Tag Archives: AUMF

Sen. Paul to Hold Hearing on ‘Unauthorized War’s Effect on Federal Spending’, by Daniel McAdams

Posted on June 6, 2018 | Leave a comment

Those unauthorized wars have been a big ticket indeed. Perhaps more essential than an accounting of those costs is how the US can fight unauthorized (by Congress) wars in the first place. From Daniel McAdams at ronpaulinstitute.org:

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Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced today that on Wednesday, June 6th, he will be holding a hearing on the enormous costs of the endless wars which continue to be fought under the 2001 Congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed after the 9/11 attacks.

According to a press release from Paul’s office, the hearing “will explore both the financial impact and the constitutional implications of open-ended war under the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and examine the potential ramifications if Congress adopts the revised AUMF proposed by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).”

Unlike the great majority of Congressional hearings, Paul’s line-up of witnesses actually promises to provide some serious debate and cogent analysis of the issue. Noted Constitutional scholars Judge Andrew Napolitano (a member of the Ron Paul Institute Board) and Professor Jonathan Turley will provide expert testimony. The two will be joined by Christopher Anders, Deputy Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

The Corker/Kaine revised AUMF is sold as Congress finally waking up to its Constitutional war obligations, but as Sen. Paul has noted in a letter to his Senate colleagues, “it is clear upon reading that the Kaine/Corker AUMF gives nearly unlimited power to this or any President to be at war anywhere, anytime and against anyone, with minimal justification and no prior specific authority.”

By many estimates, Iraq and Afghanistan alone have cost the American taxpayer close to $3 trillion with no end in sight and no “victory” in sight. That does not include money spent to overthrow and murder Libya’s Gaddafi, to raise an army of jihadists to overthrow Assad in Syria, and to expand the US military presence to 50 out of 53 African countries. And, of course, to backstop Saudi Arabia’s genocide in Yemen.

Sen. Paul’s hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management will take place on June 6th at 2:30 p.m. eastern time in SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building.

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/congress-alert/2018/june/04/sen-paul-to-hold-hearing-on-unauthorized-war-s-effect-on-federal-spending/

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Reining in the Ubiquitous Use of Military Force, by Arshad M. Khan

Posted on November 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) was the only representative who voted in 2001 against the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which was intended to authorize the war in Afghanistan, but has been stretched to cover every US intervention since then. Last July, she proposed repealing that authorization. House Speaker Paul Ryan deleted her proposal, but Lee deserves some credit for opposing the American pastime: foreign wars. From Arshad M. Khan at antiwar.com:

Four US soldiers died in Niger on October 4, and the president’s insensitive phone call to the widow of one has brought the subject of the military in every corner of the world back in the news.

The UN has 193 members. The US has over 240,000 troops in at least 172 of them, some of which are embroiled in what The New York Times describes as “forever wars”. How many people knew there was a contingent of more than 1,000 in Niger? Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader and thus the highest ranking Democrat, did not. Neither did Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who serves on the Armed Forces Committee. Or, Senator Rand Paul who wants the post 9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) to be reviewed.

It is now 16 years since the AUMF was passed, and the US is no longer responding to an attack on the mainland nor is it in any immediate peril. So why this flagrant insult to the Constitution, which wisely reserved the power to declare war for Congress alone. Yes, we live in a different world; yes, we are confronted with non-state actors. At the same time, we also live in a world of instant communication. How difficult could it be then for Congress to respond quickly when necessary?

In September, the Senate voted 61-36 against Senator Rand Paul’s AUMF amendment calling for another look. He denounced it as a recipe for “unlimited war, anywhere, anytime, any place upon the globe,” adding “I don’t think one generation should bind another generation to war.” One can only commend his steadfastness in forcing a vote. “Who in their right mind thinks Congress is going to do their job without being forced to do their job?” commented Senator Paul.

In the House, Representative Barbara Lee’s (D-California) repeal amendment last July was stripped off the defense authorization bill by Speaker Paul Ryan according to her in the “dead of night” in a move she called, “underhanded and undemocratic.”

To continue reading: Reining in the Ubiquitous Use of Military Force

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Posted in Foreign Policy, Government, History, Law, Military

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Rand Paul’s Comeback, by Justin Raimondo

Posted on September 14, 2017 | 3 comments

Rand Paul rediscovers his principles and his cajones. From Justin Raimondo at antiwar.com:

He gets it – while all too many libertarians don’t

Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has learned his lesson, and it is this: it’s better to be bold. He’s exchanged the mealy-mouthed equivocations of his ill-fated presidential run – when he actually met with Bill Kristol, presumably to negotiate getting a break from his neoconservative nemeses – with a full-on frontal assault against the War Party. As I write, he is standing in the well of the Senate, making the case for his amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that would nullify the Authorization for the Use of Military Force that gave the green light to the Afghan and Iraq wars and subsequent American aggressions.

In marked contrast to the carefully modulated rhetorical tone he affected during the 2016 primary – never that convincing to begin with — Sen. Paul seems to have found his voice. Here’s an excerpt from his earlier Senate speech:

“I rise today to oppose unauthorized, undeclared, and unconstitutional war.

