WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Friday expressed his support to replace decades-old permissions for the use of military force in the Middle East, just over a week after relying on the permissions to carry out a retaliatory bombing. wage against Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria.
The Biden administration made its position known after a bipartisan law was introduced earlier this week that would revoke the 1991 and 2002 permissions for the wars in Iraq, on which presidents of both parties have relied for legal justification to carry out strikes in the region .
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was determined to work with Congress to “ensure that the permissions for the use of military force currently on the books are replaced with a limited and specific one. framework that ensures that we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending them.
Biden last week urged bipartisan backlash after ordering strikes against facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah. The attacks were in response to a missile strike earlier in February targeting US forces and civilian personnel in Northern Iraq without first seeking congressional approval. The US has blamed the militia for numerous attacks on US personnel and interests in Iraq in the past.
Senator Tim Kaine, a lead sponsor of the bill, said relying on decades-old permissions to use military force “serves no operational purpose, keeps us permanently on a war base and undermines Iraq’s sovereignty.”
“Last week’s airstrikes in Syria show that regardless of party, the executive branch will continue to expand its powers of war,” said Kaine, a Virginia Democrat.
Government officials defended the airstrikes as legal and proper, saying they had downed facilities containing valuable “capabilities” used by Iranian-backed militias to attack US and Allied forces in Iraq.
But several prominent members of Congress, including members of Biden’s own party, denounced the strikes – the first military action he has approved. Kaine and others argued that offensive military action without Congressional approval is not constitutional in the absence of extraordinary circumstances.
The White House expressed support for replacing the authorizations, even when it warned that the US might consider military action after a missile strike earlier this week that hit an air base in western Iraq housing US troops and coalition forces. An American contractor was killed after at least 10 missiles hit the base early Wednesday.
“If we judge that further response is warranted, we will take action again in a way and at a time of our choosing,” said Psaki.