Secretary of State John Kerry urged lawmakers Wednesday to give President Barack Obama updated war powers to go after Islamic jihadists at “a pivotal hour” in the battle against the terrorists, reports AFP.
“Our nation is strongest when we act together – and we simply cannot allow this collection of murderers and thugs to achieve its ambitions,” Kerry told Congress.
He said the Islamic State (ISIS) group which has captured a swath of land in Iraq and Syria, wanted to ensure “the death or submission of all who oppose it” as well as “the incitement of terrorist acts across the globe.”
Appearing at the Senate foreign relations committee, Kerry as well as Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, called for a united vote in favor of a new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) to take on ISIS.
Tantamount to a declaration of war, the authority would provide Obama political cover at home and a firmer legal basis on which to prosecute the fight, particularly among allies abroad who have joined a US-led international coalition.
So far, the Obama administration has used the existing authorization for use of military force against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their branches approved in the days after the September 11, 2001 attacks as the legal justification for going after ISIS.
“The president already has statutory authority to act against ISIL, but a clear and formal expression of your backing would dispel any doubt anywhere that Americans are united in this effort,” Kerry said, using another acronym for the group.
No ‘enduring’ ground mission
The top US diplomat also insisted that the “administration sees no need for US forces to engage in enduring offensive ground combat operations against ISIL.”
Obama took office in 2009 vowing to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, amid battle fatigue among many Americans. But he has already sent military advisers back to Iraq to combat ISIS, and is weighing whether to slow down the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Carter stressed that “the proposed AUMF does not authorize long-term, large-scale offensive ground combat operations like those we conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan, because our strategy does not call for them.”
But Senator Bob Menendez warned that “we all know that it may be the intent of someone not to have any large-scale, long-term offensive combat troops, but that intention can honestly change along the way.”
Carter, however, highlighted that the new war powers resolution would expire in three years and “wisely does not include any geographical
restriction because ISIL already shows signs of metastasizing outside of Syria and Iraq.”
“I cannot tell you our campaign to defeat ISIL will be completed in three years,” he said, but including a so-called “sunset clause” would give the next president and “the American people the chance to assess our progress” at the end of that period.
Protesters twice interrupted the hearing with one demonstrating against giving the administration the power to wage “another endless war, the killing of innocent people” before being escorted out.
