Obama seeks Congress authorisation to fight ISIL

Draft resolution calls for limiting operations to three years and barring use of US troops in "enduring ground combat".

 

The US aided by Western and Arab states launched air raids in August against the group

 

US President Barack Obama has asked Congress formally to authorise military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group, arguing that the fighters could pose a threat to the US homeland.
A proposed draft resolution sent to Congress on Wednesday calls for limiting operations against the ISIL to three years and barring use of US troops in "enduring offensive ground combat".
In a five-paragraph letter to legislators accompanying the three-page draft resolution provided to the Associated Press news agency, Obama said ISIL "poses a threat to the people and stability of Iraq, Syria and the broader Middle East and to US national security”.
The US aided by Western and Arab states launched air raids in August against the group, which captured large tracts of Syrian and Iraqi territories in June.
Obama, elected on a promise to end America's wars, has asked legislators for war authorisation over the rise of ISIL, which has seized large expanses of Iraq and Syria and killed American and allied hostages after making online propaganda videos.
"It threatens American personnel and facilities located in the region and is responsible for the deaths of US citizens James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller," Obama said, listing the American hostages who died in IS custody.
"If left unchecked, ISIL will pose a threat beyond the Middle East, including to the United States homeland."
Obama planned to speak on his request from the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

No geographic limitations
Confirmation of the death of Mueller, a 26-year-old humanitarian worker, on the eve of Obama's proposal added new urgency, while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a caution to some legislators against yet another protracted military campaign.
Obama is offering to limit authorisation to three years, extending to the next president the powers and the debate over renewal for what he envisions as a long-range battle.
He is proposing no geographic limitations where US forces could pursue the fighters.
The authorisation covers the ISIL and "associated persons or forces," defined as those fighting on behalf of or alongside ISIL "or any closely-related successor entity in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners".
The latest proposal bans "enduring offensive combat operations", a novel term in military force authorisations.
Its ambiguity is designed to bridge the divide between legislators opposed to ground troops and those who say the commander in chief should maintain the option.
Obama said his draft would not authorise long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those deployed in the past to Iraq and Afghanistan, arguing that those battles should be left to local forces instead of the US military.