Editor,

I appreciated seeing the letter from Karen Anderson supporting the appeal of the 2001 AUMF Act.

My husband and I are both retired psychiatrists, and while I spent a few years treating veterans at the VA Hospital, my husband spent the majority of his career there.

He treated many vets with post-traumatic stress disorder following traumatic events experienced during combat.

He still wakes screaming sometimes when he is having a nightmare related to a story he heard about a vet’s experience.

If he is having nightmares years later for something he only heard about, I can imagine what the veterans are suffering.

I do not think our soldiers should be sent into conflict without careful consideration.

As Ms. Anderson noted, the 2001 AUMF was passed after 9/11 to give the president power to send troops to Afghanistan to fight terrorists.

It has since been used by three presidents for reasons no longer connected to its intent.

It scared me when I heard that Mike Pompeo suggested that it could be invoked to attack Iran.

As Ms. Anderson aptly noted in her letter, the founding fathers intentionally gave the power to declare war to the legislative branch rather than the executive because they believed presidents and defense secretaries would be more likely to push for war than members of Congress.

There is currently a bill in Congress to repeal the 2001 AUMF that may be coming to the House floor for a vote as early as June or July.

I hope others will join Ms. Anderson and me in urging Rep. Rick Larsen to support this bill.

Elizabeth McCullough

Greenbank