GREGG JARRETT: Why Trump's preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities was legal, likely saved lives
Authorization for Use of Military Force from 2001 grants explicit power to target nations linked to 9/11 terrorist attacks
By Gregg Jarrett Fox News
Published June 23, 2025 5:00am EDT
Right on cue, liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders declared that President Trump’s successful military strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites were "grossly unconstitutional." Along with other Democrats, he argued that only Congress can grant such approval.
What Sanders and his colleagues fail to recognize or remember is that Congress already granted consent for exactly the type of action deployed by Trump.
Immediately after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Congress passed a joint resolution known as the "Authorization for Use of Military Force" (AUMF). It granted the President exclusive and extraordinary powers to target those groups and nations that he determines "aided the terrorist attacks…or harbored" the perpetrators of 9/11. The stated goal was to "prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States."
One only needs to read the report of the 9/11 Commission to be reminded of Iran’s complicity. For years, the government in Tehran actively aided and abetted attacks on America by offering Al Qaeda terrorists extensive training, intelligence, transit, logistics, weaponry and funding. Some of the terrorists that Iran supported were the very same "future 9/11 hijackers," the report explained.
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