civilbeat | Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a frequent critic of the Obama administration’s
military policies, was scheduled to appear as the lead guest on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” live on Friday at 4 p.m. (10 p.m. EST). But her recent comments left little doubt as to how she’d react to the deployment: Only days ago,
she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer there is “no reason for (U.S. military
personnel) to go and to be deployed into these situations” in Syria.
Military actions being taken against the Islamic State now are being
pursued under the 2001 and 2002 AUMF, which authorized use of military
force against Iraq. Their use in pursuing broader goals in the Middle
East goes back to the George W. Bush administration. Obama submitted a
proposed new AUMF in February, but under House Speaker John Boehner,
Congress failed to take up the authorization.
Up to 50 Special Operations advisers, who will not take part in
direct combat, are expected to comprise the new deployment, which the
White House described as “an intensification of a strategy that the
president announced more than a year ago.”
