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Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) pictured in 2013. (Photo: Ash Carter/flickr/public domain)
Amid a dearth of congressional debate, and fresh announcements of more troop deployments to Iraq, a group of bipartisan lawmakers is pushing yet another piece of legislation authorizing open-ended and geographically-limitless war against the Islamic State or ISIL.
Introduced by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) this week, the new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) is being framed by its backers as a bid to jump-start a real debate over the war and pursue a "narrow" mission.
However, analysts say that this new legislation, in fact, calls for extremely broad war powers, in some ways going beyond the failed AUMF proposed by President Barack Obama in mid-February.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is off to a very slow start - only 243 readers have contributed a total of $9,200 so far. We must raise $40,800 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
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"This is a bad AUMF," Raed Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams. "But taking one step back, the idea of the use of force in Iraq and Syria is a bad idea to start with. Even if they came up with a better AUMF, the use of force is still bad idea. This is missing from the debate."
Here are key provisions of the legislation:
Stephen Miles of advocacy organization Win Without War told Common Dreams, "Unfortunately the specifics fall short and leave the door open to too large of a military conflict." He added that U.S. efforts "continue to be solely focused on a military option."
Miles places more hope in a resolution introduced by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), which he said could force a real congressional discussion of the war itself. The bill calls for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq and Syria and could be used to force a debate by invoking authorities under the 1973 War Powers Resolution--which checks the president's power to launch military attacks.
Meanwhile it is not clear what consequence, if any, the new AUMF proposal will have for the war itself, which has continued to escalate with no congressional vote and despite the floundering of Obama's request for war powers. The Obama administration, for its part, has maintained the controversial position that passing an AUMF is a good symbolic gesture, but not legally mandatory.
According to Jarrar, "This new AUMF is an empty gesture that has no teeth and no limitations."
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Amid a dearth of congressional debate, and fresh announcements of more troop deployments to Iraq, a group of bipartisan lawmakers is pushing yet another piece of legislation authorizing open-ended and geographically-limitless war against the Islamic State or ISIL.
Introduced by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) this week, the new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) is being framed by its backers as a bid to jump-start a real debate over the war and pursue a "narrow" mission.
However, analysts say that this new legislation, in fact, calls for extremely broad war powers, in some ways going beyond the failed AUMF proposed by President Barack Obama in mid-February.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is off to a very slow start - only 243 readers have contributed a total of $9,200 so far. We must raise $40,800 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
|
"This is a bad AUMF," Raed Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams. "But taking one step back, the idea of the use of force in Iraq and Syria is a bad idea to start with. Even if they came up with a better AUMF, the use of force is still bad idea. This is missing from the debate."
Here are key provisions of the legislation:
Stephen Miles of advocacy organization Win Without War told Common Dreams, "Unfortunately the specifics fall short and leave the door open to too large of a military conflict." He added that U.S. efforts "continue to be solely focused on a military option."
Miles places more hope in a resolution introduced by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), which he said could force a real congressional discussion of the war itself. The bill calls for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq and Syria and could be used to force a debate by invoking authorities under the 1973 War Powers Resolution--which checks the president's power to launch military attacks.
Meanwhile it is not clear what consequence, if any, the new AUMF proposal will have for the war itself, which has continued to escalate with no congressional vote and despite the floundering of Obama's request for war powers. The Obama administration, for its part, has maintained the controversial position that passing an AUMF is a good symbolic gesture, but not legally mandatory.
According to Jarrar, "This new AUMF is an empty gesture that has no teeth and no limitations."
Amid a dearth of congressional debate, and fresh announcements of more troop deployments to Iraq, a group of bipartisan lawmakers is pushing yet another piece of legislation authorizing open-ended and geographically-limitless war against the Islamic State or ISIL.
Introduced by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) this week, the new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) is being framed by its backers as a bid to jump-start a real debate over the war and pursue a "narrow" mission.
However, analysts say that this new legislation, in fact, calls for extremely broad war powers, in some ways going beyond the failed AUMF proposed by President Barack Obama in mid-February.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is off to a very slow start - only 243 readers have contributed a total of $9,200 so far. We must raise $40,800 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
|
"This is a bad AUMF," Raed Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams. "But taking one step back, the idea of the use of force in Iraq and Syria is a bad idea to start with. Even if they came up with a better AUMF, the use of force is still bad idea. This is missing from the debate."
Here are key provisions of the legislation:
Stephen Miles of advocacy organization Win Without War told Common Dreams, "Unfortunately the specifics fall short and leave the door open to too large of a military conflict." He added that U.S. efforts "continue to be solely focused on a military option."
Miles places more hope in a resolution introduced by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), which he said could force a real congressional discussion of the war itself. The bill calls for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq and Syria and could be used to force a debate by invoking authorities under the 1973 War Powers Resolution--which checks the president's power to launch military attacks.
Meanwhile it is not clear what consequence, if any, the new AUMF proposal will have for the war itself, which has continued to escalate with no congressional vote and despite the floundering of Obama's request for war powers. The Obama administration, for its part, has maintained the controversial position that passing an AUMF is a good symbolic gesture, but not legally mandatory.
According to Jarrar, "This new AUMF is an empty gesture that has no teeth and no limitations."