Iran is providing high-level al Qaeda operatives with a clandestine sanctuary to funnel fighters, money and weapons across the Middle East, according to
Trump administration officials [
Unnamed sources. - B4L] who warn that the long-elusive, complex relationship between two avowed enemies of America has evolved into an unacceptable global security threat.
With the once-prominent Islamic State receding from the spotlight, The Washington Times has learned that the administration is focusing increasingly on the unlikely alliance between Iran and al Qaeda, with what some sources say is an eye toward
establishing a potential legal justification for military strikes against Iran or its proxies.
Skeptics have long doubted that Iran, which this year marked its 40th anniversary as a Shiite Muslim theocracy, could find common cause with a radical Sunni Islamist group such as al Qaeda, but U.S. officials argue that a confluence of interests — and a common enemy in the U.S. and its allies — has brought a level of
covert cooperation and coordination that has reached new heights. [
Sounds a lot like when the neocons were pushing the Trump-Russia collusion hypothesis. - B4L]
The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress in the days after the 9/11 attacks provided the legal framework for President George W. Bush to order U.S. military action against the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. The law has underpinned the U.S. counterterrorism campaign and has largely gone unchanged for the past 17 years through three presidential administrations.
Congressional and legal sources say the law may now provide a legal rationale for striking Iranian territory or proxies should President Trump decide that Tehran poses a looming threat to the U.S. or Israel and that economic sanctions are not strong enough to neutralize the threat.
...
The administration has not publicly commented on whether it is considering strikes on the grounds where Iran is willingly offering safe haven to al Qaeda leaders. But some lawmakers and other sources say the discussion is taking place among Mr. Trump’s top aides, including National Security Adviser John R. Bolton and other sharp critics of Iran, who stress that all options are on the table for dealing with Tehran’s institutionalized support for terrorism and its nuclear weapons potential.
...
Behind the scenes in Washington, there is increasing speculation that the White House could make a case for military strikes using the existing AUMF, which authorizes the president to use all “appropriate force” to target those who “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the 9/11 attacks on America, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
Legal analysts say the administration likely would have a strong argument.
...
More:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...gal-rationale/
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Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
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