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"Congress owes it to our service members, veterans and families to pass our bill repealing these outdated AUMFs and formally ending the Gulf and Iraq wars."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