Thread by @WinWithoutWar

BREAKING: the Trump admin released legal “justification” for its 2018 Syria missile attack. justice.gov/olc/opinion/fi…
Memo claims Trump has limitless power to wage global war - w/out regard to the Constitution. Our take on what Congress should do vs. what it is doing <thread> 1/

Unfathomably, what’s on Senate’s docket hands Congress’s constitutional power OVER to the president. The Senate will mark-up the proposed #CorkerKaineAUMF (SJRes59) by the end of June. Let's unpack this proposal and why we can’t let Senators be fooled by misleading spin. 2/

Sen. Corker and Kaine claim their proposal is better than the status quo, but here’s the reality:

Despite 17 years of global war being an abject failure, these Senators want to give Trump even MORE power to take our country to #endlesswar all over the world. 3/

The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. That means every time the president wants to go to war he must get permission, or authorization from Congress first.

That’s essential b/c it requires public accountability in the decision to go to war. 4/

Does the #CorkerKaineAUMF uphold the Constitution? Nope, in fact it 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 it. See this great piece by @LizaGoitein of the @BrennanCenter 👇

defenseone.com/ideas/2018/04/…

The #CorkerKaineAUMF would codify a reversal of the Constitution and allow Trump to decide when and where he can expand our #endlesswar.

And all he has to do is notify Congress. Congress can only stop the president from taking us to war with a SUPERMAJORITY in both chambers. 6/

And when has Congress had a SUPERMAJORITY for anything in recent memory? 7/

Sens. Corker and Kaine misleadingly claim their AUMF reasserts Congress war powers.

But make no mistake: The #CorkerKaineAUMF gives away Congress’ power over war-making to the president. Check this out from @ritasiemion of @humanrights1st. justsecurity.org/54765/congress… 8/

The #CorkerKaineAUMF gives the president these expansive war powers INDEFINITELY.

The proposal has no expiration date, or a “sunset." This is a recipe for more #endlesswar, not less. 9/

Another claim is that the “quadrennial review,” that says Congress can weigh in on the AUMF every 4 yrs, can be used to repeal it. But if Congress doesn't act the AUMF stays the law of the land. That = more #endlesswar & a #CorkerKaineAUMF lasting generations. 10/

The #CorkerKaineAUMF gives the president the authority to wage #endlesswar against 8 different groups in 5 different countries – a huge expansion from the status quo. 11/

Executive branch CLAIMS authority to take military action against such groups but many in Congress object that they have it. This provides that authority unquestionably. 12/

It also allows the president to expand the war to more groups if they are “associated forces” or new countries.

And for Trump’s decision to stand, all he has to do is tell Congress he’s expanding our #endlesswar. 13/

The #CorkerKaineAUMF also allows Trump to name “associated forces of associated forces” for war.

Providing a legal justification for the President to expand #endlesswar indefinitely against any future number of groups is downright dangerous. 14/

🚨 To make matters worse, there’s also no restrictions on the use of ground troops. So while Trump is telling Congress about his expansion of the #endlesswar, he’ll also be able to send our troops to these countries with no public debate or congressional approval. 15/

Sen. Kaine has held up his belief that the #CorkerKaineAUMF’s prohibition against attacking nation-states would prevent war with #Iran and #NorthKorea.

That’s simply not true because there’s nothing to stop the president from manipulating this bill to his benefit. 16/

E.g., while Trump couldn’t declare war against #Iran or #NorthKorea, nothing prevents him from attacking a governing element of one of these countries – like the IRGC or the Worker’s Party of Korea. 17/

The #CorkerKaineAUMF also won't stop Trump from bombing other countries if they “harbor” or "sponsor" a terror group approved by the #CorkerKaineAUMF.

And the administration has already tried to make such linkages b/w #Iran, #NorthKorea & Al Qaeda. lawfareblog.com/would-corker-k… 18/

The #CorkerKaineAUMF is ultimately an expansive codification of a preventative war framework to keeps us in a state of perpetual war that makes us less safe. Don’t be fooled: This isn’t better than the status quo, it will only make the status quo worse and more permanent. 19/

The moral of the story is if Sen. @timkaine & co want to actually reassert Congress’ power to declare and authorize war, reign in @POTUS, & prevent limitless our global #war further, he should look to @SenJeffMerkley as a better approach.
merkley.senate.gov/news/press-rel… 20/

Though Congress must ultimately #RepealNotReplace our #endlesswar AUMF, it’s clear @SenJeffMerkley’s proposal is the narrowest approach to war-making & the ONLY one boldly requiring Congress to stand up for the Constitution in face of Trump's hunger for war. 21/

After 17 yrs of war with essentially no evidence that our strategy is working, Congress should be debating whether the so-called war on terror has a military solution.

We’ll tell you a secret: It doesn’t! 22/

That means questioning the course to #endlesswar the Bush admin put us on 17 yrs & the chaos wrought by those policies.

Not passing a proposal like the #CorkerKaineAUMF that ends any role for Congress in war-making, save a veto. 23/

It means repealing the 2001/2002 AUMFs, and having a robust and honest public debate about how we want to engage in the world and how we can move the ball forward in ensuring security for all human beings.

Not more #endlesswar under the #CorkerKaineAUMF. 24/

That’s where you come in. We need to get loud if we’re going to kill the #CorkerKaineAUMF and prevent this dumpster-fire of an AUMF from ever seeing the light of day.

So first RT this thread to help spread the word and stop the #CorkerKaineAUMF. 25/

Next, sign this petition demanding your Senator stand AGAINST the #CorkerKaineAUMF. We’ll deliver your message to your Senator in real-time.
[petition link here] 26/

And finally, follow up the note by giving your Senator a call to demand that they commit to vote against the #CorkerKaineAUMF. Call 1-833-StopWar to be connected to your Senators offices! 27/

We’ve made so much progress bringing the need for Congress to reassert its authority over war-making and end our #endlesswar out of the shadows.

We can’t stop now by letting the dangerous #CorkerKaineAUMF. Call your Senator today – there’s no time to waste. END/