Will Congress Revoke Authorization for War?

FEATURING RAHUL MAHAJAN – The House Appropriations committee on Thursday passed the Defense Spending bill and, to the shock of Representative Barbara Lee, included her amendment to revoke the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).

Rep. Lee cast the sole vote against going to war in 2001 after the September 11th attacks. That authorization was used by Presidents Bush and Obama to continue the unending “war on terror,” a war whose targets morphed from one group to another.

Earlier this year President Donald Trump did not even bother citing the AUMF when he authorized the bombing of Syrian airfields. Presidents have to be authorized by Congress to wage war, a requirement that appears these days to have become meaningless. With Lee’s amendment in place, is it possible that Congress could finally revoke their 16-year old authorization?

Rahul Mahajan is active with Our Wisconsin Revolution, and the author of two books on the Iraq war: Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond and The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism. He is also a PhD student in sociology at the University of Wisconsin and the US Foreign Policy and Empire Correspondent for Rising Up.