I agree with the decision to kill Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, the commanding general of Iran’s Quds and the overseer of their proxy terror network. He was a ruthless, vicious murderer who ran the Iranian operations — in particular bomb making — for more than 40 years. He was bathed in blood and responsible for the death of thousands, including thousands of Americans.
It is regrettable that this action occurred on the sovereign territory of Iraq, but that is like arguing the merits of a drone rocket v an airplane bomb. We must go where the targets go. [BTW, nice intel get by whoever fingered Suleimani’s whereabouts and travel plans. This is good battlefield intel. Bravo.]
It is an acknowledgement of the intense influence that Iran has had on Iraq, a terribly unhealthy development.
This raises the question as to the authority of any US President to take such a targeted action. Already, the typical Trump haters are in full-throated roar complaining that the President possesses no such authority.
In fact, he does and it is clearly rooted in the Constitution and our laws.
The Constitution
In Article I, Section 8, the US Congress is empowered to declare war, subject to a Presidential signature on that bill.
When President Roosevelt asked the Congress to declare a state of war between the US and Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor — “. . . a date which shall live in infamy . . . ” he was asking Congress to act in accordance with Article I, Section 8.
Article II, Section 2 empowers the President thusly:
“The president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.”
This empowerment of the US President as the Commander-in-Chief of the military carries with it a huge problem — what happens if the President isn’t able to get to Congress to seek an authorization because the US has been attacked?
That problem was addressed in the War Powers Act (War Powers Resolution of 1973, a law adopted in the form of a joint Resolution of the US Congress — an odd construct).
The War Powers Act
The War Powers Act acknowledges that the US President may commit armed forces to a “reasonable and necessary” conflict as long as he notifies Congress within 48 hours. This commitment may last up to 60 days with the provision for a 30-day period in which to withdraw. Congress granted this power to the President to overcome the issue of time.
It also provides that the Congress may issue an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) or a declaration of war to prolong the conflict. This provision is from whence the AUMF comes.
What the Congress effectively did was to create a mechanism, the AUMF — short of a declaration of war — that allows an American President to conduct a war.
It is a thin veil around a declaration of war that provides the same result without the seemingly naked desire to make war. I am pretty sure there is a spritz of expensive perfume involved, but cannot find the citation.
Authorization for the Use of Military Force
Since 1973, the US has used an AUMF or the War Powers Act provisions to deal with conflicts such as the Mayaguez Incident (1973), the Marines in Lebanon (1982), Somalia, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, the First/Second Gulf Wars, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. An AUMF was cited by the Trump admin as its authorization to occupy the Syrian oilfields formerly in the hands of the Kurds as recently as November 2019.
The naysayers on the left and in Congress were sleeping during the class on the Constitution, the War Powers Act, the AUMF. Wake up!
In 2001, colored by the attack on the World Trade Towers, the US Congress approved an AUMF [Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists] granting the President authorization to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those whom he independently determined ” . . . planned, authorized, committed or aided . . . ” the 9-11 attacks. This created an open season with no bag limit on terrorists and terror funders.
This AUMF is still in effect, being used as recently as December 2016 (the lame duck portion of the Obama admin) as the authority to use force against al-Qaeda, ISIS, and “other military groups.” As noted above, it was cited in the Syrian oilfields occupation by the US in November 2019. It is a very broad authority.
Since its authorization in 2001, there have been several Congressional attempts to repeal this law, but all have been unsuccessful. There have been a great number of legal challenges as well as a substantial amount of gamesmanship by the White House.
This authority alone is sufficient to allow the President to decapitate the leadership of a terror organization.
It is worth noting the following:
1. The United States Department of Treasury designated the Quds Force as a terrorist organization on 25 October 2007.
2. Canada designated the Quds Force as a terror organization on 17 December 2012.
3. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain designed the Quds Force as a terror organization on 23 October 2018. This designation called out Soleimani by name.
4. In April 2019, the US State Department designated the Quds Force (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” for purposes of immigration statutes. At the time this was sort of a mystery as both the CIA and the DOD opposed the move. The DOD took the position that this designation did not grant any additional authority to the DOD and that they were not seeking any additional authority. [This strikes me as odd, but the killing of Soleimani seems to bear on this if for no other reason than clarity of authority.]
The whole Quds thing is not a recent development. Both the Bush and Obama admins had their sights on Suleimani, but didn’t have the trigger cojones to make their move.
This AUMF has been used by the Bush admin 20 times, the Obama admin 21 times, and the Trump admin 2 times. It has authorized action on land, in the air, and at sea in countries such as Afghanistan, Cuba (Gitmo), Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
Note: Please do not confuse the Iraq Resolution of October 2002 [Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002] which authorized the invasion of Iraq to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. This was Operation Iraqi Freedom.
So, dear reader, let go of your pearls, stop drinking sherry, and go say a prayer. The President had full authority to decapitate a foreign terror organization. It is not even a close call.
A word about the Quds
Allow me to leave with a word as to the danger of the Quds, the State of Iran’s homegrown terror organization. Some facts:
1. The Quds is a large, state-sponsored, well-funded terror organization that reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.
2. The Quds is a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with the mission of conducting unconventional warfare and intelligence gathering.
3. The Quds number more than 20,000, but they punch above their weight class through their direct support of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, the Yemeni Houthis (currently in active war with the former government of Yemen), and numerous Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
The Quds are in league with Syria and Russia in Syria and engaged in direct rocket attacks against Israel.
The Quds exert tremendous control over the Iraqi government.
4. In Iraq, the Quds were responsible for copper plasma shaped charged technology in IEDs that account for thousands of deaths including more than 600 US soldiers and Marines.
5. The Iranians were responsible for directing the recent attacks against the US Embassy in Baghdad through local Iraqi Shia militias.
6. The Quds is an offensive organization with eight directorates focused on Western Countries, the former Soviet Union, Iraq, Afghanistan/Pakistan/India, Israel/Lebanon/Jordan, Turkey, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.
This structure is a clear unmasking of their evil intentions.
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
It is clear the Trump admin is not going to go down in history as being able to take a punch well. In fact, what has begun to emerge is an unwillingness to allow things in the Middle East to develop to a point of conflagration.
This is seen in the speed with which the Trump admin knocked out ISIS, the retaliation against the Syrians’ use of chemical weapons, and the reaction to the Baghdad embassy attacks.
The Trump admin is not going to have a Benghazi on their watch. There will be no dead Ambassadors dragged through the streets. There will be no consulates abandoned to fight it out alone. There will be no hand wringing as to from whence defensive forces could be deployed. The Marines were on the Arabian Peninsula ready to get into the fight. This did not happen by accident.
President Trump sent 100 Marines into Baghdad within an hour of being informed of the attack; he sent 750 paratroopers the next day, and there are 4,000 paratroopers to arrive in the first week since the attack.
There will be no Sunday talk show confusion as to what happened, why, and what the US did.
This quick and powerful response is a message to the Iranians. The Americans are not going to put up with any crap when it comes to defending Americans and our Embassies. There will be no proxy riots and there will be no storming of our Embassy in Baghdad.
While the defenders of the consulate in Benghazi died painfully and slowly as their government failed to act, Americans on duty in the Middle East can expect this President to take action and take it immediately.
There will be repercussions. The Iranians will not allow their most powerful military leader to be killed un-avenged. We have not heard the last of this, but I am confident that the world and Iran knows that their acts will now have consequences.
The killing of both Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and General Suleimani send a message. It will take a few more such messages, but the die has been cast.
Pray for America. Pray for peace, but be prepared to fight for it.
