Antiwar.com Blog

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, at a Wednesday hearing of Sen. Rand Paul’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management, presented written testimony arguing that a proposed authorization for use of military force (AUMF) sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) (S.J.Res 59) “would literally put our endless war on autopilot.”

In his written testimony, Turley argues the proposed AUMF is the next step in Congress’ abdication of its constitutional responsibility over war after “decades of concerted effort by Congress to evade the responsibility for the most important decisions committed to it by the Framers” of the US Constitution, resulting in the US being “engaged in indefinite, undeclared war – the very menace that the Framers sought to prevent with express constitutional language requiring congressional declarations of war.”

Continue reading “Law Prof. Jonathan Turley Tells Senators Proposed AUMF Would ‘Put Our Endless War on Autopilot’”

I have a simple proposition: Let’s rebuild America instead of paving roads to nowhere in Afghanistan.

The U.S. has spent nearly a trillion dollars on fighting and (mostly) losing the Afghan War over the last seventeen years. That price tag includes paving roads that have already fallen into disrepair. Yet as money continues to flow freely to the Pentagon and to America’s fruitless wars overseas, money for America’s infrastructure barely flows at a trickle from the federal government. How stupid is that?

I was talking to a guy yesterday who owns a local landscaping company. Like me, he couldn’t stomach Trump or Hillary for president in 2016, so he voted for a third-party candidate. He got to asking about my latest writing efforts and I mentioned my recent article on the Air Force’s $100 billion stealth bomber. He asked if I was for it or against it, and I said against. Good, he said. And he started talking about the 1930s and how America invested in itself by building bridges, roads, canals, dams, and other infrastructure. Why aren’t we doing more of that today? Sensible question. Our infrastructure is decaying all around us, but our government would rather invest in military weaponry.

Continue reading “William J. Astore on Paving Roads to Nowhere”

This is the 51st anniversary of Israel’s 1967 war against Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians. The so-called Six-Day War began the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and Sinai peninsula, which was eventually relinquished by Israel. It also continued the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that began around 1948.

After more than half a century, should we continue to call this an occupation? Israel has annexed the West Bank, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem for those the state regards as Jews. The Gaza Strip is a prison camp into the which the guards do not go, preferring to gun down protesting prisoners and medics from a safe distance outside the fence while the authorities fully control the ingress and egress of people and goods like building materials, medicines, and other vital things. Every so often the Israeli Air Force bombs Gaza to smithereens.

Continue reading “Sheldon Richman on 51 Years of Israeli Occupation”

A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee held a hearing on war powers granted by the Constitution and whether or not a new Authorization for Use of Military Force is needed for current U.S. military engagements. Attorneys and legal experts from across the political spectrum, including former judge Andrew Napolitano and law professor Jonathan Turley, testified about Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution which grants Congress the power to declare war, and put forward several examples from history, including 2001’s Authorization for Use of Military Force, in which Congress gradually forfeited its war powers to the Executive Branch. In attendance were Senators Mike Lee, Jeff Merkley, Gary Peters, Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, and Tom Lee.

After a lengthy investigation, Amnesty International has just released a study finding that the US-led attack on Raqqa in Syria was so devastating to civilians and to the infrastructure that it may in fact constitute a war crime. Some have compared it to Dresden. And the irony is that after destroying the city to rid it of ISIS, the US turned a blind eye as hundreds of ISIS fighters escaped with their families…and their weapons! More in today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced today that on Wednesday, June 6th, he will be holding a hearing on the enormous costs of the endless wars which continue to be fought under the 2001 Congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed after the 9/11 attacks.

According to a press release from Paul’s office, the hearing "will explore both the financial impact and the constitutional implications of open-ended war under the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and examine the potential ramifications if Congress adopts the revised AUMF proposed by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA)."

Continue reading “Sen. Paul to Hold Hearing on ‘Unauthorized War’s Effect on Federal Spending’”