New Congressional AUMF Coming?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
On September 14, 2001, three days after the mother of all false flags, congressional members near unanimously passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) - signed into law by GW Bush.
The measure launched endless US wars of aggression, smashing one country after another, no end of it in sight, new nations on Washington’s target list to attack.
The 2001 AUMF granted presidents authority to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against designated nations, groups or individuals.
AUMF is flagrantly illegal. Only Security Council members may authorize war by one nation against others - in self-defense alone if attacked or if one is imminent, never preemptively.
No nation attacked America since December 7, 1941. None threatened it since WW II ended or now. The war on terrorism is a colossal hoax. Washington uses it to wage permanent wars on humanity.
With or without AUMF authorization, all sovereign independent nations are vulnerable, on Washington’s target list for regime change.
Earlier or proposed AUMF legislation has nothing to do with combating ISIS, al-Qaeda, or other terrorist groups Washington created and supports.
US administrations invent pretexts to wage endless wars on humanity, risking eventual catastrophic nuclear war.
Senators Bob Corker and Tim Kaine introduced a new AUMF to give Trump and succeeding presidents greater war powers than already - to continue waging endless wars of aggression on anyone based on the phony pretext of targeting “non-state terrorist groups.”
It requires the president to report to Congress within 48 hours of launching military action. House and Senate members would then have 60 days to review the action - either authorizing it or calling for it to end.
New AUMF authority would be congressionally reviewed every four years - updated, restricted or expanded.
Since WW II, Congress never halted US aggression once begun, warmaking authority left to the president.
The 1973 War Powers Act intended to check presidential power to wage war without congressional approval - except under “national emergency (conditions) by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”
It requires presidents to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action, forbidding armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, a further 30-day withdrawal period granted - no longer without congressional authorization.
Since enacted into law, the measure was repeatedly violated by presidents, ignored by Congress, notably during the rape of Yugoslavia and endless post-9/11 wars of aggression against nations threatening no one.
When presidents take America to war for any reason, the vast majority of congressional members support the action - international, constitutional and US statute laws ignored.
If enacted into law, new AUMF legislation will grant presidents authority to continue waging endless wars of aggression - its restrictive-sounding language not limiting what administrations wish to do.
On April 12, an ACLU letter to Senate members said the following:
“It would be hard to overstate the depth and breadth of our concern about reports of the new AUMF.”
“Not only would the Corker(-Kaine) AUMF almost irretrievably cede to the Executive Branch the most fundamental power that Congress has under Article I of the Constitution - the power to declare war - but it also would give this president and all future presidents authority to engage in worldwide war, sending American troops to countries where we are not now at war and against groups that the President alone decides are enemies.”
“The Executive Branch would be able to add additional countries…to the list of countries where Congress is authorizing war, as well as additional enemies (including groups that do not even exist on the date of enactment).”
Past is virtually assured to be prologue. The 2001 AUMF launched endless wars of aggression still raging in multiple theaters.
A new war powers authorization will be a blank check for presidents to wage war on any nations or groups with a stroke of a pen or a verbal OK.
ACLU official Christopher Anders explained the Corker/Kaine AUMF if enacted “would cause colossal harm to the Constitution’s checks and balances, would jeopardize civil liberties and human rights at home and abroad, and would lead to a breathtakingly broad expansion of war without meaningful oversight.”
The proposed AUMF would limit congressional power to restrain presidential war powers by requiring a veto-proof two-thirds majority to block it.
Historically, Congress has overridden less than 10% of presidential vetoes.
America illegally, immorally and unethically operates as a global policeman - self-authorizing judge, jury and execution powers.
A new AUMF would rubber-stamp presidential authority to wage virtually unrestricted naked aggression on humanity, including at home against designated individuals or groups.
US-led aggression in Syria last week, supported by most congressional members, (overwhelmingly by media scoundrels), was a shot across the bow for much more to come, anywhere globally where presidents wish to target - facilitated by a new AUMF if enacted.
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
