One of the most important questions clouding the debate over the utility of military commissions has to do with the viability of material support charges in that forum. To be blunt, we need to know the final answer to this … Read more »
Just a quick post to give warm wishes for an excellent new year to Lawfare readers everywhere. In particular, here is wishing safety and success to our readers and their colleagues deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. May 2011 be the year … Read more »
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist,” says the low-grade con man to the arrogant customs agent in the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects, speaking of the great criminal mastermind Keyser Söze. The supposedly crack … Read more »
I am reliably informed (having checked the site) that Detention and Denial: The Case for Candor After Guantanamo is now available from Amazon.com—which presumably means it is available at other book stores as well. I will post a few excerpts … Read more »
Bobby is quite right to link yesterday’s New York Times editorial to the one about which I complained back in October. But Bobby is a more generous soul than I am, and I am disinclined to give the Times’ editorial … Read more »
In an editorial that ran on Monday, the Times took up the laudable task of defending the administration’s plans to substantially enhance the procedural safeguards associated with the annual review board process for GTMO detainees. All to the good if … Read more »
(By Benjamin Wittes, Jack Goldsmith, and Robert Chesney)
Lawfare readers will have noticed, by now, that we have installed a small quantity of advertising on the site. The purpose of these ads is to generate a revenue stream as the blog … Read more »
A few days ago, I expressed doubt as to the veracity of the President’s comments that “Guantanamo is probably the number one recruitment tool that is used by these jihadist organizations.” I did so tentatively because I am no expert … Read more »
A few weeks ago we posted the petitioners’ joint opening brief in a consolidated appeal before the D.C. Circuit that tests whether federal courts retain habeas jurisdiction even after a detainee leaves U.S. custody, and, accordingly, whether a court can … Read more »
The Washington Post published a typically thoughtful editorial today on the idea of an executive order to establish a review process for Guantanamo detainees who lose their habeas cases. Like me, the Post has mixed feelings. On the one hand,… Read more »
A few thoughts on President Obama’s remarks Wednesday on Guantanamo, the full text of which I posted earlier.
“Obviously, we haven’t gotten it closed. And let me just step back and explain that the reason for wanting to close … Read more »
At his news conference Wednesday, President Obama made the following remarks about Guantanamo and the forthcoming executive order:
Q Guantanamo, sir. I understand a draft of an executive order is being prepared for you, and I don’t expect you to
Having already introduced a bill this week to modify CIPA, Senator Cardin has now introduced a bill to modify espionage-related statutes. The Espionage Statutes Modification Act (“ESMA”) bill—S.4051—is here. A brief summary from the floor statement introducing the bill … Read more »
The combination of Jack’s post and sleeping on the subject has mostly set my mind at ease on the difference between an executive order and a statute for purposes of the Guantanamo review system currently on the table—but not entirely.… Read more »
During my 2003 confirmation hearings to be the head of DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, one Senator showed up to ask me one or two perfunctory questions. This was a time when relatively few people knew what OLC did or … Read more »
