The US Senate voted to repeal the legal authorization of the 2023 Iraq war.
The decision comes as critics hailed the move as they called for the American legislators to address the legal architecture of Washington’s prior to the September 11, 2001, “war on terror”.
It was approved in a vote of 66 to 30 with bipartisan support.
The Wednesday decision was marked as the first time that the US Senate voted to revoke an authorisation for presidential use of force since 1970.
The move came more than a week following the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the US ground invasion of Iraq.
In an exclusive report published by Aljazeera, the media outlet explained that “Ordinarily, under the US Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. But Authorisations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) can give the president war-making power, short of a formal initiation of war.”
On Wednesday, Heather Brandon-Smith, the legislative director for militarism and human rights at the Quaker nonprofit Friends Committee for National Legislation (FCNL) released an official statement, calling the Wednesday’s vote “a really strong step forward from Congress” which signals that the “legislative branch has begun to re-claim its war authorisation and oversight role.”
“[Congress is saying] we don’t want this any more,” she said. “It’s our job to decide when we go to war and who we go to war against. And we’re going to take this authorization off the table.” Brandon-Smith added.
The Senate bill introduced by Senators Tim Kaine and Todd Young, would reportedly “repeal both the 2002 Iraq authorisation, approved in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, as well as a 1991 Iraq AUMF that coincided with the Gulf War.”
“Finally, the Senate voted to formally end the decades-long Gulf and Iraq Wars. Proud to lead the bill to get this done. Our troops served courageously. The mission is over, and the war authorizations against Iraq are now outdated and unnecessary. It’s time to repeal them.” Tim Kaine tweeted.
During the debate, Senator Bob Menendez called the repeal “a recognition that Congress not only has the power to declare war but also should have the responsibility to end wars.”
