Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has spoken out against recent military strikes on Syrian forces, calling them illegal, according to an interview with Yahoo News.
There have been several attacks on Syrian forces since the Trump administration's transition into office, notably the April retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons as well as the June 18 takedown of a Syrian warplane by a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet.
"Those are self-defense strikes, and the commander on the ground has the authority to take whatever action necessary, and I support that," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.
"The 2001 authorization said we can take action against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks. Nobody claims that Syria was a perpetrator. Nobody claims that they are connected to al-Qaida. In fact, they’re battling against al-Qaida in Syria," Kaine said. "So I think this is a completely unlawful use of power."
Kaine and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., have been outspoken about their new piece of legislation that would replace the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, which was designed in response to the 9/11 attacks and was used to target al-Qaida and invade Iraq.
The new AUMF would be designed specifically for actions against the Islamic State group and would be set to expire in five years unless it is reauthorized.
According to CNN, the same AUMF enacted in 2001 has been called uponby former presidents 37 times, and Trump’s administration used it to justify attacks on ISIS. Kaine blames this legislation for the 14 years of engagement in Iraq.
Kaine and Flake have attempted to replace the 2001 AUMF before, but their 2015 proposal was unsuccessful, which Kaine blames on "cowardice."
"Part of this is, in my view, political cowardice — not wanting to be on the record on a war vote," Kaine said.
