Endless failures of an endless war

In the wake of President Obama’s announcement to slow American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, there has never been a better time to take a critical look at the endless war.

Ironically, the president’s announcement came in the same week as a significant, yet ignored moment in American history: the twelfth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Despite the president’s pledge to end the wars, the United States remains in Afghanistan and is now engaging in a new military campaign in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State. These extraordinary developments seem to be met with virtual public silence; but war cannot fade from our national consciousness. At this critical moment, here’s what we should be talking about.

{mosads}First, the war on terror has created a virtually limitless battlefield.  Enacted immediately after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the “War on Terror” Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) has been used to justify military action across the world—from Afghanistan and Iraq to Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen, and the Philippines. Its mere 60 words have also permitted the United States to indefinitely detain individuals at Guantanamo and conduct drone strikes that have killed thousands of unintended people. As Obama now freezes troop withdrawal from Afghanistan fourteen years later, the endless war—and its limitless scope—seemingly has no end in sight. Despite his vocal opposition to the Iraq War and blank check war authorizations, Obama has seemingly aligned with the perpetual war paradigm he so insistently campaigned against. 

Second, the U.S. is stuck in the cycle of perpetual war. Twelve years after the invasion of Iraq, the United States finds itself where the cycle began: at the start of a war. Last September, the president announced plans to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State. But this time there is no difficult vote for Congress to take, no public outcry or controversy. For the past eight months the administration has been relentlessly bombing Iraq and Syria and citing the old Iraq War and War on Terror war authorizations as the legal justification. These are authorizations that the president has consistently stated need to be repealed. This reliance on previous, unrelated authorizations has allowed the United States to engage in a war without congressional debate, vote, or authorization. This has created a dangerous precedent for broad executive war power and unending conflict – and it’s being ignored. Last month, the administration finally presented Congress with a new Islamic State-specific authorization that, alarmingly, fails to repeal the 2001 AUMF. Over a decade later, the U.S. government is making the same mistakes again without any substantial public scrutiny.

Third, the war is not working. According to the Global Terrorism Index, American foreign policy has not eliminated or even reduced terrorism; instead, terror attacks have spread and increased across the globe. The creation and rise of the Islamic State is evidence of this trend. While U.S. foreign policy continues to rely on military solutions to counter violent extremism, we are all paying the cost; since 2003, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers over $819 billion and has cost thousands of lives to date. The United States, as a nation of values, has been tainted by indefinite detention, torture, and targeted killings. By insisting that the only way to eliminate violent extremism is through violence, American foreign policy has become synonymous with endless war. If not curtailed, violent military conflict will be our legacy to the world.

The twelfth anniversary of the Iraq War should be a reminder that the endless war is not working. It won’t end until the American public demands that it end. Before twelve more years of war slip into U.S. history, Americans must recognize the futility of perpetual war. Let’s not walk down that road again; it’s time to end the endless wars—the next twelve years can be different.

O’Donnell is the program assistant on militarism and civil liberties at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.