US Senate approves repeal of Pentagon authorization for military operations in Iraq

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday revoked authorization for "the Pentagon to conduct military operations in Iraq without the need for congressional approval," ending the Pentagon's authority to wage war in Iraq in 1991 and 2002.

The legislation has also been submitted to the US House of Representatives for final endorsement and is an important and crucial step in restoring Congress's right to determine when the US can send its troops into battle.

54 members of the Senate voted in favor of repealing the law, 27 against. This law allowed the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) to conduct military operations in Iraq, by order of the President and without the need for a referral to Congress.

Mark Warner, a Democratic member of the Virginia Senate, said it took a long time for Congress to gain the power to declare war and he was proud to see the revocation of authorization for the use of military force to agree to violence in Iraq by the Pentagon.