Obama backs repeal of law that green-lighted Iraq War

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Yahoo News

The law that green-lighted the March 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq is still on the books ― but maybe not for much longer if President Barack Obama has his way, the White House said on Tuesday, two years after he declared the war officially over.

“The Administration supports the repeal of the Iraq AUMF,” national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told Yahoo News, referring to the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Obama frequently cites the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq as one of his key foreign policy successes. He has repeatedly defended the pull-out, even as he pursues a strategy to leave only a residual force of maybe 8,000 to 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014. His administration recently promised it would not put boots back on the ground in Iraq in response to the current bloody chaos that threatens its stability.

But leaving the Iraq military force authorization in place could probably come in handy if he, or a future president, wanted to send troops in.

The last serious attempt to roll back the law came in late 2011, when Sen. Rand Paul, R.-Ky., introduced an amendment to do so. On Nov. 29 of that year, the measure failed in a lopsided 67-30 vote with three lawmakers not voting. Senators of both parties told Yahoo News at the time that the White House had opposed repeal.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-backs-repeal-of-law-that-green-lighted-iraq-war-172954248.html

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Pleasant surprise.

[Hubert Flottz]

2. Good!

A step in the left direction.

[NYC_SKP]

3. Wow. Recommended. (nt)

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Yes, let's do that, Congress. Obama and Rand Paul on the same page. Whaddya know?

[kurosagi]

5. I fear it will fail

...in the House. I think many Republicans will vote against the repeal, and many Democrats will as well citing Al Qaeda's resurgence in Fallujah.

Even worse, I fear that the White House (not necessarily our Pres, but people behind the scenes) will secretly be against a repeal while stating that they are for it, knowing that it will fail.

Let's hope that I am wrong.

[davidpdx]

6. Well if it does fail in the House there is an upside

Assuming it's mostly Republicans that vote against it, it will show how out of touch they continue to be.

[Enrique]

7. well that would be a good debate to have

and this action could force that debate.

I'm hearing some rightwingers on the radio point to Fallujah saying we never should have left iraq, and suggesting we should go back. Ok fine but how about we see how many republicans would publicly stand up for a reinvasion of Iraq. Iraq could turn out to be a good election issue for the Dems.