Bobby is quoted in this MSNBC article covering the story that the White House rejected Justice Department advice over the U.S. intervention in Libya. For those who just can’t get enough of Bobby, he will be taking your questions in … Read more »
Charlie Savage reports this morning: “Since the United States handed control of the air war in Libya to NATO in early April, American warplanes have struck at Libyan air defenses about 60 times, and remotely operated drones have fired missiles … Read more »
I’ve written a relatively brief primer on the application of the War Powers Resolution “clock” to Operation Unified Protector (i.e., the war in Libya), and have posted it at Brookings. After detailed consideration of the arguments that the Administration has … Read more »
The New York Times today surveys the current and prospective uses of drones in warfare.
Plans are in the works for the House to vote on limiting funding for U.S. military efforts in Libya.
The Washington Post editorialized over the … Read more »
Lawfare’s new book review section is now live. Reviews will appear as a regular posts, but the most recent reviews will also show up listed on the side bar. A page with all of the reviews can be found by … Read more »
Jonathan Hafetz’s new book on post-September 11 habeas corpus strikes an oddly dissonant chord. The keynote in Habeas Corpus After 9/11: Confronting America’s New Global Detention System is celebratory as to the writ’s role—the now-predictable exultation on the part of … Read more »
The Senate Armed Services Committee announced Friday that it had completed its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012. Committee Chairman Carl Levin, in the press release accompanying the bill, declared that ”The bill contains a bipartisan … Read more »
Lawfare is currently undergoing some technical upgrades to enable our new book review section. The section, as you will see on the sidebar, now exists, but it is empty. That will change as soon as we iron out a few … Read more »
Charlie Savage has the amazing story that President Obama “rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war … Read more »
The Washington Post and NPR report that the 13-year old case against Osama bin Laden has been dismissed.
The Post says that:
The government filing lists bin Laden’s alleged crimes, and then states: “On or about May 1, 2011, while
I noted recently that federal prosecutors have indicted a pair of men in Kentucky in connection with the insurgency in Iraq, noting that the situation might raise questions regarding the extent to which such persons ought to be tried by … Read more »
While everyone has been focused on Libya war powers over the last few days, the DC Circuit issued an interesting opinion on Tuesday in an Alien Tort Statute suit (Ali Shafi v. Palestinian Authority) against the Palestinian Authority … Read more »
Rick Pildes has a very thoughtful post at Balkinization on the constitutional politics of the War Powers Resolution, the difficulties Congress faces in responsibly controlling executive discretion to make war, how Chadha enhances these difficulties, and what to do about … Read more »
My analysis of the War Powers Resolution yesterday assumed, based on Charlie Savage’s story, that the only kinetic fire that U.S. Armed Forces have been using in Libya since April came from unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. But Richard … Read more »
The Washington Post is covering the continuing story on Adel al-Gazzar, the former Guantanamo detainee who returned to Egypt and was promptly arrested.
The State Department has added a second former Guantanamo detainee–and seventh AQAP operative–to its list of government-sanctioned … Read more »
Josh Rogin at The Cable reports that Senators Kerry and Lugar agree that there should be a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on WPR compliance in relation to Libya. So many interesting possibilities there if it actually happens. For example, … Read more »
Back in April, I posted this motion by habeas attorney David Remes in Paracha v. Obama, asking for the ability to access Wikileaked material like everyone else can. I had not noticed this response yesterday from the government until … Read more »
Three somewhat broader thoughts in addition to this morning’s analysis:
1. The Administration’s WPR argument carves out from the scope of the WPR attacks from a safe distance. This is a potentially large carve-out, for U.S.-style warfare is becoming … Read more »
Al Qaeda has announced a successor to Osama bin Laden: Ayman al-Zawahiri will be its new leader. The New York Times covers the story here, while The Washington Post’s coverage is available here. You may read a partial … Read more »
I had thought that the WPR debate in regards to Libya would eventually be eclipsed by a vote on whether to provide supplemental funding to sustain continued operations. But that, it seems, won’t happen. In a hugely important, and to … Read more »
Yesterday I noted that a series of recent news articles suggest that only the CIA can lawfully conduct strikes without the host-state’s consent, and that this is one reason (in addition to various policy considerations) why CIA soon will join … Read more »
Richard Klingler, currently a partner at Sidley Austin and previously the NSC’s Legal Advisor (2006-07), offers the following assessment of the Administration’s WPR/Libya arguments (which can be found now on p. 25 of this larger document the White House … Read more »
In this long post I analyze the Obama administration’s legal arguments for compliance with the War Powers Resolution. A later post will consider the broader significance of the arguments.
