Bush’s Gift to Obama: the AUMF

Love him or hate him, but Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano zeros on a core root of chaos in US foreign policy with his usual bluntness. He’s not the first to attack the AUMF and his CSPAN interview with Ralph Nadar is a month old, but these particular words transcend time (33:20):

“After 9/11, President Bush didn’t ask for a declaration of war. He asked for an ‘authorization for use of military force’ (AUMF). And the authorization for use of military force basically said to President Bush and his successors, ‘go after anybody you want and use any means at your disposal.’ Well that’s an open ended war. There’s no one to surrender, no target identified.

President Bush never lost the powers given to him by Congress under the AUMF. President Obama inherited them and as long as that monstrosity is on the books, every one of their successors will have this absolute power to wage any war they want, anywhere they want. That’s not what the Framers intended, that’s not what the constitution says.”