Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001

Common card · No. 235794

The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF; Pub. L. 107–40 (text) (PDF), 115 Stat. 224) is a joint resolution of the United States Congress which became law on September 18, 2001, authorizing the use of the United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the September 11 attacks. The authorization granted the president the authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those whom he determined "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the September 11 attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups. The act has been identified by historians and other scholars as having enabled the War on Terror, allowing the US president to unilaterally launch military operations across the world without any congressional oversight or transparency for more than two decades. In this case, the AUMF grants power to the President to determine both who to target and what actions to take. The AUMF is different from a declaration of war in that the AUMF is a statutory force authorization...

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Government, Public domain