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5 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
is very interesting. Serious people listen when Tribe speaks on constitutional issues. There has been disagreement as to whether that AUMF against al Queda is valid against ISIS, but notably the Bush, Obama and Trump admins have all claimed it applies and have waged war against ISIS and other ME actions under that authorization.
(Who's "Abramson"? One of our DUers? 
)
What the AUMF Is and Why You Should Care
With the United States and its allies embroiled in the complicated conflict in Syria, the question of how far the AUMF reaches is especially relevant. Successive administrations have argued that the AUMF obtained in 2001 applies to the fight against ISIS and that approval from Congress to conduct operations against the ISIS threat is unnecessary. Others disagree, arguing that ISIS is a separate entity from al Qaeda, and any action taken against ISIS would not be covered under the current AUMF.
In a written statement to The New York Times, President Obama’s White House legal team defended the campaign against ISIS (referred to as ISIL) in 2014, writing: “The President may rely on the 2001 AUMF as statutory authority for the military airstrike operations he is directing against ISIL.”
The Obama White House further explained that it interpreted the 2001 AUMF to cover the use of force against ISIS based on the group’s “longstanding relationship with al-Qa’ida (AQ) and Usama bin Laden; its long history of conducting, and continued desire to conduct, attacks against U.S. persons and interests, and extensive history of U.S. combat operations against ISIL dating back to the time the group first affiliated with AQ in 2004; and ISIL’s position – supported by some individual members and factions of AQ-aligned groups – that it is the true inheritor of Usama bin Laden’s legacy, the President may rely on the 2001 AUMF as statutory authority for the use of force against ISIL, notwithstanding the recent public split between AQ’s senior leadership and ISIL.”
Critics of the expansive use of the AUMF argue that the last sentence is most telling. Though ISIS came into being as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), it was disavowed by al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in February 2014, after ISIS’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself the leader of a new Islamic caliphate. Furthermore, ISIS did not come into being until 2004—three years after the AUMF’s passage.
The Trump administration has continued to use the broad interpretation of the AUMF. ...
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/what-the-aumf-is-and-why-you-should-care-2018/
With the United States and its allies embroiled in the complicated conflict in Syria, the question of how far the AUMF reaches is especially relevant. Successive administrations have argued that the AUMF obtained in 2001 applies to the fight against ISIS and that approval from Congress to conduct operations against the ISIS threat is unnecessary. Others disagree, arguing that ISIS is a separate entity from al Qaeda, and any action taken against ISIS would not be covered under the current AUMF.
In a written statement to The New York Times, President Obama’s White House legal team defended the campaign against ISIS (referred to as ISIL) in 2014, writing: “The President may rely on the 2001 AUMF as statutory authority for the military airstrike operations he is directing against ISIL.”
The Obama White House further explained that it interpreted the 2001 AUMF to cover the use of force against ISIS based on the group’s “longstanding relationship with al-Qa’ida (AQ) and Usama bin Laden; its long history of conducting, and continued desire to conduct, attacks against U.S. persons and interests, and extensive history of U.S. combat operations against ISIL dating back to the time the group first affiliated with AQ in 2004; and ISIL’s position – supported by some individual members and factions of AQ-aligned groups – that it is the true inheritor of Usama bin Laden’s legacy, the President may rely on the 2001 AUMF as statutory authority for the use of force against ISIL, notwithstanding the recent public split between AQ’s senior leadership and ISIL.”
Critics of the expansive use of the AUMF argue that the last sentence is most telling. Though ISIS came into being as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), it was disavowed by al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in February 2014, after ISIS’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself the leader of a new Islamic caliphate. Furthermore, ISIS did not come into being until 2004—three years after the AUMF’s passage.
The Trump administration has continued to use the broad interpretation of the AUMF. ...
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/what-the-aumf-is-and-why-you-should-care-2018/