Prior to the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State that began in summer 2014, executive branch
officials made statements that included certain interpretations2
concerning the 2001 AUMF, including the
following:
- The 2001 AUMF is primarily an authorization to enter into and prosecute an armed
conflict against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
- The 2001 AUMF authorizes the President to use military force against Al Qaeda and the
Taliban outside Afghanistan, but such uses of force must meet a higher standard of threat
to the United States and must use limited, precise methods against specific individual
targets rather than general military action against enemy forces.
- Because the 2001 AUMF authorizes U.S. involvement in an international armed conflict,
the international law of armed conflict informs the authority within the 2001 AUMF. This
law permits the use of military force against forces associated with Al Qaeda and the
Taliban as co-belligerents; such forces must be operating in some sort of coordination and
cooperation with Al Qaeda and/or the Taliban, not just share similar goals, objectives, or
ideologies.
This interpretation of the scope of 2001 AUMF authority can be seen to fit within the overall framework
of presidential power to use military force against those posing a threat to U.S. national security and U.S.
interests
In situations where the 2001 AUMF or other relevant legislation does not seem to authorize a
given use of military force or related activity, the executive branch will determine whether the President's
Article II powers as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive, as interpreted by the executive branch
itself, might authorize such actions. In this way, similar U.S. military action to meet U.S. counterterrorism
objectives might be interpreted to fall under different authorities, of which the 2001 AUMF is just one,
albeit important, example.
December 2016 Legal Framework Report on Use of Military Force
President Obama issued a report in December 2016 entitled, “Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks
Guiding the United States’ Use of Military Force, and Related National Security Operations.”4 Among
other matters, the Report deals with the legal justification for the United States’ ongoing use of military
force against the Islamic State, which according to the Report has taken place in the form of airstrikes,
military advising and training of Iraqi security forces and Syrian rebel groups, and military activities of
U.S. special operations forces in Iraq, Syria, and Libya.5 The Report asserts that such use of force is
authorized by the 2001 AUMF, arguing certain factors.
