As passed 51-45 on Wednesday, Senator Tim Kaine’s Iran war powers resolution appears well-designed.
That is, at first glance. Unlike House Democratic efforts, it does not pretend that Congress has authority to define what constitutes an imminent threat. Still, a deeper read shows a problem: The resolution would obstruct secret U.S. Military special mission units in what are likely already underway covert operations against Iran. Constitutional questions over war powers aside, this gives the resolution a big flaw.
Again, the resolution has good elements. It is bipartisan, winning Republican votes from Lamar Alexander, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Mike Lee, Jerry Moran, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Todd Young. It is narrowly targeted to military operations, not prohibiting intelligence community efforts to disrupt Iranian aggression. Also positive is the resolution’s clarification that “nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the United States from defending itself from imminent attack.”
The problem?
The resolution proscribes Joint Special Operations Command operations against Iran. That prohibition comes with the demand that President Trump “terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.”
The key here is the absence of a qualification of “conventional military operations” being those requiring authorization. (However, it’s my view that Trump could launch an air campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program without prior congressional authorization.) The absence of a “conventional military” qualifier brings us to the joint operations command. Headquartered out of Fort Bragg, JSOC supervises the nation’s “Tier One” special operations saber units. These are the Army’s Delta Force, the Navy’s DEVGRU/Seal Team Six, and the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron. But alongside a Ranger company, JSOC also includes another Army unit, the Intelligence Support Activity. And this is the one that should spark our concern most vis-a-vis Iran.
While the Intelligence Support Activity’s primary role is to support other JSOC units with intelligence collection and exploitation, it also has another responsibility. Namely, conducting highly classified, high-risk operations deep behind enemy lines. Often this work is conducted undercover, with small, covert activity teams moving in the enemy’s strongholds. In recent years, the ISA played an especially important role countering ISIS.
But the ISA also operates in nations where the U.S. is not engaged in overt combat operations. And considering the Trump administration’s conduct of intelligence community covert actions against Iran, the ISA’s operational footprint very likely includes Iran. This is especially probable in terms of countering Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps activities.
Why does the resolution pose a problem in this regard? Because such action is of great value to U.S. security by undermining our adversaries and disrupting their ability to threaten us. And while there is a case that specific covert actions involving the ISA are protected from the Senate’s resolution by virtue of President Trump’s Title 50 executive power, that’s not for certain.
In short, Tim Kaine’s resolution is better than most. But it’s language failure makes it less than perfect.
