The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to launch an attack on Iran without first securing authorization from Congress, local media reported on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2019) The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to launch an attack on Iran without first securing authorization from Congress, local media reported on Tuesday.In recent months, senior US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan have been making the case that the administration has the legal authority to launch a war on Iran based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Politico reported.
The two-decade old law authorizes the use of military force against those behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
The legislation was originally intended to authorize the US war in Afghanistan, but successive administrations have cited the AUMF to justify various military actions around the world, including in Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Georgia and Yemen.
The report noted, however, that the White House, according to a senior administration official, still hopes that the US maximum pressure policy will force Iran back to the negotiating table to discuss a new and improved nuclear deal.
On Monday, Shanahan announced that the US would send an additional 1,000 soldiers to the middle East to address air, naval and ground-based threats in the region. The Pentagon has been stepping up the US military presence in the Middle East since May, in what National Security Adviser John Bolton described as a clear message to Iran.
Relations between the US and Iran have become increasingly hostile since last year, when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and began re-imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
