March 28, 2024

Corker-Kaine Bill Would Codify Forever War



A bill introduced yesterday by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., would give the president a virtual blank check to expand the current war against various terrorist groups to new enemies and new locations of the president’s choosing.


By Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein, J.D. / 04.17.2018
Co-Director, Liberty & National Security Program
Brennan Center for Justice


The potential for the United States to stumble into a new war—or wars—has rarely been greater. Since before he took office, Donald Trump has been rattling his saber, and he is now backed up by a national security advisor who is openly spoiling for a fight. Instability and violence around the world are presenting them with ample opportunities. Last week marked the second time President Trump ordered bombings of Syria without congressional authorization.

Congress is now poised to bring a lit match to this combustible mix. A bill introduced yesterday by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., would give the president a virtual blank check to expand the current war against various terrorist groups to new enemies and new locations of the president’s choosing.

The professed intent of the bill is to reassert Congress’s authority over matters of war. Over the past 17 years, the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban that Congress authorized in 2001 has metastasized into a seemingly permanent war against terrorist groups that did not even exist on 9/11. Congress has sat by and watched as presidents, first Barack Obama and now Donald Trump, have waged war against the Islamic State and other groups across the globe.

Read the full article at Defense One.


Originally published by the Brennan Center for Justice under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivs-NonCommercial license.