“Americans do not want another Iraq. If we intensify hostilities in Venezuela, we have no idea what we’re walking into,” McGovern said. “At least George Bush had the decency to come to Congress for approval in 2002. Don’t the American people deserve that respect today?”
Bush in 2002 sought and received a formal authorization for his attack on Iraq. Without taking any similar steps, Trump has massed thousands of American service members in the Caribbean without formal approval.
The ministry added that the move “sends a clear signal to the international community that Iraq has become a secure and attractive destination for investment.”
On counterterrorism, the ministry stressed that the repeal does not weaken ongoing efforts, noting that the 2001 authorization—enacted after the September 11 attacks to confront al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups—remains in force.
Iraq on Wednesday welcomed a US Congress vote to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Baghdad, included within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026.
The Foreign Ministry said it views “with great pleasure” the vote by the House of Representatives and the Senate, noting that the repeal awaits ratification by President Donald Trump.
But overall, the bill represents a compromise between the parties. It implements many of Trump‘s executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers at the U.S. border with Mexico. It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense, repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U.S. tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology.
And it has a provision to withhold a chunk of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s travel budget if he does not provide Congress with unedited videos of military strikes on boats in the southern Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The Trump administration has said the strikes are directed at Venezuelan drug-traffickers.
The Senate vote came a day after Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, his latest move to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s government.
It repeals the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) against Iraq, an attempt to reassert Congress‘ role in deciding to send troops into combat.
(August 20, 2024)
The current blockage in the House—particularly given its potential use for a war with Iran— should prompt the White House to consider alternative means to disarm the 2002 Iraq AUMF. One reported reason that repeal legislation has yet to receive an up-or-down vote in the House is that some members are concerned about losing a potential authority for war with Iran. (The House of Representatives already voted to repeal the 2002 authorization in a previous Congress.) To be clear, it does not do so (see here and here). Nevertheless, a desire to keep the 2002 Iraq AUMF on the books as authority to fight Iran was certainly expressed by a number of senators who opposed repeal.
(March 23, 2023)
Senators rejected the amendment 86-9 as they are debating a separate repeal of two authorizations of military force in Iraq. There is broad bipartisan support to withdraw that congressional approval granted in 1991 and 2002 for military strikes against Saddam Hussein‘s regime.
While those two authorizations are rarely used and focused on just one country, Iraq, the 2001 measure gave President George W. Bush broad authority for the invasion of Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism, approving force „against those nations, organizations, or persons“ that planned or aided the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
(03.02.2024)
(03.02.2024)
Speaking to NBC, Sullivan was asked repeatedly if the US was considering attacks inside Iran.
„Well, sitting here today on a national news programme, I‘m not going to get into what we‘ve ruled in and ruled out from the point of view of military action,“ he said.
„What I will say is that the president is determined to respond forcefully to attacks on our people. The president also is not looking for a wider war in the Middle East.“
Das russische Außenministerium in Moskau hatte erklärt: „Washington, das sich seiner Straffreiheit sicher ist, setzt seine Saat des Chaos und der Zerstörung im Nahen Osten fort.“ Das Außenministerium fügte hinzu, es habe die Angriffe „entschieden verurteilt“.
Two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, a US official told CNN. The USS Gravely and USS Carney, both of which are Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, fired the land-attack cruise missiles during the operation.
F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier also took part in the strikes, officials said.
(09.01.2024)
(03.01.2024)
Responding to an inquiry from the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), an official of the Armed Forces dismissed the allegations as unfounded, emphasizing the Jordanian army‘s respect for Iraq‘s sovereignty and highlighting the enduring fraternal ties between the Kingdom and other Arab states.
The Armed Forces‘ General Command also advised the public to ignore rumors circulating on social media and to seek information from official channels, reinforcing its commitment to transparency and accurate dissemination of information.
(03.01.2024)
The Royal Jordanian Air Force did not take part in air strikes carried out by US forces in Iraq last night, an official of the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces said.
(03.01.2024)
The source, as reported by the official Jordanian news agency Petra, stated that „there is no truth to the reports circulated this morning regarding the participation of Jordanian aircraft in the operations carried out by US aircraft in Iraq.“
„the Jordanian Armed Forces – Arab Army respects the sovereignty of brotherly Iraq,“ the source affirmed „the depth of fraternal relations that unite Jordan with all Arab countries.“
(03.01.2024)
Despite the US Administration‘s announcement that the Iraqi authorities were notified about the strikes, Iraq condemned these attacks and did not confirm the American allegations.
Iraqi government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi denied any „prior coordination“ between Baghdad and Washington in this regard.
Al-Awadi stated, „The American administration committed a new aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq,“ noting that the strikes caused casualties, injuries, and damage to residential buildings and property. He accused the US of „falsifying facts by claiming prior coordination, emphasizing that this aggression jeopardizes security in Iraq and the region.“
(03.01.2024)
Iraq‘s Popular Mobilization Forces, a state security force including Iran-backed groups, said 16 of its members were killed including fighters and medics. The government earlier said civilians were among 16 dead.
In Syria, the strikes killed 23 people who had been guarding the targeted locations, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on war in Syria.
