“After more than 13 years, it is time we close this chapter of unending war and modernize our approach to terrorist threats in a thoughtful and concise way,” Senator Cardin said on Friday.
The 2001 AUMF allows the United States to attack any nation, person, or organization that the US president claims aided the September 11 terrorist acts against the United States. The AUMF’s vague wording could allow the United States to wage war wherever and whenever it pleases, according to Senator Cardin.
“By leaving in place the 2001 AUMF, Congress could be authorizing a state of perpetual war, and giving this President and future presidents a blank check to keep America at war,” Cardin said.
The 2001 AUMF would automatically terminate three years after the proposed new bill is adopted, the statement said.
US presidents have invoked the AUMF to engage terrorists groups “around the world” and “on the high seas,” as well as to detain people at Guantanamo Bay.
US presidents have also cited the AUMF to justify deploying armed forces to Afghanistan, the Philippines, Georgia, Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, and Somalia, according to the Congressional Research Service.
