Following the October 5th SEAL Team Six raid in Somalia the U.S. military cited the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) to justify its action. Problem–the AUMF was passed under George W. Bush and President Obama began pressing for its repeal four months ago.
So we have an administration divided against itself (again), with the White House denouncing the AUMF and the Department of Defense (DOD) citing it.
According to The Long War Journal, the DOD cited the AUMF in “announcing the raid that targeted…senior Shabaab leader…Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir.”Abdikadir, also known as Ikrima, “coordinates the groups actions outside Somalia with Al Qaeda’s central command in Pakistan.”
The goal of the October 5 raid was to capture Abdikadir, but he was not captured.
On May 23 Obama told an audience at the National Defense University that the AUMF was “now nearly 12 years old” and it was time to repeal “AUMF’s mandate.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins
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