Senators Wrestle With Updating Law Authorizing War on Terrorist Groups
Under questioning by Mr. Young, Mr. Bellinger warned
that because it is not clear that the 2001 war authorization covers the Islamic State, if the Trump administration were to bring an Islamic State suspect to the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, courts might potentially order the prisoner freed in a habeas corpus lawsuit.
Asked at a luncheon on Monday at the National Press Club in Washington what legal basis the United States had to attack Syrian government forces, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., claimed the authority stemmed from the 2001 law
because the American military presence in Syria was predicated on fighting Al Qaeda and the Islamic State there.
By CHARLIE SAVAGEJUNE 20, 2017
WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties agreed on Tuesday
that it was long past time for Congress to enact a new law authorizing the evolving war against Islamist terrorist groups, while also raising questions about the legal basis for the Trump administration’s escalating direct military confrontations with Syrian government forces.
"I think the worry about mercurial surprises is prompting Congress, including Republicans, to want to exercise our powers a little more." The bill proposed by Mr. Kaine
and Mr. Flake would authorize force against Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Islamic State for five years.
Senator Tim Kaine said that It’s hard to craft an authorization against nonstate actors,