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GOP's McKeon: Reauthorize War on Terror
Armed Services Committee, offered a novel proposal for the next Congress: Revisiting the 2001 authorization to use military force against terrorists."It's been almost 10 years, and probably a good thing to bring it out and find out where everybody is now," Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R., Calif., told reporters in a question-and-answer session following a speech today at the Foreign Policy Initiative 2010 forum in Washington. Rep. McKeon forwarded the idea as a way to keep al Qaeda detainees out of U.S. courts -- lawmakers, he said in his speech, "should ensure no court in the land questions the legal authority for our forces to prosecute this war" -- but he also hinted that it might be a litmus test for incoming legislators, who have had less-than-clear agendas on foreign policy. "Probably almost half the Congress would be new since [authorization] that was passed," he said. "There are -- people just talked to me as I left the meeting, asking, 'What about somebody who's in the tea party?' They may have a different view." That's not to suggest that Rep. McKeon is looking to the exits in Afghanistan. In his speech, he also emphasized giving the military in Afghanistan "the time and resources it needs" rather than focusing on the July 2011 date President Barack Obama has set as a target to begin a phased withdrawal. Posted by: Sherry 2010-11-16 |
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