What the Iraq War Powers Repeal Means for US Forces in the Middle East

“The 2002 AUMF is a vestigial authority dating back to the congressional decision to authorise Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Jonathan Lord, senior fellow and director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told The New Arab.

“While multiple administrations have interpreted the language as giving the [Department of Defence] authority to target threats within Iraq, the language itself references the Baathist government, which was toppled 20 years ago,” Lord added.

The 9th of April also marks twenty years to the day when the statue of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by the US military in Baghdad's Firdos Square.

Read the full story and more from The New Arab.