During a Senate hearing Monday, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued against repealing the authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) issued in 2002, at the beginning of the Iraq War, or replacing it with a new one that including tighter time limits or geographic restrictions on the United States’ military campaigns abroad. “War is fundamentally unpredictable,” Mattis testified. Tillerson defended the 2002 AUMF, saying it was broad enough to allow the U.S. to continue operations against al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS, “and associated forces.” Some members of Congress expressed concern about the proposal, citing a deadly attack in Niger on U.S. forces who were stationed in the country to combat an ISIS-affiliated group.
