OP-ED: Supporters of the Trump Doctrine must vote to end outdated war authorizations
In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump set himself apart from all other candidates of both parties by proposing a change in U.S. foreign policy. His idea was established in three broad statements that resonated with the electorate: American interests first, no more endless wars, and bring our men and women home.
The pro-intervention crowd that has dominated American foreign policy for two generations remains intractably opposed to President Trump's commonsense approach.
The nation-builders want to see American-style constitutional republics throughout the world, particularly in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of them have suggested that we might need troops there another hundred years, or maybe even forever, in order to achieve this benighted goal.
But Trump's instincts on what Americans want and what is best for this country is almost Jeffersonian — in that he trusts the people's vision for America. It is reflected in his economic successes domestically and in his aspirations internationally.
On the economic front at home, Trump argued that America has great economic potential but that it had been undermined by radical leftists in the Obama administration.
Trump argued that trade, tax, and regulatory policies of the United States had incentivized American businesses to offshore millions of jobs. He took on China when no other American leader would. He imposed tariffs that brought China to the negotiating table. The president's deregulatory environment and the tax package he ushered through Congress has resulted in a robust economy, millions of new jobs, decreased welfare dependency, and real wage increases for the first time in years.
On the international front, America's endless and undeclared wars leave our military exposed and our nation uncommitted to any foreign policy in the Middle East.
It started with the 2001 authorization for use of military force hastily passed after Sept. 11. That authorization amounted to a blank check to deploy troops in the Middle East against almost any enemy. Congress needs to apply a specific authorization to the War on Terror so that the authorization to target terrorists and the organizations that support them with military force remains not only moral, but also lawfully authorized.
The 2002 AUMF in Iraq is, perhaps, even worse. This authorization focused on weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Due to American action, this authorization has been outdated since roughly 2005. So, for nearly 15 years now, Congress has failed to fulfill its duty. As the mission changed from finding the weapons of mass destruction, to regime change ending Hussein's control of Iraq, to creating a stable democratic Iraq, successive administrations and successive Congresses have preserved the broken bipartisan status quo by refusing to debate the authorization, while continuing to fund more wars in more places.
The tough slog the president faces on the international front is even greater because so many "experts," from both parties, believe in the failed policy of liberal intervention in other nations. Those ideas are hostile to the Trump Doctrine.
Advocates for remaining perpetually engaged in Middle East conflicts undermine the hopes of millions who voted for this president.
The president has led this country back economically and laid the foundation for a domestic renaissance that will benefit all Americans. He has done so in spite of the relentless attacks from the institutional Left. He's proven himself on the homefront.
Abroad, the president deserves the opportunity to codify and implement the Trump Doctrine — the foreign policy that voters chose in 2016.
Congress needs to rescind the outdated 2002 and 2001 authorizations to use military force granted nearly 20 years ago in response to the horrific attacks on America on Sept. 11. A replacement of the outdated authorizations might include a recognition of our ally Israel, a mechanism to combat terrorism, and a limitation on the temporality of such an authorization.
A new authorization with these criteria would move us away from endless wars that Americans recognize are damaging to the country. Congress can direct us instead to peace and prosperity — if only it would reclaim its power.