Are We Still at War? Like virtually all of his fellow members of Congress, Representative Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, voted on Sept. 14, 2001, for the Authorization for Use of Military Force, the law that gave President George W. Bush the authority to invade Afghanistan, to tackle the Taliban and Al Qaeda and others "who planned, authorized, committed or aided" the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Only one lawmaker voted against the bill in either chamber. But, unlike many of his fellow members of Congress, Mr. Schiff has come to the realization that the force resolution has outlived its purpose and now may be doing harm. "Congress never intended, nor did it vote for, a war with out end," he said in a statement on Tuesday. Mr. Schiff plans to introduce an amendment to the 2014 military budget bill that would repeal the force authorization as of Dec. 31, 2014, the deadline set by President Obama for the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. It's a move that we've supported strongly on this blog and on the editorial page. "Intelligence experts now describe al Qaeda's core as largely decimated, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress in early 2013, that al Qaeda's core had been so "degraded" that it is "probably unable to carry out complex, large-scale attacks in the West,"" the bill says. It grants that "there is likely to remain the need to defend against specific networks of violent extremists, including al Qaeda" but maintains that the current force law may not cover "new threats from individuals, entities and organizations" which had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks. The bill, which has little chance of going anywhere in the right-dominated House, says new authorities may need to be granted to the president to meet new challenges. Mr. Schiff seems to be on the same page as the president. In his recent speech on national security, President Obama said that the war against terrorism, "like all wars, must end" and that it was time to repeal the force authorization. We may need a replacement document, he said, but he vowed he would not sign any bill that further expanded executive power in this area. The president's professed desire to change the country's post-9/11 mindset seems a little out-of-keeping with his defense of the N.S.A."s indiscriminate data-mining program. But here's hoping he was sincere.