Today was the big day. Chuck Hagel faced his former colleagues who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee today in his bid for SecDef. And just in time for this momentous day, a Republican Senator has come out of … Read more »
A procedural note from commissions-land: in documents signed on Monday, the Convening Authority, Retired Vice Admiral Bruce MacDonald, dismissed sworn charges—material support and standalone conspiracy—against GTMO detainees Sufyian Barhoumi, Jabran Said Bin Al Qahtani, and Ghassan Abdullah al … Read more »
Nevin at the podium. He wishes to make sure that Judge Pohl’s earlier ruling, regarding the cutting of the audio and video feed, takes effect immediately as announced. The court makes clear that no third party can cut the broadcast … Read more »
The recess concludes, and Judge Pohl takes the bench. First are a few remarks about logistics, including the use of demonstratives and multimedia. (J. Connell III, we’re looking at you.) The rule: no such items allowed, unless submitted at least … Read more »
We return to the ELC courtroom, where prosecutors and defense counsel all are present. The five accused are absent.
Prosecutor Robert Swann is first at the podium; his witness is MAJ Griffin—who testified earlier as to the voluntary, knowing absences … Read more »
The New York Times has this long article about the Noor Khan lawsuit in Britain, in which the son of a man killed in a drone strike in Pakistan has sued the British Foreign Secretary for information about British intellligence … Read more »
A few days ago I posted a tongue-in-cheek reaction to President Obama’s inaugural address assertion that a “decade of war is now ending.” The post was a timeline of USG war-related events in the weeks before and the week after … Read more »
Today pretrial hearings resume in the 9/11 case, yesterday’s hearing having consisted entirely of an administrative Rule 802 conference (and thus, no argument on motions). The conference’s outcome reportedly will determine what, exactly, today’s court session will address.
Whatever the … Read more »
I’ve fallen behind in linking to the short essays being published by the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law. The latest come from Tod Lindberg, Amy Zegart, and Philip Bobbitt.
Lindberg’s essay, entitled “Libya, Syria, … Read more »
Just on the heels of the Anonymous takeover of the US Sentencing Commission website, the New York Times is reporting that its network has been subject to persistent hacking over the last four months at the hands of Chinese attackers. … Read more »
That’s the gist of this order, issued today by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, in Rimi v. Obama.
The detainee, who had been transferred from Guantanamo to Libya in 2006, unsuccessfully sought habeas relief from the … Read more »
Ritika already posted about AEI’s panel yesterday on Zero Dark Thirty, along with a link to the video of the proceedings. Given the composition of the panel, one can hardly be surprised by overall tenor of the AEI … Read more »
France will be departing Mali “quickly,” according to the French foreign minister, as quoted in this AP report.
Now that John Kerry has been confirmed (New York Times story here, and Washington Post story here) as the … Read more »
The American Enterprise Institute held an event yesterday entitled “Watching ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ with the CIA: Separating fact from fiction.” According to the event description, the discussion centered around some of the following questions:
Just how accurate is Bigelow’s depiction
Back in 2011, I posted on the civilian criminal prosecution of a pair of former Iraqi residents Mohanad Shareef Hamadi and Waad Ramadan Alwan. Both men were charged with having been involved in the insurgency while in Iraq and with … Read more »
Although our own coverage of this week’s pre-trial proceedings in the 9/11 military commission trial at Guantánamo already covered the issue in some detail, I couldn’t help but be taken by Amy Davidson’s post on the New Yorker‘s Daily … Read more »
On All Things Considered this evening, NPR’s Ari Shapiro ran this story on the closing of Amb. Daniel Fried’s Guantanamo resettlement office at State:
The story follows this Charlie Savage piece in the New York Times, which Matt flagged … Read more »
As is now familiar to everyone, rather difficult questions arise when we discuss the scope of the AUMF, the current scope of “al Qaeda,” the meaning of “associated forces,” and the circumstances under which the president may have inherent authority … Read more »
AE50, our day’s last, is James Connell III’s request to compel the production of three witnesses.
The first is Robin Maher, an attorney who helped to develop the ABA’s guidelines on capital cases—a legal authority of obvious relevance, but of … Read more »
Your correspondent returns to Fort Meade’s Smallwood Hall, for Lawfare’s CCTV coverage of a second day of hearings in United States v. Mohammed et. al.
The day’s motions are different, but our format remains the same: you’ll find regular posts … Read more »
MAJ Sterling Thomas, on behalf of Ammar al-Baluchi, argues AE93—in which Thomas and James Connell III ask the court to grant their client a brief, audiovisual communication. Ammar al-Baluchi desires to call relatives abroad, in order to send condolences for … Read more »
AE55 is up next. In it, the defense jointly seeks the release of redacted versions of pleadings containing classified materials.
J. Connell III, lawyer for Ammar al-Baluchi, argues in support of the motion, citing RTMC 19-4—which calls for public release … Read more »
Ruiz takes a third stab at AE108, first by emphasizing the justification behind his proposal for overnight visits to his client’s detention center: the lawyer needs to determine sleeping patterns, other life patterns, and the like.
