Obama seeks IS 'war powers' resolution

 

 Mr Obama announced air strikes against IS last year

President Barack Obama has sent Congress a draft authorisation to formally use military force against the Islamic State group (IS).

The resolution would not restrict where US forces could pursue IS but bans "enduring offensive combat operations".

The US has already pursued air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria since last year.
Congress has not formally voted for military force since 2002, for the Iraq war.

Mr Obama has called for ending that resolution, but the new draft does not make any changes to the Afghanistan war resolution, passed in 2001.

Analysis - Tara McKelvey, BBC News White House reporter
 
Under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, Mr Bush sent military forces into Afghanistan so they could track down al-Qaeda commanders.

Afterwards members of Congress passed a resolution for the use of force in Iraq. It was controversial, to say the least. After the 2002 authorisation was passed, many Democrats said they wished they had voted against it.

Up until now Mr Obama has been conducting the fight against Islamic State (IS) under these two authorisations. Now he wants a new one.

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Mr Obama wants the "right-sized" authorisation for IS.

The draft the US president has sent Congress in regards to IS is limited to three years.

It will force Congress to vote on war for the first time in 13 years and it's expected to set up a debate about America's role in the Middle East and how to best counter the militant group.

In a letter sent to Congress along with his draft, Mr Obama said while "existing statutes" allow the air strikes, he has "repeatedly expressed my commitment to working with the Congress to pass a bipartisan authorization for the use of military force (Aumf) against ISIL".

Mr Obama said it "would not authorise long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan" but would provide flexibility to pursue rescue operations and special operations attacks.

The US president is expected to make a statement at 15:30 local (20:30 GMT).

The issue of ground forces, even limited, is expected to make the legislation harder to pass.
Some Republicans favour using ground troops but many in Mr Obama's own party oppose it.

On Wednesday, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, issued a statement calling for "narrowly tailored" legislation for the fight against IS but did not endorse Mr Obama's proposal.