The US Senate is moving to end the authorization for "endless war" in Iraq

US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that a House committee will consider legislation next week that would revoke two authorizations for previous wars in Iraq, dubbed "endless wars," in a new attempt to reaffirm Congress' role in deciding whether to send troops to fight in the conflict. other countries.

Schumer added that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would consider the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force, paving the way for a possible vote in the full Senate before members leave for the April recess.

"We explicitly need to put the Iraq war behind us forever. And to do that we need to abolish the legal authority under which the war began," he said.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 marked the beginning of America's "endless wars" in the Middle East.

Prior to that point, US combat operations in the region had generally been temporary and short-term.

The US Constitution grants the power to declare war exclusively to Congress over the past few decades, but power has shifted to the White House after Congress passed unspecified laws that authorize the use of military force, such as legislation for the war on Iraq and other legislation allowing war against al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups after The attacks of September 11, 2001.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives introduced legislation to repeal the two long-standing pieces of legislation in early February.

And the US House of Representatives voted in June 2021 to revoke the authorization it gave to former President George W. Bush to wage war in Iraq, as this authorization was the legal basis that allowed the US military to deploy in the Middle East and other regions of the world.

And US President Joe Biden announced that month his support for this House measure, making him the first president to accept such an effort to limit his authority to carry out military action since the war in Afghanistan began more than 20 years ago.

In order to activate the repeal of the mandate, the measure must be supported by the Senate, while President Biden must also sign it into law, and the repeal of the authorization would restrict the president's war powers, and potentially change the course of the American "infinite wars".