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02-11-2015, 08:51 AM
President Barack Obama is asking Congress for a three-year authorization of war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant that would restrict the U.S. military from engaging in “enduring offensive ground combat operations,” according to text circulating on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning.
The draft authorization, which Congress is likely to begin considering after next week’s recess, would also repeal the 2002 Authorization of the Use of Military Force that allowed the George W. Bush administration to launch the Iraq War. The 2001 AUMF used to justify the war against terror in Afghanistan and other countries — a subject of Democratic concern — would remain in place.
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The draft war authorization targets ISIL as well as “individuals and organizations fighting for, on behalf of, or alongside” the terror group, and also targets “any closely-related successor entity.
Obama argued in a letter accompanying the text that the growing threat of Islamic militants in the Middle East mandates that Congress work with the White House to strengthen the country’s authorization to combat ISIL.
“The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant poses a threat to the people and stability of Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East, and to U.S. national security. It threatens American personnel and facilities located in the region and is responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens,” Obama wrote. He added: “If left unchecked, ISIL will pose a threat beyond the Middle East, including to the United States homeland.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he will soon move to hold “rigorous” hearings on the proposed AUMF before his committee votes on a war authorization. But he said Wednesday morning that Obama’s work is not done, even though Capitol Hill has finally received a draft text six months into the conflict with ISIL.
“It also will be important that the president exert leadership, lay out a clear strategy for confronting the threat posed by ISIS, and do the hard work of making the case to the American people why this fight is necessary and one we must win,” Corker said.
Corker will convene a special meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the AUMF and the party’s strategy.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) quickly scheduled a news conference on the authorization proposal Wednesday.
Schiff said in a statement that the proposed language from the administration strips Congress of “excuses for any further delay of a debate and vote on a new authorization.”
Obama said he is still committed to repealing the 2001 AUMF, which authorized the bulk of the military operations that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Democrats are broadly skeptical of continuing to use that authorization as legal justification in the ISIL conflict.
“Enacting an AUMF that is specific to the threat posed by ISIL could serve as a model for how we can work together to tailor the authorities granted by the 2001 AUMF,” Obama wrote.
But the proposal might not be enough to quell Democratic concerns. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) , who is playing an integral role in the Democrats negotiations with the White House, said he had “serious concerns” with the proposed draft.
“It provides overly-broad, fresh authority for the deployment of U.S. ground forces in combat operations in Iraq, Syria, and any other countries in which ISIL or its affiliates may be operating. Second, it leaves in place indefinitely the blank check authority granted to the Executive in the 2001 AUMF,” the Maryland Democrat said. “It makes little sense to place reasonable boundaries on the Executive’s war powers against ISIL while leaving them unchecked elsewhere.”
Van Hollen also said he is eager to avoid “dragging the United States into another unnecessary ground war in the Middle East” — comments that highlight the upward struggle the White House will face among House Democrats who are deeply troubled by the Iraq War and have little appetite to see U.S. troops return to en masse to the Middle East.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was also critical of the White House proposal because of the lack of repeal for the 2001 AUMF.
“A new authorization should also include a sunset of the 2001 AUMF; without one, any sunset of the new authorization will be ineffectual, since the next president can claim continued reliance on the old one. Such a result would fail to meet the goal set by the President last summer when he argued that that the old authorization should be refined and ultimately repealed,” Schiff said.
Democrats are also expected to have concerns over geographic limitations in the White House proposal.
In a nod to Democratic concerns, Obama stressed in his appeal to lawmakers that the draft proposal would not “authorize long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our Nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“Local forces, rather than U.S. military forces, should be deployed to conduct such operations,” Obama wrote. “The authorization I propose would provide the flexibility to conduct ground combat operations in other, more limited circumstances, such as rescue operations involving U.S. or coalition personnel or the use of special operations forces to take military action against ISIL leadership.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/obama-war-authorization-congress-isil-115108.html#ixzz3RRpiFM00
The draft authorization, which Congress is likely to begin considering after next week’s recess, would also repeal the 2002 Authorization of the Use of Military Force that allowed the George W. Bush administration to launch the Iraq War. The 2001 AUMF used to justify the war against terror in Afghanistan and other countries — a subject of Democratic concern — would remain in place.
Story Continued Below
The draft war authorization targets ISIL as well as “individuals and organizations fighting for, on behalf of, or alongside” the terror group, and also targets “any closely-related successor entity.
Obama argued in a letter accompanying the text that the growing threat of Islamic militants in the Middle East mandates that Congress work with the White House to strengthen the country’s authorization to combat ISIL.
“The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant poses a threat to the people and stability of Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East, and to U.S. national security. It threatens American personnel and facilities located in the region and is responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens,” Obama wrote. He added: “If left unchecked, ISIL will pose a threat beyond the Middle East, including to the United States homeland.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he will soon move to hold “rigorous” hearings on the proposed AUMF before his committee votes on a war authorization. But he said Wednesday morning that Obama’s work is not done, even though Capitol Hill has finally received a draft text six months into the conflict with ISIL.
“It also will be important that the president exert leadership, lay out a clear strategy for confronting the threat posed by ISIS, and do the hard work of making the case to the American people why this fight is necessary and one we must win,” Corker said.
Corker will convene a special meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the AUMF and the party’s strategy.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) quickly scheduled a news conference on the authorization proposal Wednesday.
Schiff said in a statement that the proposed language from the administration strips Congress of “excuses for any further delay of a debate and vote on a new authorization.”
Obama said he is still committed to repealing the 2001 AUMF, which authorized the bulk of the military operations that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Democrats are broadly skeptical of continuing to use that authorization as legal justification in the ISIL conflict.
“Enacting an AUMF that is specific to the threat posed by ISIL could serve as a model for how we can work together to tailor the authorities granted by the 2001 AUMF,” Obama wrote.
But the proposal might not be enough to quell Democratic concerns. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) , who is playing an integral role in the Democrats negotiations with the White House, said he had “serious concerns” with the proposed draft.
“It provides overly-broad, fresh authority for the deployment of U.S. ground forces in combat operations in Iraq, Syria, and any other countries in which ISIL or its affiliates may be operating. Second, it leaves in place indefinitely the blank check authority granted to the Executive in the 2001 AUMF,” the Maryland Democrat said. “It makes little sense to place reasonable boundaries on the Executive’s war powers against ISIL while leaving them unchecked elsewhere.”
Van Hollen also said he is eager to avoid “dragging the United States into another unnecessary ground war in the Middle East” — comments that highlight the upward struggle the White House will face among House Democrats who are deeply troubled by the Iraq War and have little appetite to see U.S. troops return to en masse to the Middle East.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was also critical of the White House proposal because of the lack of repeal for the 2001 AUMF.
“A new authorization should also include a sunset of the 2001 AUMF; without one, any sunset of the new authorization will be ineffectual, since the next president can claim continued reliance on the old one. Such a result would fail to meet the goal set by the President last summer when he argued that that the old authorization should be refined and ultimately repealed,” Schiff said.
Democrats are also expected to have concerns over geographic limitations in the White House proposal.
In a nod to Democratic concerns, Obama stressed in his appeal to lawmakers that the draft proposal would not “authorize long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our Nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“Local forces, rather than U.S. military forces, should be deployed to conduct such operations,” Obama wrote. “The authorization I propose would provide the flexibility to conduct ground combat operations in other, more limited circumstances, such as rescue operations involving U.S. or coalition personnel or the use of special operations forces to take military action against ISIL leadership.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/obama-war-authorization-congress-isil-115108.html#ixzz3RRpiFM00