WASHINGTON: More than two decades later, Congress is on the verge of writing a closing chapter to the war in Iraq. The Senate voted Thursday to repeal the resolution that authorized the 2003 US invasion, following a House vote last month that would return the basic war power to Congress. The amendment by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, and Indiana Sen. Todd Young, a Republican, was approved by voice vote to an annual defense authorization bill that passed the Senate late Thursday &mdash; a unanimous endorsement for ending the war that many now view as a mistake. Iraqi deaths were estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 US troops were killed in the war after President George W. Bush&rsquo;s administration falsely claimed that then-President Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way the war ends, not with a bang but a whimper,&rdquo; Kaine said after the vote, which lasted only a few seconds with no debate and no objections. Still, he said, &ldquo;America is forever changed by those wars, and the Middle East is too.&rdquo; Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the United States. The House added a similar amendment to its version of the defense measure in September, meaning the repeal is likely to end up in the final bill once the two chambers reconcile the two pieces of legislation. Both bills also repeal the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the US-led Gulf War. While Congress appears poised to pass the repeal, it is unclear whether President Donald Trump will support it. During his first term, his administration cited the 2002 Iraq resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 US drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani. It has otherwise been rarely used. Young said after the vote that he thinks Trump should &ldquo;take great pride&rdquo; in signing the bill after campaigning on ending so-called &ldquo;forever wars,&rdquo; especially because he would be the first president in recent history to legally end a longstanding war. He said the vote establishes an important precedent. &ldquo;Congress is now very clearly asserting that it is our prerogative and our responsibility not only to authorize but also to bring to an end military conflicts,&rdquo; Young said. The bipartisan vote, added to the larger bipartisan defense measure, came amid a bitter partisan standoff over a weeklong government shutdown. Young said the quick vote was an &ldquo;extraordinary moment&rdquo; that he hopes &ldquo;will help some people see that we can still do consequential things in the U.S. Congress.&rdquo; The Senate also voted to repeal the 2002 resolution two years ago on a 66-30 vote. While some Republicans privately told Kaine that they were still opposed to the measure, none objected to the unanimous vote on the floor Thursday evening. A separate 2001 authorization for the global war on terror would remain in place under the bill. While the 2002 and 1991 resolutions are rarely used and focused on just one country, Iraq, the 2001 measure gave President George W. Bush broad authority for the invasion of Afghanistan, approving force &ldquo;against those nations, organizations, or persons&rdquo; that planned or aided the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Passed in September 2001, it has been used in recent years to justify US military action against groups &mdash; including al-Qaida and its affiliates, such as the Islamic State group and al-Shabab &mdash; that are deemed to be a threat against America.

Americas

Congress is set to withdraw the 2002 Iraq War authorization with bipartisan support, formally ending the conflict and reinforcing congressional war powers, as Iraq is now seen as a strategic US ally.


US Senate unanimously endorses repeal of 2002 Iraq war resolution

CAIRO: A US delegation headed by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will take part in talks on Wednesday focused on a Gaza truce and a possible hostage-prisoner exchange, Egypt&rsquo;s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said.&nbsp;Speaking at a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Abdelatty said Tuesday that he and Johann Wadephul &ldquo;held an extensive discussion with Steve Witkoff, who is due to arrive in Egypt within hours.&rdquo; <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The first day of talks focused on discussions around a proposed prisoner and captive exchange, a ceasefire, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, a<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" id="isPasted">ccording to Egypt&rsquo;s state-linked Al-Qahera News<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. The talks in Egypt&rsquo;s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are brokered by the US and aim at hammering out details for the plan&rsquo;s first phase. That includes a ceasefire to allow for the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Trump&#39;s plan has received wide international backing and raised hopes for an end to a devastating war that has upended global politics, left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and the Gaza Strip in ruins. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on Israel. Many uncertainties remain around the latest plan, including the demand for Hamas to disarm and the future governance of Gaza. Tuesday marks two years since the war began. Here&rsquo;s what we know: Who&rsquo;s at the talksUS envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the US negotiating team, according to a senior Egyptian official Saturday. Local Egyptian media said that Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law, arrived in Egypt and are expected to join the talks. The Israelis are led by top negotiator Ron Dermer, while Khalil al-Hayyah leads the Hamas delegation. Netanyahu&rsquo;s office said that foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk would also be present for Israel among others. It&#39;s not clear how long the talks would last. Netanyahu said they would be &ldquo;confined to a few days maximum,&rdquo; and Trump has said that Hamas must move quickly, &quot;or else all bets will be off.&quot; Hamas officials have warned more time may be needed to locate bodies of hostages buried under rubble. The plan&rsquo;s essentialsAll hostilities would &mdash; in theory &mdash; immediately end. Under the deal, Hamas would release all hostages it holds, living or dead, within 72 hours. The militants still have 48 hostages. Israel believes about 20 of them are alive. Israel would free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in its prisons and 1,700 people detained from Gaza since the war began, including all women and children. Israel also would hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each body of a hostage handed over. Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force would deploy. The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. An interim administration of Palestinian technocrats would run day-to-day affairs. Hamas would have no part in administering Gaza, and all its military infrastructure, including tunnels, would be dismantled. Members who pledge to live peacefully would be granted amnesty. Those who wish to leave Gaza can.&nbsp; Palestinians wouldn&#39;t be expelled from Gaza. Large amounts of humanitarian aid would be allowed and would be run by &ldquo;neutral international bodies,&rdquo; including the United Nations and the Red Crescent. What Hamas has saidA Hamas statement on Friday said that it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. The statement made no mention of Hamas disarming, which is a key Israeli demand. The statement also reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body. What Israel has saidNetanyahu said on Friday that Israel was prepared for the implementation of the &ldquo;first stage&rdquo; of Trump&rsquo;s plan, apparently referring to the release of hostages. But his office said in a statement that Israel was committed to ending the war based on principles that it has set out before. Netanyahu has long said that Hamas must surrender and disarm. Israel&rsquo;s army on Saturday said that the country&rsquo;s leaders had instructed it to prepare for the first phase of the US plan. What remains uncertainQuestions include the timing of key steps. One Hamas official said that it would need days or weeks to locate some hostages&#39; bodies. And senior Hamas officials have suggested that there are still major disagreements requiring further negotiations. A key demand is for Hamas to disarm, but the group&#39;s response made no mention of that. It&rsquo;s not clear that Hamas officials can agree among themselves on the plan. A senior official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, said that Hamas was willing to hand over its weapons to a future Palestinian body that runs Gaza, but there was no mention of that in the group&#39;s official statement responding to Trump&#39;s plan. Another official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Araby television that Hamas would refuse foreign administration of the Gaza Strip and that the entry of foreign forces would be &ldquo;unacceptable.&rdquo; Parts of the plan remain unclear. Hamas wants Israel to leave Gaza completely, but the plan says Israel would maintain a &ldquo;security perimeter presence,&rdquo; which could mean it would keep a buffer zone inside the territory. And the future of Gaza remains in question. The plan says that if the Palestinian Authority, which administers the occupied West Bank, reforms sufficiently and Gaza redevelopment advances, &ldquo;the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.&rdquo; With additional input from AFP.

