US politicians look to formally end Gulf and Iraq wars

Bipartisan group looks to repeal authorisation for using military force in Gulf War in 1991 and Iraq invasion in 2002

The USS Eisenhower making its way through the Suez Canal to join other warships in August 1990. AFP

President George W. Bush meets military advisers at the Pentagon to discuss the Gulf crisis in August 1990. Reuters

US soldiers of the 3rd Artillery Battalion make preparations in the Saudi Arabian desert a few days after the Iraqi army had entered Kuwait. AFP

US Marines carry gear towards their barracks after landing at a Saudi airbase. AFP

American Marines try out new kit in a training operation in the Saudi Arabian desert. AFP

Egyptians who were living in Iraq and Kuwait wait to board a ship to return to Egypt and escape the war, in Aqaba, Jordan. AFP

A US airman logs his flight at King Khaled military airport, near Dhahran, in November 1990. AFP

Lance Corporal John Clark shouts to colleagues while preparing to fire a mortar shell in January 1991. Reuters

A US soldier inspects a Patriot missile launcher at a desert airbase in Kuwait, in February 1998. Reuters

Iraqis living in Amman listen the news of the latest situation in their homeland in December 1998. Reuters

The headquarters of the Iraqi Civil Defence, which was hit by coalition bombs. Reuters

A bipartisan group of US Congress members on Thursday introduced a bill that would "formally end the Gulf and Iraq wars", and enhance Washington's relationship with Baghdad.

The action would reintroduce legislation repealing the authorisation for using military force (AUMF) passed by Congress in 1991 and 2002.

“The 1991 and 2002 AUMFs are no longer necessary, serve no operational purpose, and run the risk of potential misuse," said Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat.

"Congress owes it to our service members, veterans and families to pass our bill repealing these outdated AUMFs and formally ending the Gulf and Iraq wars."

The wars contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths, mass displacement, civil war and upheaval in local government.

A long US military convoy moving inside an unspecified area of southern Iraq on March 21, 2003. US and British forces were poised to capture the city of Basra on day two of the war to topple President Saddam Hussein. AFP

Smoke covers the presidential palace compound in Baghdad on March 21, 2003 during a massive US-led air raid on the Iraqi capital. Smoke billowed from a number of sites, including one of President Saddam Hussein's palaces, an AFP correspondent said. AFP

Members of Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade on patrol during a sandstorm in the deserts around the oil fields of Rumaila in southern Iraq on March 25, 2003. AFP

US Marines from the 2nd Batallion 8th Regiment load mortar shells into launchers in Nasiriyah, about 360 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, as they pound Iraqi positions early on March 26, 2003. AFP

An Iraqi boy struggles amid a crowd to reach for giveaways thrown from a lorry in the southern city of Safwan on March 26, 2003. AFP

Residents flee the burning town of Basra in southern Iraq on March 28, 2003. British soldiers said the fleeing refugees had described a city still in the grip of an Iraqi military that had hidden large amounts of artillery tanks in civilian and commercial areas. AFP

Iraqi Republican guards cheer as they pass a wrecked US army Abrams tank, south of Baghdad, on April 6, 2003. AFP

US Marines chain the head of a statue of Saddam Hussein before pulling it down in Baghdad's Firdous Square on April 9, 2003, while an Iraqi waves the US flag. US troops moved into the heart of the Iraqi capital meeting little resistance. AFP

A US tank takes up position outside the plundered Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on April 16, 2003. Getty Images

Gen Tommy Franks shakes hands with US Marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the Iraqi city of Numaniyah, about 140 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, on April 7, 2003. Getty Images

Gen Tommy Franks (c) visits a palace of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on April 16, 2003. Getty Images

US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld (c) is saluted by US Army Lt Gen William Wallace as he arrives at Baghdad International Airport on April 30, 2003. Getty Images

US President George W Bush addresses the nation aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. Mr Bush declared that major fighting was over in Iraq, calling it "one victory in a war on terror". AFP

The US withdrew its forces from Iraq in 2011, and continues to have diplomatic and military relations with the country today. It also has similar relations throughout the Gulf.

"Congress must do its job and take seriously the decision to not just commit America to war, but to affirmatively say that we are no longer at war," said Senator Todd Young, a Republican.

The House of Representatives in 2021 passed a repeal of the 2002 AUMF, but a vote has not been held on the Senate floor. Twenty other senators in both parties are co-sponsors of the bill.

The White House in March last year said it supported the move.

"We are committed to working with Congress to ensure that the authorisations for the use of military force currently on the books are replaced with a narrow and specific framework that will ensure we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending the forever wars," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Beyond these two authorisations, there have also been ongoing conversations about reforming AUMF resolutions because of the lengthy extensions of wars and presidential powers under them.