GAV

Twenty years after the Iraq War began, the Senate is on track to vote this week to repeal the authorization that justified the 2003 invasion.

The US Senate will end an authorization that lasted for more than twenty years, that allowed US presidents to use force in Iraq, and return the powers to declare war to Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: "Americans want an end to the endless Middle East wars, and passing this repeal is a necessary step to put these bitter conflicts completely behind us."

The decision is not expected to affect any current deployment of US forces, of which there are still about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq, at the invitation of the government in Baghdad, where they provide assistance and advice to Iraqi forces.

The decision would also overturn a 1991 measure imposing sanctions over the US-led Gulf War.

The number of Iraqis killed during the war is estimated at hundreds of thousands, and about 5,000 American soldiers were killed after the administration of former President George W. Bush falsely claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.