Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday said that the former Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden was to blame for the United States’ current war against the Islamic State.
Kerry made the remarks at a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing in which he often clashed with fellow Democrats about statutory limits to ongoing operations ordered by President Obama.
Most Democrats on the committee and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concerns that the administration’s desire for “flexibility” in seeking authorization for the use of military force against the Islamic State would see the country mired in another open-ended war. The senators said that Kerry’s calls for wiggle room on geographic and time constraints, the use of ground forces, and for a clause allowing the military to target “associated forces” could lead to mission creep and the US declaring another open-ended war.
They also said they were not persuaded by the administration’s claims that the 2001 AUMF offers sufficient legal justification in the absence of a deal.
Kerry countered that the administration is willing to work with the panel to find suitable language for a bill that would lead to the broadest support possible for ongoing operations. The Secretary of State also defended the administration’s call for flexibility, by rattling off scenarios that, he claimed, justified offensive operations.
He also said that seeking an Islamic State-specific AUMF was not indicative of an aggressive move. Kerry told Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) that the months-old engagement wasn’t started by the United States, but by a man who has been dead for over three years.
“Let me crystal clear: we didn’t start this,” he said. “We’re not about to start a third war. Osama Bin Laden started this on 9/11 in 2001, and he has continued it, in absentia, obviously.”
Skeptics didn’t seem particularly won over by the administration’s broad claims.
“If we’re gonna give you authority to deal with everything we don’t know about, then we might as well repeal the War Powers Act, and change the Constitution,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “You can always come back to Congress and seek additional authorization.”
Cardin was among Democrats on the panel who approved of the 2001 AUMF, and rejected White House claims that the legislation was intended to mandate the current fight.
Kerry countered that the Islamic State was first targeted in 2004 by the US forces in Iraq and, again, brought up Bin Laden.
“At that time, Osama Bin Laden publicly endorsed the group as the Al-Qaida official affiliate in Iraq,” he said, claiming that US troops have already engaged with the group and that “it’s a little late” to now say Congress didn’t authorize the fight. Kerry added that the only thing different between the Islamic State and its prior iterations is that it “changed it’s name.”
Sen. Paul pointed out that loose associations could see the mission quickly broaden. He said groups throughout the region are declaring allegiance to the Islamic State, and that an authorization without geographic limitations would be “very, very scary.” He asked if the administration would bomb Mecca and Medina under an AUMF with geographic flexibility, if the two cities declared allegiance to the Islamic State.
Kerry attempted to assuage those fears by claiming the administration would act with restraint. In a terse exchange, Paul countered by saying the administration’s credibility on the matter was lacking after it launched operations in Libya in 2011 without consulting Congress first.
Not a single member of the committee expressed skepticism with the idea of military force, though, with most quasi-dovish concerns surrounding details over limitations.
Most Republicans criticized the administration for not bringing an AUMF proposal to the committee, and for not wholly embracing a more open-ended engagement. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) described the debate as “a charade.”
Kerry said he believed that a compromise could be reached that would incorporate both calls for adjustable statutory parameters and concerns about a prolonged war.
“I’m here to work with you,” he said.
While many senators applauded Kerry for his outreach and noted that he had made himself available, unlike other cabinet officials, they also said it appeared much of the work had already been done.
“We’re at war,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a critic of unilateral executive action, said, “and Congress has not yet really done a darn thing about it.”
