President Joe Biden claimed during his July 24 speech that he is “the first president of this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world.”
Verdict: no evidence
The United States has not formally been at war since 1945. The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021 and has troops in combat deployments in several countries. The Biden administration says they are not at war, although two experts disagree.
Fact check:
Biden said during his July 24 address that the United States was not at war for the first time in the 21st century. (RELATED: No, Trump Didn’t Say The Bullet From the Demonstration Shooter Took “His Whole Ear”).
This claim is unfounded. The United States has not formally been at war since 1945, when World War II ended, according to History.com. It has since withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2021, although the United States has troops deployed in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Somalia and other countries, mostly in counterterrorism roles, according to a U.S. War Powers Act. December 2023 White House. report.
In June, a US airstrike killed a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Somalia, according to ABC News. The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023 in response to missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against commercial shipping, according to the Pentagon. they also targeted the Houthis with airstrikes, incl July 24.
July 24 US Central Command Update
Over the past 24 hours, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces have successfully destroyed two Iran-backed Houthi missiles on launchers in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.
It has been determined that these weapons present an imminent threat to the United States,… pic.twitter.com/fUcNfdP8MM
– US Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 24, 2024
The US also helped Israel shoot down hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles on April 13, according to The Associated Press.
An administration official told Check Your Fact that the airstrikes against the Houthis “reflect the United States defending its interest and global security.”
“We do not consider the United States at war with any country. The (Houthi) airstrikes you mention below reflect the United States defending its interests and global security. During the previous administration, the Afghanistan War was ongoing,” the officer said.
A National Security Adviser previously told Check Your Fact in January 2024 that “the Justice Department has established a longstanding test for the president’s constitutional authority to direct the use of military force: there must be a significant national interest at stake, and the action must be under the threshold of “war” in the constitutional sense.
Brian Finucanea senior Crisis Group adviser, said the claim was inaccurate in a July 25 tweet and linked to a recent report.
As we explain in a new @CrisisGroup report published today, this statement “not at war” is inaccurate.
The Biden administration engaged in a number of conflicts in the Middle East after October 7 – only without the authorization of Congress.
— Brian Finucane (@BCFinucane) July 25, 2024
“He armed Israel and provided political support at the same time that he sent humanitarian aid to the suffering civilian population of Gaza and encouraged an end to hostilities. But Washington’s involvement went further; it also including war fighting,” the report read.
Finucane expanded on his tweet in an email to Check Your Fact, saying: “President Biden has made similar statements since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.”
“‘War’ does not have a single fixed definition and it is not clear enough what President Biden specifically means by the term. It seems more like a political sloganeering than a careful characterization of ongoing US military activities,” Finucane said.
He added:
“However, the United States is deeply engaged in a number of armed conflicts, including almost daily strikes on the Red Sea and airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen. And the United States is engaged in a once-and-for-all fight once with Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria that resulted in American casualties and three American deaths from an attack in Jordan.Furthermore, the US government’s legal position remains that the United States is still engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda and associated forces and therefore the United States could continue to detain prisoners at GTMO under the law of war.So if the position of the United States government is indeed that the United States does not They are not at war, so it may be necessary to release these prisoners.”
“Before October 2023, I should have said that President Biden deserves credit for ending various elements of the war on terror. And while it is true, since October, the United States has been engaged in new and renewed conflicts in the Middle East as a result of the Gaza war,” Finucane continued.
A defense official told Check Your Fact that “US military service members around the globe work every day to deter conflict and protect our nation.”
“And that sometimes can involve operating in dangerous and hostile environments. Therefore, while we have forces that serve in harm’s way, we are not a nation at war,” said the defense official.
Robert Greenwaydirector of national security at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Check Your Fact that Biden’s claim is “patently false.”
“We have the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War that happened under his watch, a growing conflict in the Middle East, which is a direct result (of his foreign policy) because it is not the Middle East that he inherited.
“Our troops have been fired in Iraq and Syria in the last 48 hours and … off the coast of Yemen and in the Red Sea, as well as commercial shipping, which has disrupted one of the largest trade routes of the world … We had escalating actions from China … in the Second Thomas Shoal,” said Greenway.
“I don’t even know if the spirit of his message is accurate,” Greenway added.
