WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry asked Congress on Tuesday for new war powers to provide the legal grounding for U.S. military operations against the Islamic State, but said any new authorization should not limit the fight to Iraq and Syria and should not bind President Barack Obama from ever deploying ground troops against the group if necessary.
Obama has been using congressional authorizations that former President George W. Bush relied on after 9/11. Critics say the White House’s use of post-9/11 congressional authorizations is a legal stretch at best.
Obama has insisted that he already had the necessary legal authorities to take against IS. He has sent about 3,000 U.S. troops to train and assist Iraqi security forces, and since September, a U.S.-led coalition has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria. More recently, the president has said that he wants a new Authorization for Use of Military Force and Kerry’s testimony is the first time that the administration is asking Congress to pass one.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lamented that if the White House wanted a new AUMF, it should have sent suggested language as the airstrikes began months ago.
Few lawmakers expect that Congress will approve new war powers before the end of the lame-duck session this year. In January, Republicans will control both the Senate and the House.
“Whatever passes out of committee this week is not going to become law,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the incoming chairman of the committee, said, adding that the committee also wants to hear from intelligence and defense officials.
Kerry said the administration believes that a proposal drafted by Menendez is a good starting point, but that the administration seeks some important changes.
Generally, Kerry said the administration is seeking an authorization that does not include a geographical limitation. The U.S. does not expect to take military action outside Iraq or Syria, but that “it would be a mistake to advertise to” the Islamic State militants that they have safe haven outside Syria and Iraq.
Secondly, Kerry said that while the president does not intend to send combat forces in to fight IS, “we should not bind the hands of the commander in chief.”
Thirdly, Kerry said that the confrontation against IS will not be over quickly and that while the administration does not seek an open-ended authorization, it wants it to include a provision that would allow for its extension. Menendez’ draft proposal, for example, has a three-year timeline.
Moreover, Kerry said that the administration wants to make sure that any authorization does not too narrowly define militants found alongside IS because it would, for example, make it difficult for the U.S. military officials on the ground to identify enemy forces.
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