To end endless war, we must repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force
Nineteen years ago, this week, the 107th Congress voted to pass the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The text of this bill can fit neatly on one page, and it includes one sentence that has permitted the longest war in American history.
That sentence, consisting of 62 words, has cost thousands of American lives, over a trillion dollars, and resulted in millions of life-changing disabilities for veterans that our government now struggles to care for. It is long overdue for Congress to reassert its constitutional war powers, repeal the 2001 AUMF, and allow the United States to enter a more responsible era of American leadership in the world.
The 2001 AUMF became law on Sept. 18, 2001, just days after the terrible attacks. This authorization provided congressional approval for the U.S. military response in Afghanistan, but it has since been used as legal justification at least 41 times to engage in conflicts in over 19 countries where American service members continue to deploy and fight.
This reinterpretation of the 2001 AUMF has placed our nation's long-term security in peril. What was passed as a limited authorization to punish those responsible for the death and destruction of the 9/11 attacks has transformed into a blank check to wage endless war.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/to-end-endless-war-we-must-repeal-the-2001-authorization-for-use-of-military-force/ar-BB19boSr?li=BBnbfcQ&ocid=DELLDHP
