THE TOPLINE: More details emerged Wednesday about why a Navy SEAL was engaged in combat Tuesday with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), leading to his death.
The Hill’s Kristina Wong has the story:
The U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed in Iraq was part of a quick reaction force responding to U.S. troops pinned down in combat, according to the coalition on Wednesday.
The U.S. special operations force responded after U.S. troops in a Kurdish village were involved in a heavy firefight with ISIS fighters Tuesday morning.
“The service member who was killed was part of the quick reaction force that responded when the advise and assist team in Tal Asquf became embroiled in the firefight,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition.
“There was a big fight. You know, they were in contact. They couldn’t get away. So the QRF [quick reaction force] came to help ensure that they were able to get away.”
ARMY CAPTAIN SUES OBAMA: Bush-era war authorizations do not give President Obama authority to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an Army officer argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against Obama.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. district court by an intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait who says he supports the fight against ISIS but believes it is being carried out illegally because Congress hasn’t specifically authorized it.
“How could I honor my oath when I am fighting a war, even a good war, that the Constitution does not allow, or Congress has not approved?” Capt. Nathan Michael Smith wrote. “To honor my oath, I am asking the court to tell the president that he must get proper authority from Congress, under the War Powers Resolution, to wage the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.”
Obama has sought an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) from Congress. But Congress has been hesitant to take it up, with Republicans worried the language would be too restrictive and some Democrats worried it could be too broad and expand the mission.
PETITION SAYS NO TO WOMEN IN DRAFT: More than 11,000 people have signed a petition calling on Congress to remove a provision from an annual defense policy bill requiring women to register for the draft.
Instead, the signatories of the Care2 petition want the draft to be abolished altogether.
“I can’t imagine a more tragic loss of liberty than forcing a citizen, whether male or female, to fight in a war with which they may disagree,” Julie Mastrine, the petition’s author and Care2’s activism marketing and social media manager, said in a written statement. “Equality is a moot point if personal choice and bodily autonomy must first be eliminated to achieve it.”
The provision was added to the National Defense Authorization Act last week as an amendment during the House Armed Services Committee’s markup of the bill.
SYRIAN CEASEFIRE EXTENDED: The State Department announced Wednesday that it reached an agreement with Russia to extend a fragile ceasefire in Syria to the besieged city of Aleppo, which in recent days pushed the previous ceasefire toward its breaking point.
The Hill’s Julian Hattem has more:
The agreement, which was finalized late on Tuesday and went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday morning, comes after days of frantic negotiations between the two countries, which have led talks to bring Syria’s five-year civil war to a close.
The State Department on Wednesday already reported “an overall decrease in violence” in and around Aleppo in the hours since the agreement took effect. Still, “there have been reports of continued fighting in some locations,” spokesman Mark Toner cautioned.
A tenuous peace agreement reached in February has helped to stem some violence throughout the country but has yet to settle the broader questions behind the ongoing conflict, such as the fate of President Bashar Assad.