Here is the administration’s formal explanation of its compliance with the … Read more »
A series of articles over the past few days have discussed plans for the CIA to operate armed drones in Yemen, where U.S. armed forces already have been using lethal force against AQAP targets (cruise missiles, missiles from piloted aircraft, … Read more »
Charlie Savage at the NY Times has just reported that the White House is today providing Congress with information on ongoing operations in Libya, including an explanation of the Administration’s position as to why the continuation of the operation beyond … Read more »
At this hour, I am participating in a briefing for the House Armed Service Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations concerning transfers of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. Brookings has posted my written statement, which I prepared with Bobby and Matthew … Read more »
Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and eight other members of the House of Representatives have sued the President for injunctive and declaratory relief in connection with the President’s alleged violations of the Declare War Clause and the War Powers Resolution as … Read more »
The New York Times and The Washington Post report that Pakistan’s top intelligence agency has arrested five CIA informants involved with the raid on the bin Laden compound. These arrests seem to signify a growing rift between U.S. and Pakistani … Read more »
Jose Padilla and his mother have appealed the dismissal of their civil case against a raft of current and former Defense Department officials. The case, which made a variety of constitutional claims in connection with Padilla’s detention and interrogation as … Read more »
The appellant’s reply brief is now available for Suleiman v. Obama. Petitioner Abdulrahman Suleiman challenges Judge Reggie Walton’s July 2010 decision denying him the writ of habeas corpus. Judge Walton found that the government’s evidence had established that Suleiman … Read more »
Today House Speaker John Boehner sent President Obama a letter charging that next Sunday, which will mark 90 days after the Libya intervention began, “the Administration will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution unless it asks for and … Read more »
The appellant’s brief in the case al-Zahrani et al. v. Donald Rumsfeld is now available. This case relates to the reported suicides at Guantanano in 2006, the conspiracy theories about which Ben wrote here and here. The plaintiffs, family … Read more »
Here is a sampling of recent news and analysis that may be of interest to Lawfare readers.
Both the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal [subscriber access only] are reporting that the CIA, working closely with the U.S. Joint … Read more »
Signs of activity from special prosecutor John Durham, reported by Time magazine:
It has been nearly a decade since Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi prisoner known as “the Iceman” — for the bungled attempt to cool his body and make him
In the wake of the Almerfedi decision, the question necessarily arises whether any detainee might plausibly expect to prevail in front of the D.C. Circuit. In the defense bar, disgusted, head-shaking despair is the order of the day. So I’m … Read more »
The Australian newspaper is reporting that three of the Guantanamo Uighurs sent to Palau from Guantanamo have applied for Australian residency permits:
THREE Chinese Uighurs who were for years detained as terrorists at the US’s Guantanamo Bay have applied to
The memorandum opinion filed on May 23rd in al-Hajj v. Obama (read Bobby’s analysis here and Ben’s here) apparently had a slight error.
Readers may have been confused by the first paragraph on page 10 of the court’s opinion, … Read more »
Here are the Updated Habeas Numbers in light of the D.C. Circuit’s decision Friday in Almerfedi. In addition to these cases, a docket entry in the district court case of an Afghan detainee named Khairulla Khairkhwa makes clear that his … Read more »
The killing of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed by Somalian soldiers this weekend provides yet another occasion to note the difficult scope issues that arise under the 9/18/01 AUMF (or, if you prefer, under the President’s Article II authority to use force … Read more »
A number of readers have written in to argue that my attempt to complicate the D.C. Circuit’s emerging doctrine on guesthouse stays and training camps is itself too simple.
These readers point out from a variety of perspectives that I … Read more »
Memo to the D.C. Circuit: Staying at a guesthouse is not the same as taking military training.
Ever since the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Al Bihani last year, its opinions have repeated some language that was originally buried in a … Read more »
Almerfedi is a big deal–though perhaps subtly. Judge Laurence Silberman’s opinion continues a trend, begun by Judge Brett Kavanaugh in Uthman, of clarifying just how little the preponderance of the evidence standard really requires of the government. This … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit has handed down its decision in the case of Hussain Almerfedi, a Guantanamo habeas petitioner. The opinion is written by Judge Laurence Silberman for himself and Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Judge Judith Rogers concurred in part and in … Read more »
The Onion has the story:
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency restated Thursday its commitment to the fight against terrorism, pledging full cooperation with U.S. forces during the upcoming strike on an al-Qaeda safe house on June 12 at 5:23 a.m.
Mark Mazzetti has a very important story in the Times noting that, far from backing away from using lethal force against AQAP targets in Yemen during this time of political instability, the US has stepped up its operations over the … Read more »
No, it’s not a Mel Brooks-Carl Reiner routine. It’s a story over at Secrecy News, where Steve Aftergood reports:
The National Security Agency announced yesterday that it has declassified a report that is over two hundred years old.
Michael Leiter, the long-time Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, one of the hardest counterterrorism jobs in the government, has resigned. President Obama’s statement is here.
Most of the legal discussion about Libya intervention has focused in recent weeks on the War Powers Resolution. But the constitutional issue of the President’s power to order the intervention without congressional authorization in the first place is also still … Read more »
Defense Ministers from the 48 nations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) today endorsed the NATO Rule of Law Field Support Mission (NROLFSM). The press release describes the mission as follows:
Governance and service delivery in Afghanistan remain key
Over at CAAFLOG, Dwight Sullivan has this long post on the continuing saga of Scott Horton’s National Magazine Award–about which I wrote here. Sullivan is responding to this article by Dr. Jeffrey Kaye in defense of Horton and Harpers.… Read more »
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Leading the news: President Obama speaks today at the National Defense University on counterterrorism policy. Many are previewing the speech, including John. According to the New York Times’s Charlie Savage and Peter Baker, Obama will announce more stringent targeting criteria for non-battlefield strikes. This approach will govern the use of force against both citizens and non-citizens.
Here are the Washington … Read more »
