Ben Carson in OnTheIssues Fact Checking

On War & Peace: FactCheck: Yes, Congress declared war after 9/11, sort of

Carson complains in "A More Perfect Union" (p. 118) that the President often bypasses Congress when initiating military action, and notes, "Only Congress has the legal authority to declare war. This happened after the attack on our forces in Pearl Harbor in 1941 and again in 2001 after the attacks on 9/11. In these cases Congress met to declare that a state of war existed." Carson hints that Bush DID have a Congressional declaration of war against Iraq while Obama has not--is that true?

We looked at the "Authorization for Use of Military Force" passed in October 2002--in effect, this was a declaration of war, in response to 9/11, against any countries that aided the 9/11 terrorists. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry both voted for it, and both later claimed it was NOT a declaration of war, and/or that they were misled in their vote, because President Bush falsely claimed that Iraq aided the 9/11 terrorists. It was not a formal declaration of war like after Pearl Harbor, but it did involve Congress.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck: A More Perfect Union, by Ben Carson Oct 6, 2015

The above quotations are from Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Ben Carson. Click here for Ben Carson on all issues.
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