Next he notes two … Read more »
Trouble continues in Mali. French-led forces have seized the Timbuktu airport from militants, and although it is really cool that there actually is a Timbuktu, it is decidedly not cool that fighting continues there. According to CNN.com’s Andrea de Georgio, … Read more »
Lunch is done. David Nevin notes the absence of co-counsel, Gary Sowards; prosecutors remind us that all five accused remain voluntarily absent.
We circle back to AE108, regarding the conditions of confinement—and argument in opposition by prosecutor Maj. Robert McGovern. … Read more »
We move now to AE108, a defense effort to inquire into the current conditions of the accuseds’ confinement. Day-to-day life at the detention center is a subject for LCDR Walter Ruiz, Mustafa al-Hawsawi’s lawyer. He rises to speak first.
There … Read more »
A while back, I posted about a forthcoming article by Carlos Vázquez (Georgetown) and me on the relationship between Bivens remedies and state law, especially in national security cases. I’m very pleased to say that the published version of … Read more »
Let us turn now to 13U—a defense motion to strike the protective order’s “testimonial notice” provision, paragraph 8(a)(1)(b).
It’s an offensive little paragraph, according to al-Baluchi’s lawyer, J. Connell III: the current language calls on the defense to provide the … Read more »
We come to an expected vignette about yesterday’s brief audio and video blackout.
Judge Pohl explains: the idea behind the forty-second delay is to prevent the disclosure of classified information. But only the judge has the authority to close … Read more »
Do you know what time it is? 9:09 a.m., better known as resplendent-in-judicial-robes time. Judge Pohl calls our session to order. And it’s seemingly a court-and-counsel only affair; all five accused are absent. Confirmation of the latter comes in the … Read more »
January 28, 2013: The United States signs a status of forces agreement with Niger “that clears the way for a stepped-up American military presence on the edges of the conflict in neighboring Mali,” and that portends a drone base in … Read more »
The New York Times has this story by Charlie Savage, amusingly titled “State Dept. Closes Office Working on Shutting Guantánamo Prison.” My colleagues and I will likely have something to say on what this means (Savage writes that it “appeared … Read more »
This morning, my Brookings colleagues Michael O’Hanlon and Bruce Riedel held an excellent event with General Stanley McChrystal on the evolution of JSOC and his new book, My Share of the Task. I can’t embed the video because of … Read more »
A major story in the Washington Post over the weekend if you didn’t catch it: Ellen Nakashima on the DOD’s ramping up of Cyber Command staffing, increasing by more than four-fold the size of the command. Elisabeth Bumiller of the … Read more »
You’ll find a copy here.
The Chief Prosecutor’s statement naturally overviews the week’s proceedings; one portion, however, addresses an issue not formally included on the docket but likely of interest to Lawfare readers:
Conspiracy as a Separate, Stand-Alone Offense
Alan Backstrom and Ian Henderson have a new draft working paper at SSRN, “New Capabilities in warfare: an overview of contemporary technological developments and the associated legal and engineering issues in article 36 weapons reviews” (International Review of the Red … Read more »
We begin with AE20, regarding the time for the defense to respond to government motions. The court thinks its moot.
Bormann is back, and doesn’t touch AE20’s mootness. Instead she pushes forward with attorney-client matters—their merits, or ones surrounding their … Read more »
Brookings is hosting Gen. Stanley McChrystal today from 10:00 am EST-11:30 am EST. Here is the link to the live webcast. For those who cannot tune in, we will be posting the full video and the full audio as an … Read more »
The fourth installment in the Hoover Institution’s series of short essays on national security challenges for the Obama administration’s second term is now out. It is by yet another Lawfare member—Matt—and is entitled, “Executive-Congressional Relations and National Security.” … Read more »
The wintry mix hasn’t delayed our–Wells’ and Sophie’s—arrival to Fort Meade, for the commencement of CCTV-broadcasted-from Guantanamo hearings in the 9/11 case.
Today’s programming format will be the same as always: look for regular posts throughout the day, in … Read more »
The Brookings Institution has released the following video, in which I offer some thoughts on the accuracies and inaccuracies of Zero Dark Thirty. I will be treating this subject in more depth in a review I am writing on … Read more »
The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear an important case concerning the government’s foreign affairs powers, Bond v. United States. That case, which involves a criminal prosecution under the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, raises fundamental issues about the … Read more »
Ben’s analysis of Charlie Savage’s article on the Chief Prosector prompts this reminder: tomorrow at 9 a.m., Lawfare returns to Smallwood Hall for closed-circuit, piped-in-from-GTMO hearings in the 9/11 case. There are twenty-five items set for oral argument during this … Read more »
Jack and Ben have already flagged their entries in a Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law series on national security challenges for the second Obama term (Hoover is adding one essay per day, all very short opinion … Read more »
The New York Times has a news analysis piece by this morning the excellent Charlie Savage, which requires a moment’s reflection. Charlie is about as good a reporter as there is out there on Lawfare-related matters, and he has … Read more »
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Carol Rosenberg wrote about yesterday’s arguments in the 9/11 hearings on defense counsel’s request for access to the Red Cross’s reports of its interviews with the five accused. That’s in the Miami Herald.
Yesterday’s House intelligence committee hearing with top intelligence agency and DOJ officials drew a big crowd and much news: Wired explains the DOJ’s efforts to conceal the NSA’s role… Read more »
