10 years ago Congress tried to use the War Powers Act to leave Afghanistan

By Robert Willmann

Ten years ago in March the U.S. House of Representatives voted on concurrent resolution number 28 to use the War Powers Act, technically called the War Powers Resolution, to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of that year [1]. Introduced by Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, the bill had 12 co-sponsors, which included two Republicans, Ron Paul of Texas and Walter Jones of North Carolina [2]. When the bill came up for a vote on 17 March 2011, it lost by 321 to 93, with one person voting present and 17 not voting [3].

Congressman Ron Paul spoke on the House floor for five and a half minutes—

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4212406/user-clip-ron-paul

Within the first 30 seconds, Paul said, “… if we [do not leave by the end of 2011], we’ll be there for another decade, would be my prediction”.

What are the members of Congress who are still there who voted against the resolution doing today, besides hiding under their desks?

[1] Title 50, U.S. Code, chapter 33. War Powers Resolution.

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter33&edition=prelim

[2] House Concurrent Resolution 28, introduced on 9 March 2011.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/28/all-info

https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/28/text

[3] https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2011193

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3 Responses to 10 years ago Congress tried to use the War Powers Act to leave Afghanistan

  1. akaPatience says:

    Thank you for this reminder! In the last link I see that my Congressman (R) was a “nay” vote. Shameful. Shame on me for voting for him. But in those days I was even more naive than now, not realizing how many lies I was constantly being fed by our government and MSM.

  2. Ed Lindgren says:

    It is amusing to watch the talking heads on the teevee twist themselves into a pretzel attempting to absolve ol’ Dementia Joe of any significant responsibility for our ongoing Afghan debacle.

    If my memory is correct, I recall that ol’ Dementia Joe, as a United States Senator, voted for the joint resolution authorizing the use of force against those who attacked the U.S. on 9/11/01.

    I also have a vague recollection that ol’ Dementia Joe served as the Vice President for one Barrack Obama, who famously referred to our Afghanistan effort as the “good war” (which implied that Iraq was the “bad war”). I imagine that ol’ Dementia Joe sat in on a good many White House meetings where the Afghan situation was discussed. And I imagine he offered up opinions based on his long experience serving in the Senate.

    So ol’ Dementia Joe wasn’t just handed a stinking plate of Afghan crap out of the blue on January 20th of this year. He has some history that goes back a quite a few years insofar as Afghanistan is concerned. No need to weep for him; he is carrying a good deal of Afghan baggage.

  3. Sam says:

    Afghanistan. After al-Qaeda terrorists attacked us on 9/11, brave warriors, special forces quickly deployed to defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. They accomplished their mission rapidly and effectively. THAT is when they should have returned home. But the elite wanted…

    https://twitter.com/tulsigabbard/status/1427742918433927169?s=21

    Tulsi is correct. The fascists want forever trillion dollar wars. They want the gravy train of money borrowed from future generations and the power to enforce more authoritarianism here at home on the back of fearmongering propaganda. We need to support leaders like Ron Paul and Tulsi Gabbard who are not beholden to the fascists.

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