[Peace-discuss] Can Congress stop the war(s), and how?

[C. G. Estabrook]

He doesn't consider Congress' repealing the *Authorization for Use of 
Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002* (Public law 107-243, 116 
Stat. 1497-1502) -- the "Iraq War Resolution," which passed the House on 
10 October 2002 by a vote of 296-133; by the Senate on 11 October by a 
vote of 77-23; and signed into law by President Bush on 16 October 2002.

Nor does he consider repealing the justification the administration 
lawyers are proposing for the invasion of Iran, the *Authorization for 
Use of Military Force Against Terrorists* ("AUMF") (Public law 107-40), 
a joint resolution passed by the Congress on 18 September 2001, 
authorizing the President to use all "necessary and appropriate force" 
against those whom he determined "planned, authorized, committed, or 
aided" the September 11th attacks, "or who harbored said persons or 
groups." The AUMF was signed by the president on 18 September 2001.

The AUMF was offered as justification by the administration in Hamdan v. 
Rumsfeld, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 
administration's military commissions at Guantanamo Bay were not 
competent tribunals as constituted and thus illegal.  But the Military 
Commissions Act of October 2006 justified the tribunals, suspended 
habeas corpus, and authorized the administration's torture program. 
(It's not too much of a stretch to compare it the German Enabling Act of 
1933: each was passed with little or no public outcry.)

The AUMF has also been cited by the administration as authority for 
engaging in electronic surveillance without a warrant as required by the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978.  --CGE


Morton K. Brussel wrote:
> *Seven Questions: Can Congress Stop the Iraq War?*
> * *
> Posted February 2007 
> 
> 
> *When President Bush announced he was sending more troops to Iraq, many 
> in Congress rushed to condemn the move. For this week’s Seven Questions, 
> **FP** asked Bruce Ackerman, a top legal scholar at Yale University, 
> what Congress can do to back up its words with deeds.*
> 
> ...