Authorization for Use of Military Force

The Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed on September 18, 2001, gave the President new powers to fight terrorist activity related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. President George W. Bush used it to authorize the Iraq war. Two years after President Barack Obama withdrew troops from US occupied Iraq, Obama used it to expand war into Syria.

Summary

The Act authorized the President to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons."

This Act was the basis for much of President Bush's policies and goals regarding terrorism, including interrogation methods and indefinite detentions in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Obama used the Act to expand war into Syria to fight the Islamic State which he determined "planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons". An Islamic State leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa eventually became the President of Syria after the US-backed overthrow of Bashar Assad.

It is often confused with the Patriot Act.