US Senate Votes to Advance Repeal of Iraq War Authorization

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Facts

  • In a 65 to 28 vote, the US Senate decided Monday to advance legislation to repeal two decades-old authorizations for past wars in Iraq as the US government considers its posture toward the legislative process for sending troops into combat.1
  • The first authorized the 1991 Gulf War, and the second, passed in 2002, authorized the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The final vote to repeal the authorizations is expected later this week.2
  • Though the US Constitution states that Congress, not the president, has the right to declare war, the authorizations allowed presidents to legally justify military actions without congressional approval.1
  • The White House has also signaled that it will support the repeals, saying that such a decision would have "no impact on current US military operations" and calling the previous authorizations "outdated."3
  • While there seems to be congressional and executive approval regarding Iraq, the Senate voted last week to continue congressional authorization for the use of military force in the global fight against terror, which has been in place since 2001 in the context of the invasion of Afghanistan.4
  • In more recent years, former Pres. Donald Trump cited the 2002 authorization to justify the 2020 airstrike that killed prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.5

Sources: 1Reuters, 2Al Jazeera, 3Middle East Eye, 4Associated Press, and 5FOX News.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Responsible Statecraft. The president shouldn't have a blank check when it comes to going to war. There have been many lessons from the Iraq war that have still gone unheeded, and if the authorizations are not repealed, the US is destined to make the same mistakes it made in the past. The American people must have a say in decisions that have such a crucial impact on their lives, bank accounts, and the country as a whole.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. Though it seems that almost everyone now understands that US policy toward Iraq was a mistake, Republicans should make sure to include legislation that will lead to an investigation of the current admin.'s failures abroad, namely, the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. It should also include oversight regarding billions of dollars worth of military aid going to Ukraine.