Bipartisan War Authorization Bill Would Make Trump '21st Century Version of King George III'

Sens. Jeff Flake, left, and Tim Kaine say Congress should explicitly authorize the U.S. war on the Islamic State group. But critics say their legislation is worryingly over-broad. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY)

By Steven Nelson, Staff Writer | May 25, 2017, at 1:11 p.m.

Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would put various U.S. military campaigns that arguably are unlawful on sound legal footing, but the bill is eliciting alarm from scholars who say it could become another blank check for presidential war-making.

The bill presented by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would repeal a 2001 war authorization against al-Qaida – specifically, those who “planned, authorized, committed or aided the [9/11] terrorist attacks” – and the 2002 Iraq War authorization.

The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force has been used to justify military strikes around the world – dubiously, in the opinion of many legal scholars.

In their place, the new legislation would allow military action against the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, commonly known as ISIS, along with “associated groups,” specifically including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front), the so-called Khorasan Group, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and al-Shabab.

Military action would be allowed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-05-25/bipartisan-war-authorization-bill-would-make-trump-21st-century-version-of-king-george-iii

https://www.scribd.com/document/349425136/Flake-Kaine-AUMF

This is like curing cancer with botulism.