2015-03-11
by
Eleanor Goldfield
This morning, Code Pink attended a Senate Hearing on the “President’s request for authorization to use force against ISIS.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey were present to discuss ISIS and the use of military force.
Here’s some context. First up: the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force against Terrorists) is a 2001 statute that allowed then President G. W. Bush to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against the terrorists responsible for 9/11. This then spilled into the 2002 AUMF in Iraq, another resolution that allowed the same “necessary and appropriate force” to be used in combating pretty much whoever the fuck we wanted to in Iraq.
This whoever-the-fuck-we-feel-like-bombing behavior continued, and continues, with current President Obama having placed his hawkish deeds on the back of the far outdated and overstretched AUMF legislation.
Today’s hearing centered around the renewal of this zombie statute in order to combat ISIS, the terrorist organization we all but created through our continued assaults on the Middle East. Obama and his staff feel that they already have the authority to bomb the fuck out of ISIS while Congress feels the AUMF should be renewed so there’s more of a written commitment to bombing the fuck out of ISIS. Some Senators expressed concern that in the current situation, Congress has no avenue to discuss or oversee troop deployment, length of missions or proposed missions in general. Renewal of the AUMF would give them that power as opposed to what many feel is Obama’s unilateral fight with ISIS.
So what we’re really arguing about here is semantics. Both sides agree that they need to deal with ISIS, most likely in a violent manner, it’s just that Congress doesn’t want Obama and friends to have the only ticket to the show.
This hawkish round table comes in the midst of Kerry’s negotiations with Iran and the GOP’s own unilateral, underhanded and way fucked up letter to Iran essentially warning Iran to not trust any diplomatic engagement by Obama or the US.
Today proved that despite Kerry’s anti-war past, he doesn’t have a problem loading guns and gearing up for war, or rather – sending other people to do that for him.
With all the ass kissing, drum beating and war hawking, the presence of Code Pink along with their pointed disruptions at the hearing offered the only semblance of sanity in the whole hearing. Perhaps even more importantly, it pierced this sociopath’s echo chamber with the voice of peace, and the will of the majority of Americans to give that concept a fucking try.
Update from the arrested: peaceful protest = handcuffed to a wall and charged with “incommoding”