Barbara Lee Warned AUMF Would Create 'Open-Ended War.' And That's What Happened.
The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force has now been used to justify U.S. military efforts in more than 20 countries.
By Paul Blumenthal
POLITICS 09/14/2018 01:27 pm ET
When Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) cast the lone vote against the congressional authorization to use military force after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she warned the bill could signal the start of an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.
In the 17 years since, the United States has used the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force to justify wars, bombings, detentions and troop deployments in more than 20 different countries. The total number of countries surpassed 20 in 2017 when President Donald Trump told Congress that he had deployed 100 troops to Lebanon and that military personnel were deployed to Chad and Nigeria to support counterterrorism efforts. The most recent presidential message to Congress, sent in June, uses the authorization to justify ongoing military involvement in 17 different countries.
The AUMF was passed with Lees lone dissenting vote on Sept. 14, 2001, three days after terrorists from Osama Bin Ladens al Qaeda organization crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania killing more than 3,000 people.
The authorization has been interpreted by three successive presidential administrations to apply to supposed threats that have little-to-nothing to do with the al Qaeda organization that plotted and carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2001-aumf_us_5b9bc513e4b013b0977a1f83