Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. President Obama Expected to Ask Congress for New Anti-Terror Authorization by Victor Beattie President Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress to approve a new three-year authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups. The proposal comes as Congress is being told that an unprecedented flow of foreign fighters into IS ranks in Iraq and Syria is underway. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that while Obama believes he has the authority to order military action against the IS group, the new authorization would represent a "powerful symbol" of unity to degrade and destroy IS. "In the intervening period, since the president first discussed this back in November, and even before the president made this announcement back in November, administration officials have been engaged in conversations with Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate to try to arrive at language that could be supported by Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. The president does believe that this message is even more powerful if it has bipartisan support," said Earnest. Obama has justified the U.S.-led coalition air strikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq by using a 2001 authorization approved by Congress for then-President George W Bush in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The new authorization, designed to replace the 2002 congressional authorization for the Iraq war, would reportedly allow the deployment of Special Forces and advisors not bound by geographical boundaries, but bar "enduring offensive ground forces." "The president does not believe it is any longer in our national security interest for us to put a large deployment of American military personnel on the ground in a combat role in Iraq and in Syria," said Earnest. Earnest said the tempo of consultations between the administration and Congress has increased in recent weeks and the final language of the authorization will be the product of those discussions. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the matter will likely dominate congressional debate over the next few weeks. "This is a matter of such import that, from a procedural point of view, we're going to try to include everybody from our conference in the discussions beginning next week. There is no more serious matter that ever comes before Congress than an authorization for the use of military force, and we're looking forward to seeing the language the president feels like he needs, and that will certainly be one of the dominant discussions of the next few weeks," said McConnell. At the same time, U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday are hearing testimony from counter-terrorism experts that more than 20,000 volunteers from more than 90 countries are flowing into Iraq and Syria to join the fight with IS. The National Counter-Terrorism Center believes more than 150 are Americans or U.S. residents. The rate of such volunteer fighters is unprecedented and exceeds that of those who went to fight in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia in the last 20 years. One of those testifying before Congress is RAND Corporation senior political analyst and career Army officer Rick Brennan, who said this represents the generational challenge of our time. He also said radical Islamist groups have multiplied in recent decades. "Going back to 1988, there were only three of these types of groups that existed in the world. By 2001, that number had expanded to 20 and the growth of those groups continued at a very steady pace until 2010. But, by 2013, the largest as a result of the turbulence created by the Arab Spring, the number jumped from 32 in 2010 to 51 in 2013," said Brennan. Brennan said individual foreign fighters have jumped from up to 22,000 in 2001 to as many as 90,000 in 2013, and the success of the Islamic State group in 2014 has caused those numbers to skyrocket. "And, so what we're seeing today, if you were to graph it, is a complete explosion of individuals who share this radical Islamist ideology who are flowing into Syria and Iraq fighting with ISIS because they see that as being an opportunity to be part of this great Islamic caliphate that ISIS says it wants to create," he said. Brennan said these foreign fighters are responding to a global insurgency based on a revolutionary ideology of Islamist domination. He thinks there could be millions who would support, or are sympathetic to, the cause. The RAND Corporation analyst noted, however, that the answer is not military action. Citing recent remarks by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Brennan said extremist groups are a cancer within Islam that only those within Islam can root out. He said the West must support such leaders who are willing to take risks to confront this challenge. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/president-obama-expected-to-ask-congr ess-for-new-anti-terror-authorization/2638400.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/president-obama-expected-to-ask-congress-for-new-anti-terror-authorization/2638400.html