Middle East

Israel and Hamas begin US-brokered talks in Egypt on Trump’s peace plan, aiming for a Gaza ceasefire, hostage-prisoner exchange, Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal, and international governance to end the two-year war.

US envoy Witkoff to lead delegation joining Gaza talks Wednesday: Egypt FM

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized international institutions and emphasized the decisive role of weapons in national survival during his address at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.&nbsp;President Zelensky is attending the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held between September 23 and 29.&nbsp;In his speech, he strongly criticized global institutions and international systems for their ineffectiveness in resolving conflicts, pointing to ongoing crises in Sudan, Somalia, Palestine, and Gaza, all trapped in prolonged violence despite repeated statements from international bodies.&nbsp;Zelensky declared that it is not international law or cooperation, but weapons that determine who survives, stressing that international law is meaningless without powerful allies and military strength.&nbsp;Criticism of RussiaTurning his focus to Russia, Zelensky condemned Moscow&rsquo;s actions, accusing it of abducting &ldquo;thousands of Ukrainian children.&rdquo; He also warned of the ongoing threat posed by Russia&rsquo;s occupation of Ukraine&#39;s nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.&nbsp;&ldquo;Last year, I warned the world about the risk of radiation disasters due to Russia&rsquo;s occupation,&rdquo; he said, expressing frustration that &ldquo;nothing&rsquo;s changed,&rdquo; even after the plant recently experienced a blackout.&nbsp;The Ukrainian leader called for immediate and unified action to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that inaction risks a broader and more dangerous conflict.&nbsp;As international institutions remain &ldquo;too weak,&rdquo; Zelensky said, &ldquo;this madness continues.&rdquo;&nbsp;He added that it is now less costly to stop Putin than to protect every port and every ship from Russian attacks.&nbsp;Zelensky argued that the war must be stopped, even &ldquo;if it takes weapons to do [so],&rdquo; warning that otherwise Russia will continue to push &ldquo;the war forward [and] deeper.&rdquo;&nbsp;&lsquo;Failure of UN, international law&rsquo;Zelensky also addressed what he described as the broader collapse of international law, citing the Taliban&rsquo;s takeover of Afghanistan and the growing power of criminal cartels in Latin America as examples of weakened global governance.&nbsp;&ldquo;You know perfectly well international law doesn&rsquo;t work fully unless you have powerful friends who are truly willing to stand up for it, and even that doesn&#39;t work without weapons,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Criticizing the UN&rsquo;s role in Sudan, Somalia, and Palestine, Zelensky said that apart from issuing statements, &ldquo;everything happening in Gaza remains without a way out even now.&rdquo;&nbsp;He concluded that in a world where institutions are failing, it is the rise of weapons, not dialogue, that determines who survives.&nbsp;Drone allegationsZelensky also raised concerns over Russia&rsquo;s growing use of drone technology, noting recent airspace violations in Poland and Estonia, and warning of the emerging threat from autonomous drones powered by artificial intelligence.&nbsp;&ldquo;Just recently, 19 simple Russian drones violated Polish airspace, and only four were shut down,&rdquo; he stated.&nbsp;Discussing the accessibility of drones, Zelensky remarked that while drones were once exclusive to &ldquo;the strongest countries&rdquo; due to high costs, even basic drones can now fly thousands of kilometers.&nbsp;He highlighted how Ukrainian farmers are adapting to these evolving threats, learning to shield their equipment from Russian drone attacks, a challenge he said is becoming as serious as climate change.

Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at UNGA 80, criticized global institutions as too weak to stop wars, stressing that military power, not international law, is what ultimately determines survival in today’s world.

Articles tagged with "War"

US Senate unanimously endorses repeal of 2002 Iraq war resolution

US envoy Witkoff to lead delegation joining Gaza talks Wednesday: Egypt FM

Zelensky at UNGA: International institutions ‘too weak’ to stop wars