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Forever AUMF Stalls at Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Renee Parsons

“War is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.”


As the Forever AUMF 2018 (SJRes 59) (Authority for the Use of Military Force) continues to await action by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one can only imagine the extent of the behind-the-scene efforts underway to sway those few wavering Senators who may be reluctant to go down in American history as voting to eliminate Congress’ sole, inviolate Constitutional authority ‘to declare war’. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11.
The law would remove Congress from its statutory authority as it transfers “uninterrupted” authority on “the use of all necessary and appropriate force” to one individual, allowing the President of the United States to pursue the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS and other ‘associated forces” including a proverbial too little-too late report to Congress 48 hours after the use of military force in a “new foreign country,” presumably in the Middle East (other than Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya).
In addition to pressure within the Committee itself, it can be expected that those who will benefit most from a Forever State of War are currently pounding the Senate’s marble halls, perhaps even stalking members of the Committee as lobbyists from the MIC, AIPAC and other enthusiasts for war, will do whatever it takes to bring adoption of the AUMF to a favorable committee vote.
Since more than half the Committee, fourteen of its twenty one members received a grand total of $3,397,755 from pro-Israel PAC’s as identified by the Center for Responsive Politics, whenever and if ever the final vote comes, it will be positively titillating to compare the vote and the money.
In an interesting reversal of common legislative procedure, the House of Representatives has, as yet, no pending AUMF comparable to the Foreign Relations Committee version while the Senate Committee appears eager to act; perhaps at the behest of one of those aforementioned aficionados of war. If we assume that the Senate Committee adopts the AUMF with the next logical step being a vote by the full Senate, will the Senate create an awkward legislative conundrum without a comparable Forever AUMF 2018 being on a legislative track in the House?
One factor in pushing for speedy AUMF approval might be that there is some new military escapade about to unfold with the need for an unwieldy Constitutionally mandated Congressional debate and vote too onerous, requiring too much effort and consuming a colossal amount of time whereas the Section 8 clause might better inform the American public whether their tax dollars are being efficiently used to improve their lives or might even threaten a halt to the steady drumbeat of war.
Perhaps the delay may be attributed to ongoing negotiations of the finer points in an attempt to create a more perfect air-tight vehicle. Whether there is a sunshine date or some i’s are not dotted or t’s not crossed makes little real difference in the final outcome since the ultimate goal is to allow war to go forward without meaningful Congressional participation while failing to provide the pesky public with information about why their sons and daughters are losing their limbs or lives in some far-away country that is no threat to our national security.
It is difficult to recognize a more ill-considered, reactionary vote of enormous global consequences as adoption of a Forever AUMF which will surely hasten the Final Chapter of the American Empire.
As if the Constitutional violations are not sufficient reason for opposition and while Congress has been less than attentive to its Section 8 duties, a functioning AUMF will not only deny a full and thorough public Congressional debate and roll call vote on the merits of military action but will prevent creation of a historic Congressional record, a journal of which began in 1789 as necessary to providing a formal documentation of all official parliamentary proceedings essential to any operative democracy.
In mid April when the AUMF 2018 draft was introduced, retiring Committee Chair Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn) was optimistic that the AUMF would be approved within a few weeks indicating that a potential Senate floor vote depends on the strength of AUMF support within the Committee.   Corker suggested that a wide margin in favor would facilitate Senate floor passage which makes it curious that approval appears to have stalled and brings us back to question why the haste for rapid adoption of a new AUMF.
During the May 24th Committee hearing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) who was HRC’s running mate in 2016, serves on the Senate Armed Service Committee and is a driving force in favor of the AUMF, referred to adoption as little more than a ‘necessary update’ repealing AUMF 2001 and AUMF 2003.
Kaine, who apparently sees no contradiction with an active-service son in the Marines and adoption of the Forever AUMF, stated that there is ‘near unity” on the Committee regarding a bi-partisan effort, military engagement against ISIS and the desire to do a ‘good job,’ none of which should be confused with real-time support for adoption of the AUMF.
While Kaine and other members of the Committee may be untroubled by the discomfort of a contradictory, cognitive dissonance belief system as necessary qualities in order to function as a Senator, the US has become the most violent country on the planet as its legislative representatives exhibit the lack of any functioning global consciousness.

Renee Parsons served on the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC. She can be found on Twitter @reneedove31

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paul metcalf
paul metcalf
Jun 7, 2018 7:20 PM

bevin.read it this morning on informationclearinghouse.info.pity he couldn’t deliver it himself.at least he is one of the few to support the palestinians!

bevin
bevin
Jun 7, 2018 10:27 PM
Reply to  paul metcalf

Did anyone else publish it?

summitflyer
summitflyer
Jun 7, 2018 6:15 PM

Always about money buying influence in US politics .And what they are proposing in changes of law regarding presidential powers is the death blow of democracy or any semblance thereof in American politics.What will be the use of congress going forward .A major constitutional change IMHO.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
Jun 7, 2018 9:38 PM
Reply to  summitflyer

What is ‘democracy’ in the USA? A choice between the two wings of the Bosses’ Party. More than 90% of winners being those that spend the greater amount. Money contributions, roughly half by Israel First Zionists, determine the winners, whose voting records favour the rich owners of society in 97% of cases(as per the Gilens and Page study and simple observation).Voluntary voting (but compulsory adherence to police power)resulting in risible turn-outs. Increasingly vicious partisanship (ALL caused by fourteen Kremlin trolls, according to the deranged Clintoristas)and active sabotage of the other party. TOTAL control, by the elite parasites, of the propaganda system of an increasingly morally corrupt fakestream media, PR, advertising and think-tanks etc. The hunting from public life of any who dare criticise Israel, support Palestine, criticise capitalism, refuse to kiss elite ‘wealth-creators” arse etc.
And then there is the election process. Thoroughly rigged eg the theft of the Democratic nomination from Sanders, the theft of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, gerrymandering, roll purging of minority voters, crooked electronic voting, removal of polling places in poor districts etc. The campaigns themselves are cavalcades of lies, lies and more lies, bribery, threats, and hate and fear-mongering (all supervised by Evil Putin from his lair in the Kremlin). The Presidential ‘winners’ are sometimes not the popular vote winners, but the Electoral College victors, as with poor Hillary.
And then there is the electorate. Half, by definition, of below median intelligence. Most, in the Great American Tradition, arrogantly and proudly ignorant of everything. Tens of millions brainwashed into the stupidest type of religious superstition, hateful of non-believers and believers of other myths. Tens of millions psychologically inadequate gun-worshippers. Most believers of varying strength in the wretched myth of ‘American Exceptionalism’, that allows the USA to kill, destroy, threaten and intimidate, and DEMAND to be worshipped for it. If THAT is ‘democracy’, then it is an unbridled evil.

balkydj
balkydj
Jun 8, 2018 7:03 AM

Impossible to disagree, when you put it like that, bro. .. 🙂 simples >>
And was kinda’ suggesting something in this direction, when commenting below: but, let’s be rational for a brief moment and think about the Business Corporate Strategy of building the ‘Supermax Prison’ establishment, first and then selling “Gangsta Rap” to the people, harmonised with a “Shock & Awe” Foreign Policy of WAR@WILL to boot, coz’ I firmly believe that any rational Social Psychologist & JUDGE , can see that the degenerate tendencies of Societal Behavioural Patterns can be demonstrated in an international court of Law, as proven pre-meditated >>
‘Conditioning of Minds’ & mind control .. with Malice Aforethought, from ZioNazi Directorship.
And yet still the people buy into ‘it’ and get sucked in, like villagers gossiping ..
What I mean: ? well, just one glance @Hollywood today, what more to say ?
I have completely stopped to watch all ‘american’ films, for nigh on 2 decades and ever since 9/11, especially & refuse to let my mind enter into that debating arena of sinful powers of suggestion.. (other than to ridicule it), which quite probably precludes the odd good movie , too .. sadly. Hollywood ruined the film business, with in-credibility, coz’ as E.J. would say “I’ve seen that movie, too” .. and “I can tell by your eyes you must be lying ..”
There again, I have never had a Tv License since 1979: so what do I know .. ? 😉
OOT, itsa’ hoot , when yer’ out of touch with reality today .. but the societal reality that surrounds us, of premeditated with malice aforethought, direct visual stimulus towards aggression in arousing degenerate societal behavioural patterns & tendencies, is impossible to avoid, miss & ignore now. The folk have been deliberately dumbed down and fed ‘bones’ with no meat on, from the Zionist sponsored Rags & Dog-ma’bone man , in order to enslave ‘en masse’ & what ?
DogeatdogSnoopdoggydogbyDeputyDawg&Spookd’Scoobydoodoo .. till we’re Dodo’s ? huh..?
Bloody AWACS, circling directly over our house in the mountains, twice yesterday & 2 flybys .. or was that just Hollywood & my vivid imagination ? Nope, it’s really hard to miss a Boeing AWACS plane, living in the wilderness , I swear, it stands out like a herd of 1,000 wild horses in the middle of Piccadilly Circus .. the nature of the beast, you’d notice, even if you were literally Blind or blinded by the light of Manfred Mann’s Earth band harmonising with Bruce Springsteen for a spirit in the night 😉 (mine’s a Novichok Vodka, with a Lavazza topping .. ‘Ta’ 🙂 )
As Johnny Mac always used to wail on court at the line judge, “You CANNOT be serious..?”
So why bother .. anyone for Tennis & a distraction ?
I prefer Squash , un’d’Novichok Vodka 🙂

USAma Bin Laden
USAma Bin Laden
Jun 7, 2018 5:11 PM

This AUMF debate is a bogus debate. Focusing on this issue is a way to distract from more fundamental issues–issues which the Anglo Americans would rather cover up.
Namely, America (and its allies like the United Kingdom) are war criminal nations.
Imperial “democracies” like America and the United Kingdom routinely wage thinly disguised wars of aggression around the world–hidden behind their usual pretext lies like “weapons of mass destruction,” terrorism, or the greatest deception of them all, Freedom and Democracy.
As a result, the Americans, British, and their war criminal allies are guilty of murdering over 1 million people and destroying multiple nations–in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen.
That is the 1000 lb gorilla issue that both the Anglo American masses and their political establishments don’t have the “moral values” to confront.
A war of aggression authorized by the US Congress or the UK Parliament … is still a war of aggression.

bevin
bevin
Jun 7, 2018 3:05 PM

To change the subject, slightly, has anyone seen any mention in the ‘media’ of this statement by J Corbyn?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49583.htm
There is no mention at The Guardian (of Israel)’s website and Google searches, yesterday, yielded nothing except an article in The Independent (of reality)whicxh I could not find on the website.
Not that it matters…

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
Jun 7, 2018 10:04 PM
Reply to  bevin

After this statement, which seems to indicate that Corbyn may be growing a spine, you can expect the ‘antisemitism’ juggernaut to get rolling again. In fact this statement is simply saturated with ‘antisemitism’, as defined by the Zionist lynch-mob.

bevin
bevin
Jun 7, 2018 10:25 PM

Another possibility worthy of consideration is that Corbyn makes similar statements with some regularity but, since the MSM ignores them and even his critics from the left rely on the MSM , more perhaps than they like to believe, for information they assume that he has said nothing.
After all how many people realised that this fairly long and clear statement had been made?

bevin
bevin
Jun 7, 2018 2:02 PM

The Gods really do seem to be determined to make America mad.
In real terms the AUMF has existed for a long time, almost every one of the dozens of countries the US attacked in the past seventy years was attacked without a formal congressional declaration, Libya being a good example, Syria another, Yemen a third.
The truth is that the United States yearns after fascism, longs for a strong man to pummel it, as a hart after cooling stream. It does so because its rulers long to put property beyond the reach of law, they are haunted by the fear of being expropriated by the descendants of those whom they expropriated-the 99%.
In Europe and the UK the same longing is expressed in the desire to strip parliaments of sovereignty, taking their powers over the economy and giving them to the EU Commission, taking their powers over the military and giving them to NATO HQ (which is in the US President’s head), taking their powers to define the law and giving it to the Israeli government.
May I recommend
https://bostonreview.net/class-inequality/j-w-mason-market-police
for a book review which discusses the origins and nature of the neo-liberal world view of which the AUMF is a sympton?

bevin
bevin
Jun 7, 2018 2:03 PM
Reply to  bevin

symptom

balkydj
balkydj
Jun 7, 2018 10:33 PM
Reply to  bevin

Nice one 🙂
Well In-‘Bev’ , cheers 😉
Symptoms worth ‘celebrating’, with an alcoholic Bev-erage ..
Fancy a pint ?

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
Jun 8, 2018 6:42 AM
Reply to  bevin

Psychopaths hate other people and wish to do them harm. Capitalism is psychopathy in action, created by and for the benefit of the psychopathic elites. Hence our intractable situation, because psychopaths require ever greater levels of stimulus to achieve their psychological gratification, so elite greed and sadistic abuse of the rabble must only grow ever more extreme-as we have seen in the last forty years.

balkydj
balkydj
Jun 7, 2018 1:47 PM

So, Tim Kaine “stated that there is ‘near unity” on the Committee regarding a bi-partisan effort, military engagement against ISIS and the desire to do a ‘good job,’ .. ”
‘Great’ & there you have it, what a “Corker” of an admission, as to how the real good peaceful people of the USA have absolutely , from Ground Zero upwards & onwards , no options whatsoever in the political sense of debate & discussion, but to agree to & vote for to pursue an incessant Foreign Policy of exacting WAR@WILL – as the ultimate bargaining tool with all other foreign sovereign nation states, on this planet at the Will not of the people, but merely that of the M.I.C. and their Deep Sick State of Self ASSumed ‘Minders’ , with their global power games & powers of Mind Control and methodology: and it makes no difference whatsoever should the people vote for the Republican (G.o’.P.) or the Democrats, simply said .. it is a ‘Given’ requirement to getting exposure & elected on the MSM Agenda , for any hopeful puppet politician presidential candidate , that he / she conform to the >>
Philosophy & Doctrine .. !
I think personally, that Trump should build walls all around and the rest of the world should banish all citizens of the USA from leaving their stolen Homeland space, until their primitive methods and mentality and majority has learnt the art of a peaceful co-existence , first of all within those walls: to establish for themselves first & foremost , that the use of & rule of Force, at the will of their psychopathic & sociopathic elites, using DOGS in the Pavlovian Manner Proven, is finally declared an ‘Act Of Terror & Destruction of Culture’, by which no rational citizen of the USA wishes to be recognised by or associated with, in any way whatsoever ..
Until then, suspend all Visas for US Citizens to leave their territory and remove the U.N. to China as a bargaining tool, to where the USA may send envoys with evidence of a fundaMENTAL change.
It is , of course , not fair on the good citizens of the USA to suffer with being exiled from other Sovereign Nations, with an alternative philosophy and we should therefore consider that Political Asylum (due to Homeland mind Control indoctrination) is an acceptable means & just manner to deal with applications to leave the USA on a permanent basis & by way of addressing this global arrogance of attitude, so deeply embedded in the USA political system.
Just a thought .. 😉