately the war mongers have the field.
And the warmongers have the support of the money printing industry. That’s how they can pull it off.
Baldwin (D-WI)
Markey (D-MA)
Paul (R-KY)
Sanders (I-VT)
Vance (R-OH)
Warren (D-MA)
Braun (R-IN)
Cardin (D-MD)
Lee (R-UT)
Sanders and Warren voted not to repeal. Disappointing.
No, those are the nine that voted yea, including Sanders and Warren.
Thanks Wars!
You’re welcome.
Sen. Rand Paul introduced an amendment to repeal the 2001 AUMF
Sen. Paul says “repealing the 2002 Iraq AUMF will not change things”
WTF are there two different AUMFs? or is rand paul been smoking the pot too much
There are three. 1991, 2001 and 2002.
Hang in there Senator, the AUMF won’t be much of a problem when US is broke, and the dollar is no more. As for the 86 Senators abdicating their responsibility, they will have a lot to answer to their voters.
Tend to agree with your sentiment but very skeptical about the clout of “the voters.” Elections really do not matter as illustrated by this craven senate.
The AUMF and the fraudulent GWOT has been used throughout the world without any recourse to the cravens in the uniparty.
Unless the worm turns in dramatic fashion by 2024, doubt there will be any “substantial” change within the uniparty, unfortunate as that will be.
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I am not a great fan of Senator Paul. That said, I am full on board with his resolution.
Not being critical, but why did you predicate “not being a great fan of Senator Paul” on your comment? Just curious.
Like father…Not like Son…!
Only his father, Ron Paul is worthy of some credits…!
His father should have been president. What a difference World-wide that could have made.
Unfortunately, Ron Paul was not sufficiently pro-IsraHell to ever secure a nomination within his own party. We know who the biggest contributors to election campaigns are.
God forbid that Amerikkka be a “nation of peace”.
Rand , it doesn’t appear that your apple fell as far from the tree as I’d previously thought.
Thankfully. 😉