Biden may be getting rid of the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force. That deserves a ‘Whoa

[rangerrebew]

 
Biden may be getting rid of the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force. That deserves a ‘Whoa.’
The possibility of addressing the legal framework for the war on terror is big news.
 
By
Andrew Rudalevige
March 6, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. EST

Just over a week after the Biden administration conducted its first lethal military operation, an airstrike against Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria, President Biden has reportedly endorsed efforts to repeal and replace (so to speak) the various Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) governing the war on terror. As TMC’s Elizabeth Saunders tweeted Friday, “this deserves a ‘Whoa.’”

It’s not so much that the current legal framework makes sense — as faithful TMC readers know, the 2001 AUMF, which passed days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has been stretched beyond recognition in an effort to apply it to terrorist groups on various continents unconnected to those attacks. The 2002 AUMF approving the Iraq War applies to a different world, its 1991 predecessor even more so. Notably, Biden did not seek authorization from Congress before striking Syria, but neither did he invoke these AUMFs in justifying it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/06/biden-may-be-getting-rid-authorizations-use-military-force-that-deserves-whoa/

[rangerrebew]

What was the original purpose of the president.  As James Madison once noted, if decision making were left to congress alone, nothing would ever get down.  So we have a president to act quickly in emergencies.  Madison asked how quickly a room full of lawyers would act to come to a unanimous decision?  Ergo, the president.