Obama's War Against ISIS Faces Funding Hurdle
Evan Vucci/AP President Obama speaks to the media before a meeting with his cabinet in the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
President Barack Obama abandoned his August 2013 request to bomb Syrias government when a significant number of lawmakers said they would vote "no."
Nearly a year later, Obamaordered airstrikes in Iraq to protect Kurds from the Islamic State group and expanded the strikes to Syria in September after the retaliatory murders of two U.S. journalists (and to stop alleged plotting by a different group). No congressional vote was necessary, he said, and polls showed overwhelming support for the airstrikes.
Now, more than two months after the most recent videotaped beheading of an American by jihadis, Obama is asking Congress for two separate nods of approval for continued intervention against the Islamic State group, also referred to as ISIS.
The requests present a conceivable opportunity for anti-war lawmakers to halt the expansion of U.S. military action, and some House members are stirring for a fight.
The administration wants new authorized use of military force legislation granting permission for what is currently a legally dubiousmilitary campaign and $5.6 billion to fund the effort money that would allow for the deployment of 1,500 U.S. troops to Iraq, bringing the total to more than 3,000, up from nearly none in May.
One of the loudest skeptics of deeper intervention is Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., who has appeared on cable TV programs warning about a greased slope toward renewed, long-lasting U.S. military presence in Iraq featuring the death or capture of American troops.
I will not support the funding request, he tells U.S. News, without either a declaration of war or a new authorization of force. The funding request is expected to come up for a vote first.
Garamendi objects to the Obama administration's claim the current campaign is justifiable under the 2001 measure authorizing force against those responsible for 9/11, which the Bush and Obama administrations have used to justify military action against a broad range of terrorist groups.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., feels similarly, and predicts a close House vote on the funding request.
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Obama's War Against ISIS Faces Funding Hurdle