US Senate committee votes to end authorization for war on Iraq

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has voted to advance a bill that seeks to repeal two authorizations for past US invasions of Iraq, preparing the ground for a possible vote in full Senate before the 20th anniversary of the last invasion.

Voting 13-8 on Wednesday, the committee approved the bill to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) against Iraq.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the next few weeks which will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.

“This is about ending endless wars and reasserting Congress’ Constitutional role in matters of war, peace, and diplomacy,” Democrat Tim Kaine, one of the sponsors of the legislation, tweeted.

The bill appears to enjoy the support of Senate leadership, as Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted last week the “need to put the Iraq War behind us once and for all.”

The Biden administration claimed in December 2021 that the US combat mission in Iraq has ended. He said, however, that 2,500 troops will remain on Iraqi soil on an “advise and assist” mission.

US Congress urged to repeal war authorization to assure no ‘unchecked’ president could ‘misuse’ it

The 2002 Iraq war authorization has been used by successive US presidents despite the war in Iraq having ended.

The 2002 resolution, dubbed the “Authorization for the Use of Military Force” (AUMF), was overwhelmingly passed by the US Congress, granting the American president permission to wage military action – without the need for any Congressional approval – as laid out in the specific terms set in the legislative measure.

The resolution was used by former US president George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003. However, the next presidents also used that despite the war in Iraq having ended.

One of the latest instances of reference to this resolution was in early January 2020, when ex-president Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, along with the deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

There have been several campaigns to repeal the AUMFs in the past few years.

Efforts for repealing the resolution come as there is still a wider-ranging 2001 AUMF in place which was adopted in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

US lawmaker revives push to curb presidential power to wage foreign wars

A veteran US congresswoman and the only lawmaker to vote against a broad authorization for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 is now pushing for a congressional measure to limit the White House’s power to wage foreign wars.

Also on Wednesday, Republican Senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to repeal the 2001 authorization, which was rejected by a 20-1 vote.

“It was originally intended to go after those who attacked us on 9/11, yet presidents have, for over two decades, abused the AUMF to justify military operations in at least 22 countries and against groups that did not exist on 9/11,” Paul tweeted.

The congressional authorization has been applied entirely in Muslim-majority countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

A 2021 report prepared by Brown University’s Costs of War Project found that the US-led “global war on terror” has led to the deaths of nearly one million people, and cost more than $8 trillion.

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