U.S. Senate repeals war authorizations in Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Iraq, a U.S. Senate committee endorsed on Wednesday a legislation paving the way for revoking the two authorizations for the Iraq war, 20 years after the invasion.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of approving a bill to revoke the two authorizations for the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and 2002, in the latest attempt to reaffirm the role of the Congress in deciding whether to send U.S. troops to fight abroad.

The U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, mentioned that the full Senate could vote on the legislation in the next few weeks.

Senator Tim Kaine, who is leading the effort to revoke the authorizations, said it made no sense to have the authorizations in the records.

“Iraq was an enemy in 2002… But they soon became security partners. We are working with Iraq to defeat ISIS, and we continue to be vigilant about terrorist activity,” Kaine added.

For years, lawmakers complained that the Congress had ceded too much of its power to the president to send troops to fight abroad by passing authorizations for long wars that presidents then used to justify military action around the world.

Under the Constitution, only Congress, not the president, can declare war.