EIR has not reviewed the document as yet, but there’s been a smattering of press coverage on a new report issued by the House Republican Study Committee on Wednesday which not only endorses continuing the current wave of forever wars that the U.S. has been involved in for the past two decades but also proposes expanding those wars to include new targets. According to The National Interest, the document proposes a new blanket law authorizing the President to use military force against any group on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, which is itself written by the President’s own Secretary of State.
“The law would replace the two current Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, which were passed in 2001 to fight Al Qaeda and in 2002 to overthrow the government of Iraq,” reports TNI. “Such a law could even be used to fight other countries. The Trump administration added part of the Iranian military (the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps -ed.) to the list in April 2019, the first time a national military was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
Republicans proposed two solutions to “avoid granting the President unfettered authority to add groups to the FTO list to unilaterally expand war powers.” The law would limit the President’s war powers to groups that are currently listed as terrorist groups and come with a built-in expiration date.
The document also criticized Democrats for opposing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, “which is fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.” Republicans called for adding the Houthi rebellion to the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.
TNI notes that the document also includes proposals to put economic sanctions on China’s top leadership and to list Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. Such measures would bring the U.S. even closer to sparking World War III. [cjo]
