Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis
Al-Qassam Brigades: A NIMR armored personnel carrier carrying an Israeli soldier was targeted with an Al-Yassin missile north of Khan Younis
Israeli media: At least two soldiers killed by anti-tank missile fired at Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip
Local Syrian sources: Mortar shells fell on more than nine villages in the Sweida countryside
Local Syrian sources: Dozens of dead and wounded have arrived at Sweida hospitals as a result of ongoing clashes at several locations in the western Sweida countryside
Local sources: Civilians, including children and women, were injured in the al-Maqous neighborhood of Sweida, in Syria, as a result of ongoing clashes

US military operation in Syria unauthorized: Former official

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Foreign Affairs
  • 12 Jan 2022 00:11
  • 3 Shares
3 Min Read

The former legal advisor to the US State Department explains how the presence of US forces in Syria is not based on legal grounds and denounces the pretext of fighting ISIS in Syria in a Foreign Affairs article.

  • x
  • American soldiers in Mosul, Iraq. An estimated 9.2m people have been displaced in the country since the US-led war began. (Getty Images)
    An estimated 9.2m people have been displaced in Iraq since the US-led war began. (Getty Images)

Brian Finucane, former US State Department Legal Advisor, has stated today, Tuesday, that the US forces' presence in Syria "raises questions about the underlying legal rationales for their deployment."

In an article published by Foreign Affairs, Finucane denounced that US military operations in Syria do not fall under the task of combatting ISIS, which the US has always used as a pretext to justify its soldiers' actions. The former US official noted that "although the Obama administration did not offer a legal theory for its erroneous strikes on Syrian troops, the Trump and Biden administrations have articulated justifications for fighting non-ISIS forces, and these rationales differ in some respects."

Finucane addressed the Congress asking to reconsider the authorization of 2001 which paved the way for wars, leading to the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and then an ongoing aggression against Syria and Libya. 

He, affirmatively, expressed the Biden administration's rejection of any congressional review to rethink the authorization of the war, suggesting that "There [is not] much chance that Congress, which is divided on the continued US presence in Syria and has grown accustomed as a body to dodging its responsibility for matters of war and peace, will take a consequential vote on US operations in Syria."

Related News

Syrian forces launch security operation in Sweida, bombing villages

Russia in talks over military bases in Syria with new government

Finucane said the administration, as well as Congress, should work together to prevent the "ingenuity" of legal interpretations from turning into what led to the expansion of hostilities in Syria and beyond. 

Forget skeletons in the closet - they're swept under a rug!

Last month, according to the New York Times, during the war, thousands of civilians, including children, were murdered by US airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, which were carried out with imprecise targeting and "deeply flawed intelligence."

The newspaper has studied 1,311 documents from a hidden Pentagon archive, concluding that the civilian death toll was a lot higher than the 1,417 civilian deaths reported by the US military in Iraq and Syria and the 188 deaths reported in Afghanistan.

Reports of civilian casualties were often dismissed because surveillance footage was "too brief", according to the NYT. Interviews with surviving residents and current and former US officials revealed that the US military made little effort to identify patterns of failure, with a lack of any public assessments that included a finding of wrongdoing.

The Times also wrote in a lengthy investigation that a top-secret US combat cell launched tens of thousands of bombs and missiles allegedly against the ISIS terrorist organization in Syria, disclosing that this shadowy force, however, exceeded guarantees and repeatedly killed civilians, according to the testimonies of several current military personnel and former US intelligence officials.

  • Syria
  • United States
  • US military
  • Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Afghanistan
  • Iraq
  • Taliban

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS