Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)
252 Articles
U.S. Air Strike Data from Afghanistan Takes Step Back in Transparency
The U.S. military has stopped publishing important information on its air war in Afghanistan, just two months after deciding to release it. In October, the U.S. began publishing…
How Dangerous—and How New—Is the Defense Department’s “Collective Self-Defense” Theory?
The Defense Department’s reliance on a broad interpretation of “collective self-defense” appears to authorize military operations further removed from congressional approval…
U.S. Military’s “Collective Self-Defense” of Non-State Partner Forces: What Does International Law Say?
Earlier this month, Senator Tim Kaine made public a letter he wrote to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis asking for clarification on the meaning of “collective self-defense of…
A New AUMF Is Not a Solution to “Endless War”
Seventeen years have now passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the launching of wars against terrorist groups tied to those attacks. While Congress and the George…
Post-9/11 Generation Reaches Enlistment Age in Unmoored ‘War on Terror’
Human Rights First International Legal Counsel Rita Siemion says it's long past time to ensure that war-based authorities are used only when specifically authorized by Congress…
Guantanamo is No Answer–But Here’s What Can Work
While there are real challenges and difficult tradeoffs to be made, one question should not be difficult at all: nobody should be sent to Guantanamo. It would be bad policy,…
Will Trump Administration Claim Congress Authorized Force against Iran?–Analysis of Existing Statutory Authority and New Proposals
Could recent Trump administration comments indicate an attempt to justify war on grounds beyond Iran’s nuclear program? If so, would the administration be able to make a serious…
Senator Merkley’s Smart New Alternative AUMF Proposal
Yesterday, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) released a new proposal for an authorization to use military force, or “AUMF.” As Merkley explained in last week’s AUMF hearing before…
How to Ensure New Congressional War Authorization Is Not a Blank Check
A look at the most contested elements of the draft war authorization proposed by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., along with alternatives for Congress that would…
Corker’s Proposal Hands Trump A Dangerous, Open-Ended War Authorization
While the media is focused on the Trump administration’s strikes against Syria, there’s another effort to entrench and expand the U.S. global war posture that’s getting less…
Bad Legal Arguments for the Syria Strikes
There is no apparent domestic or international legal authority for the airstrikes conducted in Syria on April 14.
Does Congress Really Think It’s Reasserting Its War Powers by Giving Them Away to Trump?
Bipartisan efforts to address the problematic status quo should be applauded. But without significant changes to what is reportedly in the latest proposed AUMF, the new authorization…