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Congress rejects growing effort to replace 2001 war authorization

The US Senate today took up the post-9/11 military mandate for the first time since its enactment 16 years ago.
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and other members of the House Freedom Caucus hold a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer - RC1E23A66180

The US Senate today considered repealing the war authorization passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks for the first time since its passage 16 years ago.

Despite a growing chorus of voices who worry that the original mandate against al-Qaeda has been twisted to justify US interventions across the Middle East and beyond, rescinding it proved too controversial in the middle of a global war against the Islamic State (IS). In the end, the amendment to the annual defense authorization bill from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., failed 61-36.

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