>
Article snippet: The ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. soldiers has ramped up the pressure on Defense Secretary MORE, who are preparing to testify Monday before the Senate on war authorizations. Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee are expected to pepper the pair with questions about the expansion of the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) into Africa, with some insisting the new battlefield should require an update to the 16-year-old authorization for the use of military force (AUMF). “I am very disturbed at the authorities question … just the extent of the operations,” Sen. MORE (D-Va.) said this week after a classified briefing on Niger. “I don’t think Congress has necessarily been kept completely kept up to date, and the American public I think certainly has not.” Still, the hurdles that have kept Congress from passing a new AUMF in the past, including deep divisions over sunset dates, ground troops and geographic constraints, remain. That leaves the chances of success for this latest push unclear. The Trump administration relies on the 2001 AUMF for legal authority in the war against ISIS, as did the Obama administration before it. The AUMF authorized military actions against al Qaeda, the Taliban and other perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Proponents of using it against ISIS argue that the terrorist group grew out of al Qaeda, while opponents highlight the two groups’ public falling-out as well as the fact that ISIS did ... Link to the full article to read more