Just ahead of the twenty-second anniversary of 9/11, and roughly two years after the formal withdrawal of US troops in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, President Biden has re-authorized the emergency powers granted to him and all US Presidents by then-President George W. Bush, just three days after the attacks. From the official White House press release:
Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. Consistent with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register the enclosed notice, stating that the emergency declared in Proclamation 7463 with respect to the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, is to continue in effect for an additional year.
A few hours after President Biden reserved these powers for himself, I had the privilege of seeing Ted Leo perform his song "Into the Conquering Sun" (above), which was written about the book Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman (who also played drums on the recording). I bring this up not because Ted Leo's birthday is also on 9/11 (Happy birthday, Ted, and thanks for all the tunes), but because Ackerman explained the relevance of the aforementioned National Emergencies Act in his newsletter quite succinctly:
A specific power Biden reauthorized is Executive Order 13224. EO 13224 is hardly the most violent of the many post-9/11 U.S. endeavors, but it grants the president, via the State and especially Treasury departments, power to block the financial assets of designated terrorist organizations and individuals (all of whom are foreign, meaning domestic white-supremacist and far-right networks are untouched). It opens entities that transact business with listed individuals, groups or companies they control to criminal liability. In concert with the PATRIOT Act, this order expanded a pathway to prosecuting people for what's known legally as "material support for terrorism," something often several steps removed from any identified act of violence. It's accordingly a very useful tool to coerce people into becoming informants.
Beyond EO 13224, the other wellsprings of the post-9/11 security state are entrenched, as are many of their operations, to say nothing of enduring post-9/11 institutions like the Department of Homeland Security. The Afghanistan War is formally over, but the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force, which permits the president to order military action anywhere in the world in response to what he decrees as the emanations of 9/11, remains on the books. The 2003-2011 Iraq occupation has ended, as has the 2014-2017 war against ISIS, but the U.S. maintains about 2500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria indefinitely, ostensibly as a backstop against a reemergence of ISIS.
He goes on, of course. Because there's a lot to say on the topic (which he's also more qualified to elaborate upon). You can check out the rest here.
Letters to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks [White House Press Room]
