America has not signed up for "forever wars," but that is what has happened in the wake of the post-9/11 legislation that allows a president to authorize the use of military force, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has introduced a bill to put the power of declaring wars back in the hands of Congress.
The New York Democrat also told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday that she has "serious concerns" about the revelations contained in an extensive Washington Post report about the war that has been raging in Afghanistan under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump for more than two decades.
The Post reported Monday the three presidents and their military commanders have not delivered on promises to prevail in Afghanistan, and that the American public was misled about the war's progression.
"Terrorism continues to metastasize," said Gillibrand, noting Afghanistan has issues with ISIS and the Taliban and many more complex issues that will be up to the Afghan people to solve.
"My war powers reform resolution is designed to put the power about declaring war back into the hands of Congress, as our founders intended and as the constitution dictates," said Gillibrand. "We have had an authorization since 2001 to be in Afghanistan. Congress passed that authorization weeks after 9/11 when the smoke was still smoldering from Ground Zero."
In addition, the authorization has allowed presidents to go into 20 different countries, to fight different adversaries, said Gillibrand.
"What my reform would simply do is say, you've got to name your adversary, you've got to name your country, and you get two years," she said. "if you want more funds and if you want more support from the American people, you have to go back to their representatives, Congress, to get that authorization."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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