In a statement on Thursday, the White House threw its weight behind an ongoing effort in the Senate to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations over ten years after the U.S. supposedly officially ended combat operations under the already heavily criticized resolutions.
The Statement of Administration Policy, a stronger form of a statement that emphasizes a presidential administration’s policy position, emphasizes President Joe Biden’s support for ending the two Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
If passed through Congress and signed by Biden, the measure could indicate a symbolic end to the U.S.’s bloody efforts in the country, while also closing the door to the possibility of future administrations taking advantage of the authorizations, as the Trump administration did when it assassinated Iranian general Qassim Suleimani in 2020.
“The Administration notes that the United States conducts no ongoing military activities that rely primarily on the 2002 AUMF, and no ongoing military activities that rely on the 1991 AUMF, as a domestic legal basis,” reads the White House statement. “Repeal of these authorizations would have no impact on current U.S. military operations and would support this Administration’s commitment to a strong and comprehensive relationship with our Iraqi partners.”
The Senate voted to advance the measure to repeal the Iraq AUMFs on Thursday. The effort is being carried out primarily by Democrats in the chamber, though it reportedly has bipartisan support, and was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia). As it moves to the Senate floor within the next week or so, Kaine expects lawmakers to introduce amendments such as those that would still allow the U.S. to use certain amounts of military force in Iraq.
Indeed, even as the White House statement revealed, support for the repeal doesn’t mean opposition to the war itself, the basis of which many human rights advocates and leftists have heavily questioned over the years; after all, Biden himself was one of the 77 senators who voted for the AUMF in 2002 and in 1991, when it passed the Senate by unanimous consent.
The statement in fact clarifies that Biden would potentially be in favor of amendments still allowing military force.
“President Biden remains committed to working with the Congress to ensure that outdated authorizations for the use of military force are replaced with a narrow and specific framework more appropriate to protecting Americans from modern terrorist threats,” it says. “As the Administration works with Congress, it will be critical to maintain the clear authority to address threats to the United States’ national interests with appropriately decisive and effective military action.”
It’s currently unclear whether the Republican-led House will pass the measure; under Democratic rule, the House has passed similar legislation with bipartisan support, but there are still enough war hawks in the House Republican caucus that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) may not bring it to a vote.
Anti-war advocates have called for the AUMFs to be repealed.
“It’s time we finally ended our forever wars,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), who struck a hopeful tone in a statement earlier this month. “Once the Senate does their job, we’ll make inroads in the House and get it to President Biden’s desk for signature. We are well on our way.”
Quaker advocate group Friends Committee on National Legislation celebrated the passage of the measure through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, writing in a blog post, “This outdated law — passed to defend the United States against the alleged threat of weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein’s regime — has been relied upon by successive presidents to carry out military operations entirely unconnected to its purpose over the last two decades. The authorization is not needed to sustain any current operations but remains open to further abuse as long as it is in place.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have 9 days to add 500 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.