- Lebanon (1982–1984) The administration argued that U.S. Marines were “not engaged in hostilities” even while under fire, because their mission was “peacekeeping.”
- Persian Gulf tanker escort operations (1987) Naval clashes with Iran were framed as self‑defense incidents, not “hostilities.”
- Bosnia (1995) Airstrikes were classified as limited, not “hostilities.”
- Kosovo (1999) Congress never authorized the operation, but the administration argued:
U.S. pilots face minimal risk; therefore, this is not “hostilities.”
- George W. Bush used the loophole for Pakistan drone strikes, Yemen and Somalia
- Libya (2011)) The administration argued: No ground troops and low risk to U.S. forces, therefore:
“These operations do not constitute hostilities.”
- Obama also used similar logic for Syria and multiple drone campaigns
- Trump 1 used the same structure for: Syria, Iran, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq
- Biden used it for Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Red Sea / Houthi Strikes
- Trump 2: Iran so far
Every administration since the 1980s has used the loophole to keep from declaring war. Only Afghanistan and Iraq
were formally authorized by Congress during W's term.
Blame Congress.
Yes, I used AI to research, fuck off.