On Tuesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a War Powers Resolution that would direct President Biden to remove armed forces from Somalia that is cosponsored by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).
The resolution would mandate the removal of all US armed forces from Somalia, with the exception of embassy security, within 365 days of the bill being adopted. The resolution is privileged, meaning the House will have to vote on the measure within 18 legislative days.
The introduction comes after Gaetz grilled Gen. Michael Langley, the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), about the pattern of the US military training African coup leaders.
“The American people have extremely low confidence in our military leaders and their ability to assess their own efficacy. How do they expect Americans to believe their justification for occupying Somalia when they can’t even determine who in their own training programs will lead a violent coup afterwards?” Gaetz said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the House voted down a Syria War Powers Resolution that was introduced by Gaetz. “When the House debated my resolution to withdraw troops from Syria, both Republicans and Democrats argued the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Afghanistan serves as a global permission slip for every neocon fantasy. They will argue the same for Somalia,” Gaetz said.
The 2001 AUMF, which was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks for the invasion of Afghanistan, is used today to justify the US war against al-Shabaab, a group that didn’t exist when the authorization first became law. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced an amendment in the Senate to repeal the 2001 AUMF last week, but it failed in a vote of 9-86.
The US war against al-Shabaab in Somalia has escalated since President Biden ordered the deployment of up to 500 troops to the country in May 2022. The Biden administration recently vowed that it would increase support for the Mogadishu-based government.
The US-backed government launched a major offensive against al-Shabaab last year, leading to more US airstrikes, although AFRICOM has not reported any strikes in the month of March. The last airstrike in Somalia that AFRICOM reported took place on February 21.
The US military portrays al-Shabaab as a major threat due to its size and affiliation with al-Qaeda, but it’s widely believed the group doesn’t have ambitions outside of Somalia. Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that was launched in 2006, and the group didn’t declare loyalty to al-Qaeda until 2012, after years of fighting the US and its proxies.
“ Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that was launched in 2006, and the group didn’t declare loyalty to al-Qaeda until 2012, after years of fighting the US and its proxies.‘
Once again, we are reaping what we sowed….
Just get us out of all these foolish foreign interventions. Our tax dollars should be spent at home!
“They” are not listening to you.
Another pure political move by him.
Do you really have a problem with him introducing an antiwar bill to congress? That’s about the best kind of political move I can imagine. We need more of this.
I have a problem with all politicians, particularly those who introduce bills they know are not going anywhere, just to score political points.
I don’t buy the idea that he’s doing it just to score political points. Standing up for what’s right is the right thing to do, even if no one else agrees with you.
but great statesmen hafta be good politicians first!
I don’t mind if he is doing it PURELY to have sex with some Ron Paul disciple he has the hots for.
It’s a great bill and I hope – though seriously doubt – it passes.
He’s certainly not worried about being replaced by a Democrat in that district. But he might be worried about a future primary.
I’m having a hard time not liking this guy. I don’t even give a sh*t what his motive is.
Me too.
I thought he was a pig.
Now, his actions lately are forcing me to re-evaluate him. At least politically.
I looked up his positions. Not all that bad on balance. I’ve seen much worse.
the “pig” narrative may be due to the fact that Gaetz is somewhat anti-war. we saw how tulsi gabbard became framed as a racist or homophobe or ant-transphobic or whatever to neutralize her.
The ‘pig narrative’ is my own.
Based solely on aspects of Gaetz life outside of ‘anti war’ concerns.
This bill will get as far as the bill to pull us out of Syria.
Yes. But at least he’s calling attention to Presidential abuse. Perhaps some people will check the Constitution to discover that the President isn’t supposed to conduct war without legislative approval.
These bills might not pass, but they force the bill’s opponents to go on record supporting US intervention in foreign nations. Which could be very useful for trying to oust these people from office.
Don’t get me wrong, if I were a congressman, I would vote for this, but it needs to be kept in mind that people like Gaetz wouldn’t be putting stuff like this forward if Trump was in office.
I take it that you think Trump would have pulled us out of Syria entirely.
No, he wouldn’t have.
We agree on that.
It’s good Gaetz wants us out of war zones. I don’t know where he would stand if he were in Congress when W was our misleader in chief. Like the other politicians misleading our country, he wants the tension with China to continue.
Robert Taft would be proud of these three guys. Too bad FDR Republicans are still crippled on the Wilsonian ideology.
realize that FDR was a democrat and he inherited a mess, which would have collapsed no matter who the POTUS was. and the republicans fought him every step of the way.
FDR ran in 1932 on the Democratic platform of balancing the budget and reducing the size of the federal government by 25%.
Instead, he implemented Hoover’s platform of large-scale public works and welfare programs and managed to extend the Depression for another nine years.
Lord-a-mighty….are these people trying to turn me into a Republican? 😳
I’m waking up to a visual. Find the thumbnail included by Thomas Knapp in his comment on the linked article below. Now replace ISIS with Al-Shabaab and Syria with Somalia. Does it seem familiar?
https://news.antiwar.com/2023/03/16/report-arab-nations-look-to-make-deal-on-syria-reconstruction-normalization/#comment-6139995107