Progressives Case: De-Authorizing War on Terror

John Nichols

The Nation - by John Nichols - Just as the voice of Mary Robinson -- then serving in her UN High Commissioner role -- was a lonely one in opposition to declaring a "war on terror" that would define a decade for the world, so Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the lonely voice of the U.S. Congress. Lee cast the sole vote against Public Law 107-40, the Authorization of the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, which effectively launched what is now know as the "war on terror. September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us," Congresswoman Lee said on September 14. "Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. (We) must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target," Lee concluded. "We cannot repeat past mistakes."

That wise counsel was not heeded. Cheney's "war on terror" language carried not just the day but the decade. But, now that the decade is done, Lee is back with a proposal to draw down the "war on terror."

Barbara Lee

"In reflecting on the rush-to-war in Afghanistan and President Bush's misguided war-of-choice in Iraq, my worst fears have unfortunately been realized," Lee said when she introduced legislation to sunset and repeal over a six-month period the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists. "Over the last (decade), this broad authorization of force has had far-reaching implications which shake the very foundations of our great nation and democracy. It has been used to justify warrantless surveillance and wiretapping activities, indefinite detention practices that fly in the face of our constitutional values, extrajudicial targeted-killing operations, and a policy of borderless and open-ended war that threatens to indefinitely extend U.S. military engagement around the world," the congresswoman says. "It is time for Congress to reexamine, and ultimately repeal this flawed authorization. The alternative, to concede Congress's constitutional responsibilities and blindly accept the persistence of war without end, is unacceptable." Lee is right.

Her proposal has for the most part been neglected by the same media that has celebrated Cheney in recent weeks. But Lee has a few more allies as we approach September 14, 2011, than she did on September 11, 2001. Her proposal has been cosponsored by Democratic Representatives John Conyers Jr. (Michigan), Donna Edwards (Maryland), Keith Ellison (Minnesota), Bob Filner (California), Raul Grijalva (Arizona), Mike Honda (California), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Jesse Jackson Jr. (Illinois), John Lewis (Georgia), Jim McDermott (Washington), Pete Stark (California), Maxine Waters (California) and Lynn Woolsey (California). One Republican, North Carolina's Walter Jones Jr., has joined them. It is still lonely to speak out against the declaration of a "war on terrorism." But it is a little less lonely today than it was a decade ago. And our media could -- and should -- make it less lonely by highlighting the current legislative initiative of the woman who got it right on September 14, 2001. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Progressives Case: De-Authorizing War on Terror