“What we have today is basically unlimited war – war anywhere, anytime, any place on the globe.

“This vote will be to sunset, in 6 months, the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force.

“No one with an ounce of intellectual honesty believes these authorizations allow current wars we fight in 7 countries.

“Some of the more brazen advocates of war maintain the President can even fight war in perpetuity without any Congressional authority.”

A wonderful word, brazen – it brings to mind the brassiness of a whore and the wanton evil of a serial murderer, both being characteristics of the War Party and its camp followers. And certainly brazen is fairly descriptive of how, as Sen. Paul contends, the US Congress has failed in its constitutional duty to debate and vote on the many wars we have initiated since September 11, 2001. The War Party doesn’t want a debate, and that much was underscored when Sen. Bob Corker rose to table the Paul amendment, so that in the end the Senate never voted on the actual resolution but only on whether to cut off debate.

To continue reading: Rand Paul’s Comeback

 

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Posted in Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Government, War

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Rand Paul Takes a Stand Against Unconstitutional War, by Michael Krieger

Posted on September 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

Congress has virtually ceded its power to declare war to the president. Kudos to Rand Paul, who may be starting to push the pendulum in the other direction. From Michael Krieger at libertyblitzkrieg.com:

Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential run was extremely disappointing. Rather than take it hard to the establishment, he seemed more interested in playing footsie with neocons and establishment Republicans. That strategy didn’t work and it never will. Rand Paul is best when he’s acting like a statesman and not a politician — that’s what people who like him, like about him. His campaign advisors were clearly incompetent, but at the end of the day the buck stops with him.

That being said, life is all about learning from your mistakes and Rand has truly started coming into his own in the age of Trump. With much of the party fractured and bickering, Paul seems to have found the space to push forward on key issues such as civil asset forfeiture, prison reform and endless war. He’s serving a very important function within a elitist and crony U.S. Congress and we should all take the time to thank him for his efforts.

His latest stand relates to the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which has been consistently abused for 16 years by multiple presidents in order to start endless military interventions against new enemies without forcing Congress to uphold its constitutional duty to wage war.

As Senator Paul explained in a recent Rare opinion piece:

As Congress takes up the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I will insist it vote on my amendment to sunset the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force.

Why?

Because these authorizations to use military force are inappropriately being used to justify American warfare in 7 different countries. Sunsetting both AUMFs will force a debate on whether we continue the Afghanistan war, the Libya war, the Yemen war, the Syria war, and other interventions.

Our military trains our soldiers to be focused and disciplined, yet the politicians who send them to fight have for years ignored those traits when developing our foreign policy.

The result? Trillions spent in seemingly endless conflicts in every corner of the globe, while we find ourselves 16 years into the war in Afghanistan wondering what our purpose there even is any more, or if we’ll ever bring our troops home.

To continue reading: Rand Paul Takes a Stand Against Unconstitutional War

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Posted in Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Government, Law

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She Said That? 2/13/15

Posted on February 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

From Marjorie Cohn, professor at San Diego’s Thomas Jefferson School of Law:

Although the proposed AUMF [Authorization of Military Force] contains some purported limitations, President Obama is essentially asking Congress to bless endless war against anyone he wants, wherever he wants.

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2015/02/12/just-say-no-to-the-aumf/

Nobody should be given that kind of power, and especially not the feckless idiot egomaniac currently inhabiting the White House.

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Just Say ‘No’ to the AUMF! by Justin Raimondo

Posted on February 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

From Justin Raimondo, at antiwar.com:

Like everything this administration does, President Obama’s proposed draft for the authorization of military force (AUMF) is a purely political document, starting with its conception. After all, US forces are already in Iraq – 3,000 of them – “advising” Iraqi and Kurdish troops. Now, suddenly, the White House sends this latest AUMF to Congress, which raises an issue: if the AUMF fails to pass, will US forces pick up and leave? To ask the question is to answer it: of course not.

The President made this clear enough in his message accompanying the draft AUMF text, which notes “US military forces are conducting a systematic campaign of airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria,” and goes on to aver that “existing statutes provide me with the authority I need to take these actions.”

Shorter Obama: I don’t need you guys, but I’m asking anyway.

But why bother? It’s all about politics. Yes, I know – shocking, isn’t it? I mean, there’s gambling going on in this casino!

The President is paving the way for his successor, who he hopes will be one Hillary Rodham Clinton, and whose foreign policy principles are a bit more openly hawkish than his own. Before she assumes office, he wants Congress’s signature on a blank check for whatever price she is willing to pay for continued US hegemony in the Middle East – while still paying lip service to the idea of a “limited” war.

This is something the smarter breed of criminals do all the time: prepare an alibi in advance and spread the responsibility far and wide. It is also in line with the first principle of a libertarian theory of foreign affairs, what I call “libertarian realism”: the idea that foreign policy is merely domestic politics extended beyond our borders. Whatever overseas policies our fearless leaders in Washington choose to pursue are concerned exclusively with the task of perpetuating and expanding their own power and prestige on the home front. Obama’s AUMF is a classic example of this principle in action.

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2015/02/12/just-say-no-to-the-aumf/

To continue reading: Just Say ‘No” to the AUMF!

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