Martha McSally on War & Peace

Sinema committed treason by insufficiently opposing Taliban

(BEGIN VIDEO) MCSALLY: Kyrsten, I want to ask right now whether you're going to apologize to the veterans and me for saying it's OK to commit treason.

SINEMA: Martha has chosen to run a campaign where she is engaging in ridiculous attacks.(END VIDEO).

Q: Do you really think that Kyrsten Sinema was approving treason?

MCSALLY: Well, it's her words. It's totally out of step with American values.

Q: Sinema says this talk show host was going off presenting all kinds of hypothetical ideas, and she was just trying to shut him down and get back to the fact that she opposed the Iraq War, which was just about to start in 2003.

MCSALLY: Well, she continues to make excuses.

Metastasized al Qaeda & others are no longer afraid of us

President ok to use military force against Iran.

Axios.com summary: The House passed a symbolic war powers resolution directing President Trump to halt the use of military force against Iran unless he obtains approval from Congress.

The big picture: A classified briefing on the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani [by the US military] left Democrats and even some Republicans deeply skeptical, with many claiming that officials did not provide evidence that there was an "imminent" threat from Iran. Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) said they will vote in favor of a similar resolution in the Senate [S J Res 68].

What opponents are saying: Former national security adviser and notorious Iran hawk John Bolton tweeted: "The 1973 War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Constitution allocated foreign affairs authority between the President and Congress. The Resolution should be repealed." Pres. Trump quote tweeted Bolton and added: "Smart analysis, I fully agree!"

What supporters are saying: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was one of the few Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution, stating on the House floor: "Killing Soleimani was the right decision, but engaging in another forever war in the Middle East would be the wrong decision." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced legislation that would block funding for offensive military force against Iran without congressional authorization. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is also seeking to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which has been used repeatedly to justify war in the Middle East in the wake of 9/11. Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the AUMF in 2001, criticizing it as a "blank check."

Legislative outcome: H Con Res 83 Passed House 224-194-13 on 1/9/20; S J Res 68 passed Senate 55-45-0 on 2/13/20. Vetoed 5/6; Senate veto override failed 5/7/20.