America’s 23-Year-Old Endless War Bill Everyone Should Know About
It is time to usher in a new era of peace led by the once bloodthirsty United States
America has been at war for 222 years of its 248-year history. It has been more than two decades since Congressed passed AUMF into law. AUMF is short for Authorization for Use of Military Force.
Introduced in the early aughts, AUMF has led to endless war. Making matters worse is that AUMF has expanded government power.
Now is the Time to Stop Perpetual War
Though amendments to repeal AUMF have been proposed, none have passed into law. The main problem with AUMF is that it provides United States presidents with expansive authorization to start wars. AUMF passed by a vote of 420 yays to a single nay.
It appears that the federal government might have been aware of the 9/11 attacks before they occurred. The logic in allowing the attacks to occur is that doing so paved a path toward increased government control. The Patriot Act and AUMF were passed in the aftermath of the attacks.
AUMF empowered the country’s president with the power to engage in war against individuals, organizations and nations. War can be waged if the president determines those parties have authorized, planned, aided or completed attacks against the country.
Rand Paul Worries AUMF Creates a Pseudo-Presidential Dictatorship
Slightly more than two decades have passed since the 9/11 attacks. In that period of time, AUMF has been used by three presidents. The most interesting twist is that presidents from the left and the right have used AUMF, insisting the presidential power is enough to justify operations to combat terrorism in nearly 20 nations. Patriots like Rand Paul are questioning whether AUMF should exist.
Rational individuals like Paul insist it is not in our collective interest to empower a single individual to engage in war on behalf of the nation. It would make more sense to require the support of Congress to go to war.
Though few Americans are aware of it, an amendment to repeal AUMF was proposed only to be met with resistance. It appears lawmakers are hesitant to return the nation’s warmaking power to Congress. It is quite ironic that President Biden insisted the legislation should be repealed, considering he is the head of the executive branch.
The War on Terror Might not Ever End
The logic in passing the AUMF was to ensure the nation would have the ability to quickly respond to acts of terrorism. Members of both sides of the aisle insisted requiring a Congressional vote to go to war would require too much time.
However, passing AUMF essentially made the president a dictator in the context of war-making decisions. Such legislation runs counter to our democratic ways that require a consensus before meaningful government action is taken.
The problem with empowering the president with the ability to go to war without congressional approval is that America has endless enemies. We’ve enraged most of the world through colonialism, imperialism and the theft of natural resources such as oil. Moreover, we have nearly 800 bases located throughout the world.
If the president wants to find an “enemy”, he or she can do so with ease. Moreover, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Islam, a faith that its followers claim to be the “religion of peace” is anything but that.
If you could fast forward a couple hundred years into the future, you would likely find Islamic terrorists are still a threat to the United States and other non-Islamic nations. As a result, the president will always have a pretext to use AUMF for warmaking purposes.
The Supreme Court’s Buckley v. Valeo ruling of 1976 allowed corporations and other wealthy parties to infiltrate government. The ruling means those with money will always have an onramp into government.
If a wealthy corporation, individual or other party wants to purchase political influence, it is possible through soft money donations to political campaigns. Such campaign donations are considered a form of free speech.
In plain terms, private interests are empowered to go to war for private gain using the president as a proxy. AUMF makes such scenarios possible.
Write to Your Congressman Demanding the Repeal of AUMF
AUMF should have been repealed the year after the hysteria of 9/11. Sadly, AUMF is still the law of the land. The truth no one wants to hear is that the federal government has been compromised. It is financially lucrative for presidents, members of Congress and other bureaucrats to maintain endless war.
The beltway swamp will do everything in its power to keep AUMF in place even if doing so requires financing and arming terrorists in distant lands. War is good for political incumbents, the economy and the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned about.
If we find a way to eliminate AUMF, we will make meaningful headway in eliminating the government’s incentive to maintain perpetual war.
I believe Congress is the only entity that can legally fund war... so stop. Y'all just pilfered another 8 billion dollars from taxpayers to send the the most expensive money laundering machine, oops, I meant war ever.
There is no way this war has cost the amount of money that we've been duped into funding.
Ukraine has been the most corrupt country in Europe for decades. If you don't believe me, look back several years to the numerous journalistic reports that have been written about this awful country.
What does the Ukraine have over our leaders that are making them send over a trillion dollars to fund a war that we should not be involved in? We are not their allies and y'all are heading us into WW3 by pissing off Putin. STOP POKING THE BEAR!!! Stop raking the American people over the coals for the most corrupt country with a coke addicted leader. Enough is enough!
Bravo Rand Paul !!! Let's all write our Congressmen and demand the repeal of AUMF !!!!!