Obama seeks congressional support to use force against IS

February 11, 2015 - 19:54 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Barack Obama has sent Congress a draft authorization to formally use military force against the Islamic State group (IS), BBC News reports.

The resolution would not restrict where U.S. forces could pursue IS but bans "enduring offensive combat operations".

The U.S. has already pursued air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria since last year.

Congress has not formally voted for military force since 2002, for the Iraq war.

Obama has called for ending that resolution, about the Iraq war, but the new draft does not make any changes to the Afghanistan war resolution in 2001.

Under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, George Bush sent military forces into Afghanistan so they could track down al Qaeda commanders. Afterwards members of Congress passed a resolution for the use of force in Iraq. It was controversial, to say the least. After the 2002 authorization was passed, many Democrats said they wished they had voted against it.

Up until now Obama has been conducting the fight against Islamic State (IS) under these two authorizations. Now he wants a new one.

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Obama wants the "right-sized" authorization for IS.

The draft the U.S. president has sent Congress in regards to IS is limited to three years.

It will force Congress to vote on war for the first time in 13 years and it's expected to set up a debate about America's role in the Middle East and how to best counter the militant group.

In a letter sent to Congress along with his draft, Obama said while "existing statutes" allow the air strikes, he has "repeatedly expressed my commitment to working with the Congress to pass a bipartisan authorization for the use of military force (Aumf) against ISIL".

Obama said it "would not authorize long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan" but would provide flexibility to pursue rescue operations and special operations attacks.