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Last Saturday the Idaho Republican Central Committee passed resolutions demanding an end to US military operations in Syria and Yemen, and instructing the Idaho congressional delegation to use their standing to advocate for an America First foreign policy and the return of congressional war powers. Both resolutions passed with unanimous support from all 216 committee members.
The two-page resolution is incredibly brief, using typeface merely to outline the more than a dozen ways in which it is beyond the scope of America’s interest and the powers vested in the executive branch of the federal government to continue the wars in Syria and Yemen.
“I believe it’s fairly common for state parties to pass resolutions encouraging or demanding certain positions when it comes to things like abortion or other social issues, but to get a state party to engage on foreign policy (let alone oppose a war) is a gargantuan task,” said Hunter DeRensis, communications director with Bring Our Troops Home, an organization which among other activities advocates for the protection of the US National Guard from being deployed overseas.
“I’m not familiar with any other modern precedent, which is why what happened in Idaho is so encouraging,” he told WaL.
“As the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch must use his influence to help bring our troops home from any war not declared by Congress. He’s pledged to do so in the past, and it’s time the people of Idaho hold him and all politicians accountable to their oath of office,” said former Sgt. Dan McKnight, a 13-year veteran of America’s War on Terror, who authored the Syria resolution and who founded Bring Our Troops Home.
The United States maintains a small military force in eastern Syria’s oil and wheat fields. It’s difficult to find any authority given to the military or the president to maintain troops there, as they are unauthorized by any act of Congress, UN Security Council Resolution, or invitation from the capital of Aleppo. Former President Donald Trump attempted to withdraw them, but his administration’s point man on this supposedly counterterrorist operation lied about the numbers of troops there, as he later bragged about to the mainstream media.
The Yemen portion highlights matter-of-factly that Former President Obama “chose to get involved in this conflict on the Sunni side as a means to repair a strained relationship with Saudi Arabia”.
“State legislators and local activists must realize that they have a voice on foreign policy, and it’s their civic duty to hold the federal government accountable when they violate our Constitution and wage endless, undeclared war,” said McKnight. “The Idaho Republican Party is pioneering this responsibility initiative through these resolutions, and the next step is to pass Defend the Guard legislation to give them teeth.”
Defend the Guard legislation refers to a crop of bills appearing in Republican states that would require a formal declaration of war from Congress in order to “call forth the militia” according to the militia clause in the Constitution. During several domestic emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina, national guardsmen were fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan and were unable to assist civilian populations or maintain order as is their primary purpose. WaL
PICTURED ABOVE: Members of the Oklahoma National Guard (Militia) conducting training operations in Iraq. PC: Oklahoma National Guard.