(03.01.2024)
Unter den 16 Toten im Irak seien auch Zivilisten, teilte ein Regierungssprecher in Bagdad mit. Wie viele genau, sagte er nicht. Zudem habe es 36 Verletzte gegeben sowie Schäden an Wohngebäuden und an Privatbesitz von Irakern. Hinzu kommen mindestens 29 getötete Mitglieder proiranischer Milizen in Syrien, welche die syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte mit Sitz in London registrierte.
(29. August 2014)
Seit Beginn des weltweiten Terrorkrieges in 2001 herrschten in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika zwei Personen als Kriegspräsidenten und “mächtigste Männer der Welt”, George Bush Junior und Barack Obama. Der Kern ihrer Legitimation für
– fast jede seit dem 14. September 2001 angeordnete militärische Aktion, Operation und Invasion, wie der Eroberung von Afghanistan (2001), Irak (2003), Libyen (2011), Luftangriffen bzw Bodenoperationen z.B. in Somalia, Jemen, Pakistan, Kenia, etc, etc, pp,
– den versuchten Aufbau einer “Totalen Informationskenntnis” (“Total Information Awareness”) über alle Menschen, Gruppen, Strömungen und Organisationen im Macht- bzw Einflussbereich der U.S.A. (also dem, was die Gesellschaft heute als “Totalüberwachung” versteht),
– die folgende Erschaffung eines informationstechnologischen, Privatleben fressenden Frankensteins, eines weltweit vernetzten Golem der “Nationalen Sicherheit AG” bzw dem “sicherheitsindustriellen Komplex”, der allein 800.000 Personen (Stand: 2010) Zugang zu “streng geheimen” Informationen und damit Zugang zu praktisch allen u.a. aus Telekommunikationssystemen wie dem Internet gesammelten bzw geraubten Daten von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern in ungezählten Datenbanken und Tauschbörsen der Spione, Militärs und (Geheim)Polizeien und Behörden allein in den U.S.A. gibt, samt einer bis heute nicht verifizierten Zahl assoziierter Kräfte und Stellen, z.B. in der Republik Deutschland,
– die Errichtung des Lagers Guantanamo, sowie einer unbekannten Zahl geheimer Folterkammern und Kerker auf eigenem Territorium, in Besatzungszonen und / oder in kollaborierenden Staaten, in denen Menschen willkürlich eingesperrt, gequält oder ermordet wurden,
sowie weitere offene oder klandestine Maßnahmen, wie z.B. die “Uminterpretation” von geltendem Recht zu faktischem geheimen Kriegsrecht in ungezählten Staaten, ist ein am 14. September 2001 bei alleiniger Gegenstimme von Barbara Lee durch den Kongress gejagter und, zumindest in der Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, präzedenzloser Gesetzestext: die “Authorization for Use of Military Force”.
Hier dessen gerade einmal 60 Worte und keinerlei zeitliche oder räumliche Einschränkung enthaltende Wirkungstext, beschlossen am 14.09.2001 von beiden Kammern des Kongresses, Repräsentantenhaus und Senat:
(Jun 8, 2023)
(08.06.2023)
Congress voted to repeal the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs in March. Paul’s amendment to that legislation that would have also repealed the 2001 AUMF failed 9-86.
The Republican senator explained the difficulties he’s had with other Republicans in trying to rollback AUMF during a foreign policy conference hosted by The American Conservative on Thursday.
“I have good news and bad news,” Paul told the audience. “The good news is that Congress finally voted to end a war. The bad news is the war they voted to end had already been over for about 15 years.”
(07.12.2021)
Tim Kaine and Todd Young were preparing to celebrate a historic victory this month: repealing two outdated war authorizations.
But the Virginina Democrat and the Indiana Republican learned this week that their legislation to scrap the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations has become a casualty of the Senate’s year-end scramble to pass the annual defense policy bill, lift the debt ceiling and approve President Joe Biden’s social spending plan.
(21.01.2021)
In a letter Thursday to Biden, five House Democrats called on the new president to quickly work with Congress to kill the 2002 authorization for the Iraq War and hone the 2001 powers for the war on terrorism. The letter — signed by chairs of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Rules committees — says any replacement authority must name mission objectives, adversaries and targeted countries, as well as include a sunset clause to ensure Congress regularly revisits the war powers debate.
“Congress has been missing in action, and President Joe Biden knows that,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who is spearheading the effort, in an interview.
An example is President Trump’s citing of the 2002 AUMF, as a “secondary authority” according to Young, in order to carry out an attack in Iraq that resulted in the death of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani in January of 2020.
Young believes these military attacks, though warranted, show that the 2002 AUMF is being abused in order to carry out acts of war without the consent of Congress.
In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) advanced a proposal to repeal two Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) issued in 1991 and 2002.
The legislation, which has already been passed by the House, will now go to a full vote on the Senate floor.
Three Republicans — Todd Young of Indiana, Ohio’s Rob Portman, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — voted with all the panel’s Democrats for repeal, with some Republicans who opposed the move Wednesday arguing that though they support scrapping both AUMFs, the time is not right amid rising tensions with neighboring Iran.
(04.07.2021)
A near two-decade old act authorising US military intervention across the Middle East and beyond will appear before the Senate for a critical vote today, which could have a huge bearing on America‘s capacity to launch wars in the future.
Published Aug. 3, 2021 Updated Aug. 4, 2021, 8:46 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is open to several potential ways to tighten a much-stretched 2001 law that serves as the domestic legal basis for the open-ended “forever war” against terrorists around the world, a senior State Department official told Congress on Tuesday.